SAN MARCOS, Texas – For the second time in the last three years, Texas State won the Sun Belt Conference's Vic Bubas Cup, which is awarded annually to the conference's top athletic department.
The Bobcats captured the all-sports championship, which is decided on a points system based on team finish in the conference standings, after winning three team conference titles and finishing in the top-three of team standings in seven different sports. The Bobcats won conference championships in women's outdoor track and field and women's golf while also winning the conference tournament title in softball.
The strong spring showing by all Texas State sports – five sports were in the top-three in the conference standings – helped the Bobcats climb back to win this year's Bubas Cup. Through the winter sports, as of March 21, Texas State was sixth in the Bubas Cup standings and trailed the leader at the time, James Madison, by 27 points.
The Bobcats finished with 130.5 points and was ahead of second-place James Madison (126.0) by 4.5 points. Coastal Carolina was third with 119.5 points.
Texas State has now won the Bubas Cup three times as a member of the Sun Belt Conference, a league it joined starting with the 2013-14 academic year. The Bobcats brought home the Bubas Cup in 2018-19, 2021-22 and now 2023-24.
The Bobcats have won eight all-sports conference cups, including five in the Southland Conference from 1999-00 to 2008-09.
The Vic Bubas Cup is named after the Sun Belt Conference's first Commissioner. Bubas was appointed the conference's commissioner on Oct. 6, 1976, and served for 14 years until his retirement in 1990. He led the conference during a period in which its membership increased from six to eight members and its sport sponsorship grew from four to 10 sports. Bubas was a three-time ACC Coach of the Year at Duke in the 1960s, taking his team to three Final Fours. In 2007, he was inducted into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame. Bubas passed away in April 2018 at the age of 91.
Points for the Bubas Cup are awarded based on regular-season finish for sports that have a regular season conference schedule. For sports that do not have a regular-season conference schedule, points are awarded based on Sun Belt Championship finish. Points are awarded based on the number of schools sponsoring the sport. Institutions not sponsoring a sport do not receive points in that sport. Institutions tying for positions split the combined points of their positions.
For sports that have both a regular-season schedule and a conference tournament, one additional point will be awarded to the winner of the conference tournament, including an additional point for winning the Sun Belt Conference Football Championship.
For sports with divisions, the conference records of all teams are ranked and points are awarded regardless of divisional finish. Standings for the sports of men's and women's soccer are determined by points rather than winning percentage.
Final 2023-24 Vic Bubas Cup Standings
|
Rank |
Points |
| 1 |
Texas State |
130.5 |
| 2 |
James Madison |
126.0 |
| 3 |
Coastal Carolina |
119.5 |
| 4 |
Arkansas State |
118.0 |
| 5 |
Marshall |
117.0 |
| 5 |
Louisiana |
117.0 |
| 7 |
South Alabama |
112.5 |
| 8 |
Georgia Southern |
112.0 |
| 9 |
App State |
110.5 |
| 10 |
Troy |
105.5 |
| 11 |
Southern Miss |
100.0 |
| 12 |
ULM |
93.0 |
| 13 |
Old Dominion |
88.5 |
| 14 |
Georgia State |
74.0 |
- Eat 'Em Up -
