MOBILE, Ala. – The Sun Belt Conference announced Tuesday that South Alabama Athletics has won the Vic Bubas Cup for the 2025-26 school year.
The Bubas Cup serves as the Sun Belt's all-sports award and is presented annually to the league's top-performing athletics department. This season's Bubas Cup is the 17th that South Alabama has won all-time, which is the most in league history. The Jaguars won the Sun Belt Conference Championship in softball this season and claimed a West Division Championship in women's soccer.
"This is an incredible honor that recognizes our commitment to competitive excellence across the Sun Belt Conference and reflects the hard work and dedication of our student-athletes, coaches, athletics department staff and university leadership," said interim director of athletics Dr. Daniel McCarthy. "We are proud to celebrate this accomplishment and look forward to embracing the momentum it creates as we continue building on this success."
FINAL BUBAS CUP STANDINGS
1. South Alabama – 130.5
2. Arkansas State – 124.5
3. Southern Miss – 120.5
4. Coastal Carolina – 118.5
5. App State – 112.5
6. James Madison – 106.5
7. Louisiana – 105.5
8. Marshall – 101.0
9. Troy – 97.0
10. Georgia Southern – 92.0
11. Old Dominion – 85.0
12. ULM – 82.0
13. Georgia State – 73.0
SCORING
Points for the Bubas Cup are awarded based on regular season finish for sports that have a regular season conference schedule. Points are awarded based on Sun Belt Championship finish if that sport does not have a regular season conference schedule. 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. For sports with divisions, the conference records of all teams are ranked and points are awarded regardless of divisional finish.
ABOUT THE BUBAS CUP
The Sun Belt Conference's annual all sports championship trophy, the "Bubas Cup," is named after the conference's first commissioner.
A native of Gary, Indiana, Vic Bubas graduated from Gary Lew Wallace High School in 1944. Bubas was a two-time All-Conference selection at North Carolina State, helped the Wolfpack win four Southern Conference titles, and played in the 1950 NCAA Final Four.
He graduated in 1951 and stayed on as an assistant coach at North Carolina State until 1959, at which time he was named the Head Basketball Coach at Duke University. He took the Blue Devils to the Final Four in 1963, 1964 and 1966. Duke was ranked in the top fifteen of the nation in eight of his 10 seasons as head coach. Bubas posted a career record of 213 wins and 67 losses, winning an astonishing 76.1 percent of his games. He served as a Duke administrator from 1969-1976, including the last three years as Vice President of the university.
On October 6, 1976, Bubas was named the first Commissioner of the Sun Belt Conference. He was named by the NCAA to the prestigious Division 1 Basketball Committee in 1979 for a six-year term and served as chair of the prestigious group for the 1984-85 season. Bubas served as Sun Belt Conference Commissioner for 14 years until his retirement in 1990. He led the conference during a period in which its membership increased from six to eight and the number of sports sponsored grew from four to 10.
FOLLOW THE JAGS
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