NEW ORLEANS – James Madison University leads the Sun Belt Conference’s Vic Bubas Cup standings through the 2025 fall sports season. The Bubas Cup is the Sun Belt’s all-sports championship, awarded to the top athletics department in the conference based on a points system.
In the fall sports season, James Madison won the volleyball regular season crown and finished atop the regular season standings and earned the program’s first football championship title.
Arkansas State has accumulated 45.0 points in the Bubas Cup Standings, which puts them ahead of Coastal Carolina, Louisiana and Marshall who are tied for third (36.5).
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. 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, 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.
2025-26 Vic Bubas Cup Standings (as of December 15, 2025)
|
|
TOTAL |
WXC |
MXC |
WSOC |
MSOC |
VB |
FB |
| 1 |
James Madison |
48.0 |
8.0 |
-- |
10.0 |
1.0 |
14.0 |
15.0 |
| 2 |
Arkansas State |
45.0 |
9.0 |
8.0 |
4.5 |
-- |
14.0 |
9.5 |
| 3 |
Coastal Carolina |
36.5 |
7.0 |
2.0 |
4.5 |
3.0 |
10.5 |
9.5 |
| 3 |
Louisiana |
36.5 |
10.0 |
5.0 |
7.0 |
-- |
5.0 |
9.5 |
| 3 |
Marshall |
36.5 |
6.0 |
4.0 |
8.5 |
8.0 |
5.0 |
5.0 |
| 6 |
App State |
34.0 |
13.0 |
9.0 |
6.0 |
-- |
3.0 |
3.0 |
| 7 |
South Alabama |
33.0 |
4.0 |
3.0 |
12.5 |
-- |
8.5 |
5.0 |
| 8 |
Old Dominion |
31.0 |
-- |
-- |
12.5 |
4.0 |
2.0 |
12.5 |
| 9 |
Georgia Southern |
30.5 |
3.0 |
-- |
3.0 |
7.0 |
10.5 |
7.0 |
| 10 |
Southern Miss |
30.0 |
12.0 |
-- |
1.5 |
-- |
7.0 |
9.5 |
| 11 |
ULM |
29.0 |
5.0 |
7.0 |
14.0 |
-- |
1.0 |
2.0 |
| 12 |
Georgia State |
25.0 |
2.0 |
-- |
8.5 |
5.0 |
8.5 |
1.0 |
| 13 |
Troy |
21.0 |
1.0 |
1.0 |
1.5 |
-- |
5.0 |
12.5 |
All-Time Vic Bubas Cup Recipients
1977 - Jacksonville
1978 - South Florida
1979 - South Florida
1980 - South Florida
1981 - South Florida
1982 - South Florida
1983 - Old Dominion
1984 - South Florida
1985 - South Florida
1986 - South Florida
1987 - Western Kentucky
1988 - South Alabama
1989 - South Alabama
1990 - South Florida
1991 - South Alabama
1992 - South Alabama
1993 - South Alabama
1994 - South Alabama
1995 - Arkansas State
1996 - South Alabama
1997 - South Alabama
1998 - Arkansas State
1999 - South Alabama
2000 - South Alabama
2001 - Middle Tennessee
2002 - Western Kentucky
2003 - Western Kentucky
2004 - Middle Tennessee
2005 - Middle Tennessee
2006 - Western Kentucky
2007 - Middle Tennessee
2008 - Western Kentucky
2009 - Middle Tennessee
2010 - Middle Tennessee
2011 - Middle Tennessee
2012 - Middle Tennessee
2013 - Middle Tennessee
2014 - Western Kentucky
2015 - South Alabama
2016 - South Alabama
2017 - South Alabama
2018 - South Alabama
2019 - Texas State
2020 - Arkansas State
2021 - South Alabama
2022 - Texas State
2023 - South Alabama
2024 – Texas State
2025 – Texas State