Arkansas State leads 2024-25 Bubas Cup standings through winter sports

The Sun Belt Conference announced updated standings for the 2024-25 Bubas Cup, the league’s annual all-sports award, and the Red Wolves are atop the standings after piling up 89.0 points through 11 sports scored.

Thanks to a regular season title in men’s basketball, a second-place finish in the regular season standings for women’s basketball and top four finishes in men’s and women’s track and field, A-State added 42.5 points since the fall release. The Red Wolves have 15 more points than they did at the same time a year ago, when they went on to place fourth in the final standings for their best finish since 2015-16.

With 89.0 total points, A-State is ahead of Texas State (82.5), App State (76.5), James Madison (74.0) and Marshall (70.0). The Red Wolves are averaging 9.9 points per sport compared to their 7.9 for the entire 2023-24 year.

Men’s basketball completed its 2024-25 season with its first Sun Belt Conference regular-season championship since 1988-89 and a 25-11 record. The Red Wolves advanced to the title game of the Sun Belt tournament for the second consecutive season before earning an invite to play in the NIT, where it advanced the second round. It was A-State’s first appearance in the NIT since 1991.

Securing an additional point in the Bubas Cup standings for winning the Sun Belt Conference Tournament, women’s basketball won 13 straight conference games and finished second in the regular season standings. The Red Wolves finished 21-11 overall, tied for the seventh most victories in program history, and made the first NCAA Tournament appearance in program history. Returning just three players from the 2023-24 season, A-State was the only NCAA Division I team picked to finish last or next-to-last in the preseason poll and finish among the top two in its league standings.

Track and field contributed 16 points toward the Bubas Cup with the A-State men finishing runner-up and the A-State women fourth at the Sun Belt Conference Indoor Championships. The men totaled 137 points to finish just five points behind of Louisiana for the title while the women tallied 66 points for fourth. The Red Wolves had a combined six individual champions at the indoor championships; Colby Eddowes, Will Glass, Noa Isaia and Jacob Pyeatt on the men’s side, and Michelle Ogbemudia and Carly Pujol on the women’s side.

In the fall sports season, A-State accumulated 46.5 behind volleyball’s first regular season title since 2015, football’s first bowl win since 2019 and runner-up finishes in both men’s and women’s cross country.

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.

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