James Madison Continues to Lead Sun Belt’s Vic Bubas Cup Standings through Winter

HARRISONBURG, Va. – Thanks to conference championships in women's swimming and diving as well as men's basketball and a top-four finish in women's basketball, James Madison sits in first place in the Sun Belt Conference's Vic Bubas Cup standings, which recognizes the top athletics department in the conference based on a point system.

JMU sits at 87.5 total points, ahead of a top four that includes Arkansas State (74), App State (72) and Marshall (70.5). The Dukes widened their lead from the Fall, when they sat first with 53.5 points, a seven-point lead over South Alabama.

Winter 2023-24 Sun Belt Bubas Cup Standings

Winter 2023-24 Sun Belt Bubas Cup Standings

James Madison claimed a pair of titles in the winter, with the most points coming from men's basketball (31-3, 15-3 SBC). The Dukes earned 14 points thanks to a second-place finish in the league plus an additional point for the tournament title. JMU's 31 victories are a school record and earned the Dukes their first NCAA Championship appearance since 2013.

The Dukes also claimed four points in the Bubas Cup standings from a title in women's swimming and diving. The title was the first in the Sun Belt since the league added the sport back to its offerings and represented the sixth title in the last seven seasons for JMU.

Women's basketball finished third in the league to claim 12 points in the standings. The Dukes advanced to the SBC title game, falling in overtime to top-seeded Marshall, and advanced to postseason competition in the first year of the WBIT. JMU's final four points in the winter came from indoor track and field with a 10^th-place showing in the championship meet.

In the fall sports season, James Madison finished tied for first in football (11-1 overall, 7-1 SBC), second in cross country, tied for second in volleyball (21-10, 12-4), fourth in men's soccer (10-5-5, 4-2-3) and tied for fifth in women's soccer (9-5-8, 4-1-5). JMU was runner up in the Sun Belt Championship in both women's soccer and volleyball. All five sport programs advanced to some form of postseason competition in the same season for the first time in JMU history as men's soccer, women's soccer and volleyball each earned at-large berths to NCAA Championships, cross country competed in the NCAA Southeast Regional Championship and football competed in the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl.

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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