JONESBORO, Ark. (6/5/25) – The Sun Belt Conference announced the 2024-25 Vic Bubas Cup final standings Thursday, and Arkansas State Athletics posted a school-record 139.0 points to place second, its best finish for a full athletics year since 1999-2000.  

It is the second consecutive season the Red Wolves have improved their standing and points total. A-State had 118 points to finish fourth in 2023-24, but improved to 139 points to finish runner-up among the league’s 14 members in 2024-25. A-State won the Bubas Cup Trophy in 2019-20 when 10 of the conference’s 18 sports at the time were scored.

A-State averaged 9.3 points per sport, second highest in the league, and finished just 13.5 points behind champion Texas State. The Sun Belt’s 14 members the last three years are the most in the history of the league, and 11 of those schools compete in more sports that count toward the Bubas Cup standings than A-State.

The Red Wolves have claimed the most Sun Belt championships among all league members two of the last three years. A-State has won 12 SBC titles since 2022-23, three more than the second closest (Texas State) and more than double the number of league championships collected by nine of the 13 other members. Including women’s bowling (Conference USA), Arkansas State had 13 combined conference titles over the last three years.

Since 2022-23, A-State teams have participated in postseason competition 25 times for the most over any three-year span in school history. The 2024-25 year alone featured football playing its second consecutive bowl game, volleyball advancing to the Great 8 of the National Invitational Volleyball Championships (NIVC), women’s basketball making its first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance, men’s basketball competing in the NIT for the first time since 1991 and women’s bowling competing in its 17th consecutive NCAA Tournament.

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.

2024-25 Vic Bubas Cup Final Standings
1. Texas State – 152.5
2. Arkansas State – 139.0
3. Coastal Carolina – 124.0
4. Louisiana – 118.5
5. App State – 116.0
6. South Alabama – 115.5
7. Marshall – 111.5
8. Georgia Southern – 110.0
9. James Madison – 107.5
10. Troy – 106.5
11. Southern Miss – 95.5
12. Old Dominion – 83.5
13. Georgia State – 70.0
14. ULM – 64.5