JONESBORO (6/5/10) - Arkansas State Athletics didn't take just a small step towards improvement in the Sun Belt Conference's annual Bubas Cup race in 2009-10, it took a big leap up to fourth place in the final standings for a six-place turnaround over the previous year and its best results in a decade.
A-State's 15 programs that count toward the Sun Belt's all-sports standings combined to score 97.5 points, the third most ever for the Red Wolves in 19 years as a member of the conference. ASU's nationally ranked bowling team, which recently made its third consecutive appearance in the NCAA Championships, did not factor into the Red Wolves' score since the Sun Belt doesn't sponsor the sport.
ASU finished 1.5 points ahead of fifth-place Troy and in front of five schools that have more than 15 sports counting toward their score. Just two schools within the conference have fewer sports than A-State that are factored into their Bubas Cup score.
The Red Wolves' fourth-place finish is its best since taking second in 1999-2000 among the nine teams in the league at that time, which didn't include two of this year's top three finishers in champion Middle Tennessee and third-place North Texas. The Red Wolves matched their seventh highest finish all-time in the Bubas Cup standings this year as well, just missing a place among the top three teams for the seventh time in school history.
"We obviously want to finish first in the Bubas Cup standings on a yearly basis, but we are still excited about the progress we made this year in the Sun Belt Conference's all-sports standings," said ASU Director of Athletics Dr. Dean Lee. "The Bubas Cup is a way for our athletic department to measure its competitive success within the league, and we can see that we are headed in the right direction. We will continue to strive for championships, but this year's improvement in the Bubas Cup is a testament to the quality coaches, student-athletes and staff we have here at Arkansas State."
A-State's rise in the standings can be attributed to nine sports that improved their finish over last year within the Sun Belt, while two more programs matched their finish from 2008-09. The most marked improvement among ASU's sports came from the women's soccer program, which put together its best season in school history.
Volleyball had its best finish in the Bubas Cup standings in a decade, women's outdoor track and field its best finish since 2000-01, men's golf since 2002-03, women's cross country since 2003-04, baseball since 2004-05, men's basketball since 2006-07, and women's basketball and men's cross country since 2007-08.
Seven different ASU programs finished among the top five teams in the league in the standings, including volleyball (3rd), men's basketball (4th), women's indoor track and field (4th), men's indoor track and field (5th), women's basketball (5th), men's golf (5th) and women's outdoor track and field (5th).
