SPARTANBURG, S.C. – After a sweep of the five Southern Conference fall tournament championships, Furman’s men and women’s programs sit atop the standings for the league’s all-sport races after the fall sport seasons.
The Commissioner’s and Germann cups are awarded annually to the Southern Conference schools fielding the league’s best all-around men’s and women’s sports programs, respectively.
Chattanooga edged Mercer by a mere 0.0002 points for the 2014-15 Commissioner’s Cup and Samford claimed its second Germann Cup, which were decided under a new scoring system modeled after the one used in determining the Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup. Scoring is conducted on a percentage basis, with only the top seven sports for each school counting toward its season total. The SoCon sponsors 11 men’s sports and nine women’s sports.
Each sport is worth 10 points, with each spot in the standings given equal measure relative to how many schools sponsor that particular sport. For sports that determine a regular-season champion, a two-point bonus is awarded for winning the league tournament. Each school’s total for the year is divided by 70, the maximum number of points possible when counting seven sports, to find its percentage.
In the race for the 2015-16 Commissioner’s Cup, Furman earned 23.46 total points in the fall for a .335 percentage after claiming its third straight men’s cross country title and its second consecutive men’s soccer tournament title. The Paladins also turned in a runner-up finish in the regular season for men’s soccer.
UNCG, which won the men’s soccer regular-season title, is second in the standings with 16.00 points and a .229 percentage. Chattanooga, which won a share of the football title, is third at .191 and ETSU is fourth at .186 on the strength of its third-place finish at the SoCon Men’s Cross Country Championship.
Samford is fifth at .180, followed closely by Western Carolina (.179). Wofford is seventh at .171, with VMI (.170), Mercer (.168) and The Citadel (.148) rounding out the standings.
Furman’s women had a dominant fall to take a commanding lead in the Germann Cup standings. The Paladins won their third straight cross country championship to start their fall run and added the women’s soccer tournament title after a second-place regular-season finish. Furman did the same in volleyball, following up a second-place regular-season finish with the tournament title to push their fall Germann Cup total to 31.89 points and a .456 percentage.
UNCG is a distant second at .340 after a consistent fall that saw the Spartans finish third in the cross country championship and the women’s soccer and volleyball regular seasons.
Buoyed by its regular-season title in women’s soccer, Samford is third at .324, followed by regular-season volleyball champion Chattanooga in fourth at .314.
ETSU is fifth at .258, followed by Mercer (.197), Western Carolina (.190), Wofford (.163), VMI (.057) and The Citadel (.044).
The Commissioner’s Cup was inaugurated in 1970 and the Germann Cup was first awarded in 1987. The latter is named for former SoCon Commissioner Ken Germann, who served as commissioner of the Southern Conference from 1974-86 and spearheaded the effort to introduce women’s athletics to the league.
Six schools have won the Commissioner’s Cup in the 46-year history of the award, including current members Chattanooga (2014-15 and 2004-05), ETSU (1982-83) and Furman (1990-91).
Five schools have won the Germann Cup in its 29-year history. Among current schools, Furman owns a league-best 13, including 12 straight from 1992-2004. Samford has won two (2014-15 and 2009-10) and Chattanooga won in 2007-08.
Commissioner’s Cup (through fall sports)
(Men’s athletics)
1. Furman .335
2. UNCG .229
3. Chattanooga .191
4. ETSU .186
5. Samford .180
6. Western Carolina .179
7. Wofford .171
8. VMI .170
9. Mercer .168
10. The Citadel .148
Germann Cup (through fall sports)
(Women’s athletics)
1. Furman .456
2. UNCG .340
3. Samford .324
4. Chattanooga .314
5. ETSU .258
6. Mercer .197
7. Western Carolina .190
8. Wofford .163
9. VMI .057
10. The Citadel .044
-www.SoConSports.com-