By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information & Kyle Schwartz, OVC Media Relations
BRENTWOOD, Tenn. – Following the completion of the fall sport championships, Tennessee Tech ranks tied for second in the 2023-24 Ohio Valley Conference Commissioner's Cup all-sport trophy standings; the Cup is a symbol of overall athletic excellence in Conference-sponsored championships.
The Golden Eagles were bolstered by a first-place, regular-season championship in soccer, a pair of fourth-place finishes by the men's and women's cross country teams at the OVC Championships, and a sixth-place showing in the regular-season standings by the volleyball team.
Tech tallied 35.5 points, matching the effort of Southern Indiana to tie for second place among the league's 11 institutions. Eastern Illinois led the fall standings with 50 points overall after capturing OVC titles in volleyball, men's cross country and women's cross country, as well as tying for second in football. Southeast Missouri (34.5) is fourth and followed by UT Martin (30), Morehead State (27.5), SIUE (26.5), Little Rock (24), Lindenwood (19.5), Western Illinois (15.5), and Tennessee State (6.5).
The 2023-24 season marks the 16th for the Commissioner's Cup, which was previously known as the All-Sports Trophy. The award (which started in 1962-63 for men's sports and 1980-81 for women's sports) was previously divided into a Men's All-Sport Champion and a Women's All-Sport Champion. Points were awarded for each of the 19 sponsored sports and each school was required to count its totals from each sport in its grand total.
With the current points system (updated in 2022-23) schools now count 13 total sports in the final standings. Among those 13, schools are required to count the point totals of three main sports (men's basketball, women's basketball, and volleyball) as well as the highest finishing men's and women's track & field sport (either cross country, indoor track & field or outdoor track & field). Schools that sponsor football are required to count it as one of its 13 sports.
Points are distributed based on the number of schools that sponsor the sport (e.g. if 11 schools sponsor a sport, the champion will earn 11 points, 10 points for second place, 9 points for third place, etc.).
In addition winners of OVC Tournaments (women's soccer, men's soccer, volleyball, basketball, tennis, beach volleyball, softball and baseball) get one additional bonus point, as does the football champion or co-champion.
There are 13 OVC Championships remaining this year (rifle, men's indoor track & field, women's indoor track & field, men's basketball, women's basketball, women's tennis, beach volleyball, women's golf, men's golf, women's outdoor track & field, men's outdoor track & field, softball and baseball); additionally men's tennis teams compete in the 6-team "South Division" with Horizon League with a points breakdown based on the order of finish in the division standings.
The Golden Eagles' best finish in the chase for the OVC Commissioner's Cup came last year, placing second overall to Southeast Missouri with 90.5 points. The Tech record for points in a single academic year is 101.5, established during the 2016-17 campaign, a fifth-place showing.