DENVER ? The Western Athletic Conference announced the winner of its annual Commissioner's Cup with this year's honor going to the University of Nevada with 93.50 points. The Wolf Pack took home four conference championships this year, including men's golf, women's soccer and women's swimming and diving and the regular season men's basketball title. Boise State finished second with 86.50 points, while in third is Fresno State with 76.00.
“I would like to congratulate the University of Nevada's athletic department, along with its student-athletes and coaches for winning this year's Commissioner's Cup,†said WAC Commissioner Karl Benson. “Their teams performed at a high level across the board and deserve this award for all of the hard work put in by everyone involved this season.â€
The WAC awards its Commissioner's Cup to the school that performs the best in each of the conference's 19 men and women's championships. Points are awarded for first place, second place, etc., in every sport. Points are dependent on the number of teams for example with nine teams playing volleyball the first place team is awarded nine points. The points are averaged between a team's regular season finish (if applicable) and its WAC championship finish. Ties are not broken but instead are averaged between the tied teams. Affiliate members are not eligible for the Commissioner's Cup but their standings in WAC championships are still used for determining points.
Nevada won its first Commissioner's Cup after finishing a close second last year behind Boise State and eighth during the 2004-05 season. In 2003-04 the Wolf Pack was sixth and finished fourth during the 2002-03 season which was the first year of the Commissioner's Cup.
“Winning the Commissioner's Cup is a tremendous accomplishment for the University of Nevada and is a tribute to the hard work of all of our coaches, student-athletes and staff,†Nevada Director of Athletics Cary Groth said. “The Wolf Pack is enjoying an unprecedented era of success in all of our sports. We are very proud of all of our achievements and look forward to many more in the future.â€
En route to its 86.50 points, Boise State finished first in football and won the men's tennis and women's basketball championships. Fresno State finished third with 76.00 points. The Bulldogs won WAC championships in baseball, women's tennis and softball and won the baseball and women's soccer regular season titles.
In fourth this season is Hawai?i which tallied 75.25 points with one conference championship in volleyball. Hawai?i also took home WAC regular season titles in volleyball and softball. Utah State finished fifth behind the strength of its titles in men and women's cross country and men's outdoor track.
To see the complete conference standings for each sport and learn more about the Commissioner's Cup and all your favorite WAC sports, visit wacsports.com.