Commissioner's Cup Standings
INDIANAPOLIS – For the third time in school history, the University of Southern Indiana has captured the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) Commissioner’s Cup, it was announced by the league office on Tuesday. The Screaming Eagles earned the award for the 2020-21 campaign by posting the strongest finish in the league’s seven core sports.
Points are allocated for the Commissioner’s Cup based on the athletic department’s finish in the GLVC’s postseason tournaments in men’s soccer, women’s soccer, volleyball, men’s basketball, women’s basketball, softball, and baseball. All 15 Conference members sponsors these sports at the intercollegiate level.
Under the guidance of athletics director Jon Mark Hall, Southern Indiana earned 81 points over the course of the academic year, besting runner-up Lewis University (76) by five points, which edged out third-place University of Indianapolis (75) by a single point. Drury University (67) came in fourth, while Lindenwood University (63) and the University of Missouri-St Louis (63) rounded out the top third of the standings in a tie for fifth.
Just three points separated places seventh through 10th, as Maryville University (59), McKendree University (58), Rockhurst University (57), and Quincy University (56) were each respectively one point behind the other. Eleventh-place Truman State University (48) and 12th-place University of Illinois Springfield (46) were separate by just two points, while Missouri S&T (35), Southwest Baptist University (28), and William Jewell College (27) completed the field.
USI made the GLVC Championship Tournament in six of the seven core sports this year, highlighted by a league title in volleyball and a runner-up finish in women’s soccer. Despite not being able to participate in the postseason due to COVID-19 safety protocols, the Eagles men’s basketball team had earned the 2-seed, while the women’s basketball team would have been the No. 3 seed. The men’s soccer squad earned the No. 6 seed to the GLVC Championship Tournament, the baseball team was the #3 Blue Division seed, while USI was just three wins shy of making the postseason in softball.
Instituted prior to the 2002-03 season, the Commissioner’s Cup has had six different institutions stake claim to the award. Former league member Bellarmine became the sixth school in 2018-19 with its first win in its final year of league membership, while USI earned its second Cup in 2017-18 and first in 2003-04. Rockhurst picked up its first honor in 2016-17. UIndy scored its second Cup in 2015-16 after the first came in 2013-14, which was bookended by other first-time winners Drury (2014-15) and Lewis (2012-13). Following the 2011-12 season, former GLVC member Northern Kentucky took home its fifth-straight and eighth overall Cup over a 10-year span, while SIU Edwardsville – another former member – earned the Commissioner’s Cup in 2007. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic that suspended spring sport competition last year, the 2019-20 Cup was not awarded.
The standings for the 2020-21 GLVC Commissioner’s Cup are as follows:
| 1. |
Southern Indiana |
81 |
| 2. |
Lewis |
76 |
| 3. |
Indianapolis |
75 |
| 4. |
Drury |
67 |
| 5. |
Lindenwood |
63 |
|
Missouri-St. Louis |
63 |
| 7. |
Maryville |
59 |
| 8. |
McKendree |
58 |
| 9. |
Rockhurst |
57 |
| 10. |
Quincy |
56 |
| 11. |
Truman State |
48 |
| 12. |
Illinois Springfield |
46 |
| 13. |
Missouri S&T |
35 |
| 14. |
Southwest Baptist |
28 |
| 15. |
William Jewell |
27 |