Ithaca and Stevens in Tight Race for Commissioner Cup
After the completion of the 2016-17 Empire 8 winter season the conference office has released the current Commissioner’s Cup standings.
Ithaca College continues to lead the way with an .861 percentage, staying ahead of second place Stevens Institute of Technology (.810), a slim difference of .059. This marks the third closest the standings have ever been between first and second following the winter season. The closest margin was last winter with a difference of .01, while the 2013-14 winter season saw a difference of .036
The Bombers had a strong showing across the board during the winter season winning conference titles in women’s basketball, men’s and women’s indoor track and field and women’s swimming and diving. Ithaca finished as the runner up in men’s swimming and diving.
Stevens won the men’s swimming title for the fifth straight year. The Ducks also took second in women’s swimming and men’s and women’s basketball.
St. John Fisher College stayed in third place after a winter season that saw the Cardinals finish in the top four in each sport and improve their percentage from .704 to .738. Fisher won the men’s basketball championship for the second time in the last three years and was the runner-up in women’s indoor track and field.
Nazareth ranks fourth with .545 percent as the Golden Flyers claimed a tournament appearance in men’s basketball and finished third in women’s indoor track and field. The Golden Flyers also finished fourth in men’s and women’s swimming and diving and fifth in women’s basketball.
Hartwick moved up one spot from the fall standings thanks to a .534 percentage. The Hawks made the E8 women’s basketball tournament for the sixth time and took third in men’s and women’s swimming and diving.
Houghton (.462), Utica (.435) and Alfred (.363) are separated by a narrow .099 while Elmira (.214) completes the standings.
Commissioner's Cup points are awarded based on each team's finish in the Empire 8 standings at the completion of the season. Points are awarded on a scale dependent upon the number of schools that sponsor the sport (affiliate members are not calculated into the point scale. Houghton is also not calculated into the standings based on NCAA provisional status). The conference championship team in each sport receives the highest amount of points, followed by the runner-up. Teams tied for a position are ranked based on tiebreaker scenarios. The actual amount of points earned is then divided by the amount of possible points for each school based on conference-sponsored sports to determine percentage.
| Standings thru Winter 2017 |
Percentage |
Actual Points |
Possible Points |
| Ithaca |
.861 |
99 |
115 |
| Stevens |
.810 |
85 |
105 |
| St. John Fisher |
.738 |
76 |
103 |
| Nazareth |
.545 |
60 |
110 |
| Hartwick |
.534 |
47 |
88 |
| Houghton |
.462 |
43 |
93 |
| Utica |
.435 |
50 |
115 |
| Alfred |
.363 |
37 |
102 |
| Elmira |
.214 |
18 |
84 |