General | 3/18/2026 9:59:55 AM
SUNY Geneseo continues to lead the 2025-26 Empire 8 Commissioner’s Cup standings, as the standings were announced through the winter season on March 18. The Knights own a 0.8858 composite score and lead second place SUNY Brockport by nearly two tenths of a point following the winter season. The final Empire 8 Commissioner's Cup standings will be released in late May after the completion of the spring sports campaign.
The Knights lead all Empire 8 institutions with nine league titles through the winter season, while St. John Fisher University has recorded three E8 Championships. Hartwick College, Keuka College, Nazareth University and Uti8ca University each have one league crown. For the complete E8 Commissioner's Cup standings, please see below.
The Knights earned 53.25 of a possible 58 points from their winter sports teams, with E8 Championships in men’s and women’s indoor track and field, men’s and women’s swimming and diving and women’s basketball. In the fall, Geneseo won the Empire 8 men’s and women’s cross country, field hockey and men’s soccer championships. Geneseo has finished in the top half of the standings in 14 of the 15 sports they have competed in during the 2025-26 season to date.
SUNY Brockport is currently in second overall with a percentage total of 0.728 on the strength of a runner-up finishes in men’s basketball, men’s indoor track and field, and men’s and women’s swimming and diving in addition to runner-up finishes in the fall for both men’s and women’s soccer.
Nazareth is third after the winter season, with a percentage total of 0.6778 on the strength of runner-up honors in women’s indoor track and field and the regular season title for women’s basketball and women’s hockey. St. John Fisher University is right behind in fourth with a score of .6770, earning a semifinal berth in men’s basketball and third place finish in women’s indoor track and field, coupled with women’s soccer, women’s volleyball and women’s golf championships in the fall.
Utica University is currently fifth in the E8 standings with a composite score of 0.591, while Houghton University rounded out the top half of the standings in sixth with a percentage total of 0.5466. The Pioneers won the Empire 8 won the E8 crown in men’s ice hockey and garnered a third-place finish in men’s indoor track and field. Houghton advanced to the E8 women’s basketball title game.
Hartwick College, Russell Sage College, Elmira College, Alfred University, Keuka College, and SUNY Poly round out the 2025-26 Empire 8 Commissioner’s Cup standings after the winter season. Keuka won its first Empire 8 Championship since joining the league in 2020, securing the men’s basketball title.
Commissioner’s Cup points are awarded based on each team's finish in the Empire 8 conference standings at the completion of the regular season and post-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). A team's regular season finish will be added to its post-season finish and divided by two for the final total for that sport.
Teams tied for a position in the regular season standings are ranked based on tiebreaker scenarios. The actual number of points earned is then divided by the amount of possible points for each school based on conference-sponsored sports to determine their overall percentage.
2025-26 Empire 8 Commissioner’s Cup Standings (After 2026 Winter Season)
| Institution |
Actual |
Possible |
Percentage |
| SUNY Geneseo |
122.25 |
138 |
0.88586957 |
| SUNY Brockport |
101.25 |
139 |
0.73201439 |
| Nazareth |
96.25 |
142 |
0.6778169 |
| St. John Fisher |
92.75 |
137 |
0.6770073 |
| Utica |
81 |
137 |
0.59124088 |
| Houghton |
64.5 |
118 |
0.54661017 |
| Hartwick |
68.75 |
133 |
0.51691729 |
| Russell Sage |
43.5 |
109 |
0.39908257 |
| Elmira |
30.5 |
81 |
0.37654321 |
| Alfred |
47 |
133 |
0.35338346 |
| Keuka |
22 |
91 |
0.24175824 |
| SUNY Poly |
17.75 |
81 |
0.2191358 |