KANSAS (2025-26 Commissioner's Cup Standings) — Friends University has won the KCAC Commissioner's Cup for the 2025-26 academic year, the conference office announced Wednesday.
This marks the sixth time that the Falcons have earned the Commissioner's Cup in the award's history (dating back to the 2012-13 academic year), and the first time Friends has secured this honor since the 2021-22 academic year.
"Winning the Commissioner's Cup is a credit to our coaches, student-athletes, and staff across our campus," Dr. Rob Ramseyer, Vice President of Athletics and Strategic Expansion at Friends University, remarked. "In the same year, we also posted the highest student-athlete program evaluations on record and one of the best cumulative GPAs in the last ten years. That's a full picture of what we want our athletic department to be, and I'm proud of our team."
Friends earned the Commissioner's Cup with 196 total points (50.5 in the fall, 66.5 in the winter, and 79 in the spring). Kansas Wesleyan University ranked No. 2 in the standings with 187 points. Evangel University (174.5 points) ranked third, the University of Saint Mary (165.5 points) ranked fourth, and Ottawa University rounded out the top five with 140.5 total points.
"Friends winning the Commissioner's Cup is a true testament to the hard work that starts at the top of their Athletic Department: from their AD and department administration staff to their coaches," Brandon Buchanan, KCAC Commissioner, said. "Friends continues to do it the right way. Friends student-athletes have shown the constant pursuit to be the best. Their immense successes this past year speak volumes about their hard work paying off both in and out of the classroom and on the field of play. I'm very proud to say that Friends University has won our 2025-26 KCAC Commissioner's Cup."
Friends University experienced success throughout the fall, winter, and spring seasons.
- Fall: The Falcons were in fourth place following the Fall 2025 season. Some highlights for Friends from the fall included:
- Football: Friends had the best overall record in the conference.
- Women's Soccer: Second in the final regular-season standings.
- Both the Men's and Women's Cross Country teams finished sixth in their respective divisions at the KCAC Cross Country Championships.
- Winter: Friends led the Commissioner's Cup standings at the end of the Winter 2025-26 season, with success across the board for their winter sport teams.
- Championship Titles Secured by Men's Indoor Track & Field and Men's Wrestling
- Second-Place Finishes by Women's Indoor Track & Field, Men's Basketball (second in final regular-season standings), and Women's Basketball (tied for second in final regular-season standings)
- Third-Place Finishes by Competitive Cheer and Competitive Dance at their respective championships.
- Spring: The Falcons took a 5.5 point lead into the spring season, and earned the most points of any institution in the spring to extend their lead and take home this year's Commissioner's Cup. Some Falcon teams to note from the spring include:
- Men's Outdoor Track & Field: Conference Champions
- Men's Golf: Conference Champions
- Women's Outdoor Track & Field: Conference Runner-Up
- Women's Golf: Third-Place Finish at KCAC Women's Golf Championship
- Top Five Finishes in Regular-Season Standings by Baseball and Softball
2025-26 KCAC Commissioner's Cup Final Standings (Season-by-Season Breakdown)
| INSTITUTION |
TOTAL |
| Friends University |
196.0 |
| Kansas Wesleyan University |
187.0 |
| Evangel University |
174.5 |
| University of Saint Mary |
165.5 |
| Ottawa University |
140.5 |
| McPherson College |
127.0 |
| Bethel College |
126.0 |
| Oklahoma Wesleyan University |
125.0 |
| Tabor College |
109.0 |
| Bethany College |
101.0 |
| Sterling College |
98.5 |
| Southwestern College |
65.5 |
| York University |
55.5 |
| Avila University |
52.0 |
About the Commissioner's Cup
In an effort to further recognize the achievements of its student-athletes and member institutions, the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference developed an award for the institution that performs the greatest over the fall, winter, and spring athletic seasons. The KCAC Commissioner's Cup will be awarded annually as a symbol of excellence in athletics representing 21 championships. Member institutions can earn points for their finish of each varsity team in those 21 officially recognized conference sports.
Points are assigned based on regular-season finish for men's and women's soccer, women's volleyball, men's and women's basketball, baseball, softball, and men's and women's tennis. In football, points are assigned based on overall conference record in the regular season. In competitive cheer, competitive dance, men's and women's cross country, men's and women's indoor track & field, men's wrestling, men's and women's golf, and men's and women's outdoor track & field, the conference championship meet results will determine point values. To be a conference sport, there must be six member institutions competing in that sport at the varsity level.
Teams who finish in first place will be awarded a maximum number of points equivalent to the total number of teams competing in that respective sport. Point tallies will continue in reverse order until the last place team has been awarded its corresponding point value (i.e. if a sport only has seven teams, point values will be given from the maximum 7 to 1). When two or more teams tie for final placing in the conference standings, each team will be awarded the average of the respective placing. For example, if three teams tied for second place in a sport with 11 teams, those three teams will be given the score of nine points because those three teams are occupying the second (10 points), third (9 points) and fourth (8 points) positions in the standings. The sum of those three positions (27 points) divided by the three teams yields an average score of nine points for each of the teams.
Previous Winners:
2012-13: Tabor College
2013-14: Ottawa University
2014-15: Friends University
2015-16: Friends University
2016-17: Tabor College
2017-18: Friends University
2018-19: Friends University
2019-20: Kansas Wesleyan University
2020-21: Kansas Wesleyan University
2021-22: Friends University
2022-23: Kansas Wesleyan University
2023-24: Kansas Wesleyan University
2024-25: Kansas Wesleyan University
—KCAC—