IRVINE, Calif. – After breaking the points record just one season ago, Long Beach State captured the 2022-23 Dennis Farrell Big West Commissioner’s Cup in record-setting fashion, announced today by The Big West.
This marks Long Beach State’s 10th Cup since claiming their first after the 2005-06 season. The Beach accumulated an average of 147.5 points, the largest tally on record since the first cup was awarded after the 1998-99 season. No member-institution has surpassed the 140-point benchmark other than LBSU, all in Cup-claiming seasons: 2011-12 (140.0), 2021-22 (141.3), and today.
“The Dennis Farrell Commissioner’s Cup is the top athletic award presented by the Big West Conference, and a repeat win is a true testament to the hard work, dedication and skill of our student-athletes and coaches here at Long Beach State,” said Interim Athletics Director Ted Kadowaki. “Winning the cup is one of our goals as a department, as success in this competition is a great reflection of the overall health of the athletics department and shows in a tangible way where we stand in relation to our conference peers. Congratulations to all conference schools for a very successful year both athletically and academically."
The Beach was propelled to the top of the Cup standings by impressive performances across the board, including five championship sport crowns. LBSU earned maximum points and regular-season championships in men's volleyball and softball, along with taking home Championships titles in beach volleyball, men's golf and women’s track & field.
Remarkably, the Beach were in seventh after the fall sports season and sixth following the conclusion of basketball. By mid-spring, LBSU bumped to fourth and with a strong finish raced up the leaderboard. LBSU compiled an impressive average of 159.0 points for the 10 spring sports, far and away outpacing their nearest competitor.
For the second straight academic year, three schools surpassed the 130-point mark with six exceeding 100 points in the final standings. Along with the new Beach benchmark in scoring, the Anteaters and Titans both set new program-best Commissioner's Cup point averages.
Bolstered by an impressive men's and women's basketball season, UC Irvine finished in second averaging 131.9 points. The Anteaters took home the top point tallies in both winter sports, and also earned the crown in women's water polo. UCI was second at the 2022 Big West Women's Cross Country Championship and 2023 Big West Men's Tennis Championship and took third-place points in men's soccer and men's volleyball to see consistency through each season. UC Irvine saw the biggest year-over-year increase in finish after taking sixth in the Cup standings in 2021-22. This marks the highest finish for UCI since taking second in 2000-01.
Cal State Fullerton is slotted in third in the standings, compiling an average of 130.0 points with first-place points in men's track and field and second-place finishes in women's soccer, men's golf, softball and baseball. The strong conclusion of the spring around the track and in the diamond sports propelled the Titans up from sixth place in mid-May to the program's fifth top-three showing since 1998-99.
Cal Poly, UC Santa Barbara and Hawai'i fill out fourth through sixth place, with 100-plus point totals. Victors of the three fall sports of men's and women's cross country and women's soccer, the Mustangs also won the women's golf title to finish fourth with 128.8 points. The Gauchos find themselves in fifth in consecutive seasons, with identical scores of 128.1. UCSB took home top tallies in men's basketball and men's tennis. Coming in at 126.7, Hawai'i took sixth after claiming three titles including both the regular-season and postseason crowns in men's volleyball and women's tennis to go along with the fall title in women's volleyball.
Other top point scores came for UC San Diego and UC Riverside. The Tritons captured the program's first-ever Big West Championship after earning the baseball title and the Highlanders took the men's soccer crown.
In determining a victor for the Dennis Farrell Big West Commissioner’s Cup, points are awarded based on either regular-season finish or Big West postseason results in all 18 conference-sponsored sports, and the member-institution with the highest average point total is declared the winner.
Regular-season finish determines the designated point tallies in baseball, basketball, soccer, softball, women’s tennis and indoor volleyball. In the sports of cross country, golf, men’s tennis, track & field, women’s beach volleyball and women’s water polo, the points are awarded based on finish at each respective Big West Championship. In the case of ties in all sports, points are awarded by combining points and dividing them equally among the tied teams. For the sport-by-sport breakdown and to view the history of the Dennis Farrell Big West Commissioner’s Cup, please visit
bigwest.org/CommissionersCup.
| 2022-23 Dennis Farrell Big West Commissioner's Cup Standings |
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CSUN |
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UC Riverside |
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41.7 |