Sharks Capture 2025-26 SSC Women’s Mayors’ Cup

Sharks Capture 2025-26 SSC Women’s Mayors’ Cup

Bookmark and Share

Nova Southeastern grabs third Mayors’ Cup title and first in 10 years.

A.J. Vazquez, Communications Contractor

Founded in 1975, Sunshine State Conference member institutions have won a total of 138 NCAA national championships across 15 sports and boast an NCAA Division II leading 89% Academic Success Rate. In 2025-26, the SSC marks its 50th anniversary, reflecting on a proud history of athletic and academic excellence.

ORLANDO, Fla. –  Nova Southeastern University claimed its third Sunshine State Conference Mayors’ Cup all-sports trophy. This marks the Sharks’ first Mayors’ Cup title since the 2015-16 academic year.

For nearly four decades, the SSC’s Mayors’ Cup has recognized excellence and sportsmanship across the conference. Established during the 1986-87 academic year, the award honors the mayors of member school communities who originally sponsored the trophy; a tradition that continues today.

Beginning this academic year, the Mayors’ Cup has a new scoring format that determines standings based on an institution’s average points earned across its sponsored sports, rather than the cumulative points system used in previous years.

Points are awarded based on regular-season finish in sports with conference standings, while championship results are used for cross country, golf, outdoor track, rowing, beach volleyball, and swimming. Each institution’s average is determined by dividing its total points by the number of sports it sponsors, with the highest average points per sport claiming the Mayors’ Cup.

In sports where all 11 member institutions compete, points are awarded on an 11-to-1 scale, with 11 points for first place and one point for 11th. In sports with fewer participating teams, first-place points are adjusted based on the number of competing institutions. Ties in SSC regular-season standings are broken using head-to-head results to determine point allocation, and if a tie remains unresolved, the points are evenly split between the tied institutions.

Nova Southeastern scored 74 points across 10 sponsored sports to earn a conference-best average of 7.4 points per sport, nearly 0.6 points more than second-place University of Tampa, which finished with 6.88 points per sport.

The Sharks opened the academic year strong, capturing the 2025 SSC women’s soccer regular-season title while adding a third-place finish at the cross country championship and a tie for fourth in volleyball to earn 25.5 points and an average of 8.5 points per sport at the conclusion of the fall season.

Nova Southeastern maintained its momentum through the winter with a pair of second-place finishes in basketball and swimming, adding 15.5 points to its total and bringing its average to 8.2 points per sport heading into the spring. The Sharks claimed the women’s golf championship while adding three top-three finishes in tennis, outdoor track and rowing. By the end of the spring season, Nova Southeastern had totaled 74 points across 10 sponsored sports to secure the Mayors’ Cup with a 7.4 average.

Tampa finished second with an average of 6.88 points per sport. The Spartans were fueled by five conference championships in cross country, volleyball, swimming, outdoor track and beach volleyball. Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University finished third with a 5.85 average.

2025-26 SSC Mayors’ Cup Standings:

  1. Nova Southeastern (7.400)

  2. Tampa (6.883)

  3. Embry-Riddle (5.850)

  4. Florida Tech (5.667)

  5. Eckerd (5.111)

  6. Florida Southern (4.955)

  7. Lynn (4.450)

  8. Palm Beach Atlantic (4.400)

  9. Saint Leo (4.300)

  10. Barry (4.227)

  11. Rollins (4.111) 

SSC Mayors' Cup History | 2025-26 Points Breakdown (PDF)