Four Southland Bowling League Teams in NCAA Championship Field
Southland Bowling League
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Four Southland Bowling League teams were selected Wednesday to compete in the 2015 NCAA Bowling Championship held in April. Arkansas State, Vanderbilt, Sam Houston State and Stephen F. Austin will represent the SBL in the NCAA Championship, making up half of the eight-team field.
The Arkansas State women’s bowling team, ranked third in the nation, was among the eight teams selected Wednesday. This is A-State’s eighth consecutive appearance in the national tournament and the Red Wolves finished with a record of 71-29. The squad has garnered four second place tournament finishes this season and has no worse than sixth in tournament competition.
The Commodores were the fourth team selected based on performance over the year. This marks the 10th consecutive year the Commodores have heard their name called during the selection announcement, among the longest streaks in the country. Vanderbilt's season was marked by a strong late-season surge, in which it won 30 of its last 36 games en route to a record of 92-38 and a championship in last week's Southland Bowling League tournament. The Commodores used several lineup combinations over the past month in making their run.
For the fourth time in the five-year history of the Sam Houston women’s bowling program, the Bearkats are headed to the NCAA Championships. Sam Houston is the defending NCAA national champion. The Bearkats defeated four-time champion Nebraska in last year’s championship final on ESPN. During the 2014-15 season, Sam Houston compiled an overall record of 87 victories and 42 losses in dual match play. That includes a 48-34 record against the teams in the current National Ten Pins Coaches Association (NTCA) top 20. The SHSU women stand 25-25 against teams in the top 10. The Bearkats own a 17-22 record against the NCAA field this year.
After two years of just missing out on the NCAA Championship, Stephen F. Austin will now have its shot at a national title. SFA is making its first appearance in the national tournament and is currently ranked fifth in the latest NTCA Coaches Poll. The Ladyjacks are coming off a fifth-place showing at the Southland Bowling Championship, posting its sixth top-five finish on the year.
The NCAA Bowling Championship will be held Thursday, April 9 through Saturday, April 11 at the Tropicana Lanes in Richmond Heights, Mo.
All matches will be streamed live on
NCAA.com with the championship being broadcast live on ESPNU Saturday, April 11 at 6 p.m. CT. A tape delay broadcast of the championship finals will air on ESPN Sunday, April 12 at 2 p.m. CT.
All eight berths in the NCAA Championship are at-large selections. Qualifying rounds will take place on Thursday with teams being seeded into the bracket based on their won-lost records from a round-robin schedule. Bracket play begins on Friday with a double-elimination best-of-seven-games Baker match format. In the Baker format, each of the five team members, in order, bowls a complete frame until a complete (10-frame) game is bowled. A Baker match tied at three and a half games apiece after seven games will be decided by a tiebreaker using the Modified Baker format.
Selected Teams for NCAA Bowling Championship
1. Nebraska
2. Fairleigh Dickinson
3. Arkansas State
4. Vanderbilt
5. Central Missouri
6. Sam Houston State
7. Stephen F. Austin
8. Wisconsin-Whitewater
The Southland Bowling League was formed earlier this year and by the formalization as a league, the association can qualify for an NCAA automatic bid no later than the 2017 national championship. Until an automatic qualification is provided, Southland Bowling League members will be at-large candidates for the NCAA Championship.