With the close of the 2022-23 athletic year, the Southland Bowling League comes to an end after a run as one of the most successful conferences in collegiate athletics history.
 
From the 2015 season through 2023, the SBL’s eight years of competition saw its teams win four national championships.
 
Stephen F. Austin won national championships in 2016 and 2019, with Vanderbilt winning the national title in 2018 and 2023. 
 
In addition to the national titles, SBL teams were in the finals match in each of the last four seasons, with Vanderbilt taking runner-up honors in 2019, Arkansas State in 2021 and 2023, and Stephen F. Austin in 2022 (as well as 2015).
 
The 2019 and 2023 national championship matches were all-SBL finals with Stephen F. Austin defeating Vanderbilt in 2019 and Vanderbilt beating Arkansas State in 2023.
 
All told, the Southland Bowling League claimed 36 spots at the NCAA Tournament finals site since the 2015 season, a total far and away eclipsing any other conference. At the finals site in the NCAA Tournament, 48.1 percent of the participants have been SBL teams.
 
Five SBL bowlers were named the National Tenpin Coaches Association (NTCA) National Player of the Year: Stephen F. Austin’s Stephanie Schwartz in 2016, Arkansas State’s Jordan Richard in 2017 and 2018, Vanderbilt’s Maria Bulanova in 2019, and Vanderbilt’s Mabel Cummins in 2023.
 
Newcomers to the SBL dominated the NTCA Rookie of the Year, winning in every season except 2023. Stephen F. Austin’s Stephanie Schwartz won in 2015, Vanderbilt’s Kristin Quah in 2016, Vanderbilt’s Maria Bulanova in 2017, Louisiana Tech’s Kaitlyn Elder in 2018, Sam Houston’s Bea Hernandez in 2019, Louisiana Tech’s Allie Leiendecker in 2020, Sam Houston’s Denise Blankenzee in 2021, and Vanderbilt’s Paige Peters in 2022.
 
SBL coaches were the National Coach of the Year seven times – Stephen F. Austin’s Amber Lemke in 2015 and 2022, Arkansas State’s Justin Kostick in 2016, Vanderbilt’s John Williamson in 2019, 2022, and 2023, and Youngstown State’s Doug Kuberski in 2020.
 
A total of 104 SBL bowlers earned All-American honors from the NTCA, with five bowlers earning at least honorable mention All-American honors or better in four consecutive seasons.
 
As the eight schools in the Southland Bowling League move on to other conference affiliation in 2023-24, the administration of the SBL wishes them the best and is proud to have operated a league of excellence over the last few years.