2023 NCAA Bowling Championship

The 2023 NCAA Bowling Championship was the 19th edition of the NCAA Bowling Championship, the annual tournament to determine the national champion of women's NCAA collegiate ten-pin bowling.[1] The finals were hosted by UNLV and played at the South Point Hotel in Enterprise, Nevada from April 14 to 15, 2023.[2] The championship game was streamed live on ESPNU.[3] Vanderbilt beat Arkansas State in the championship game to win their third title.[4][5]

2023 NCAA Bowling Championship
Tournament details
DatesApril 14–15, 2023
Teams17
Final positions
ChampionsVanderbilt (3rd title)
Runner-upArkansas State (3rd title match)
← 2022
2024 →

Format

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The 2023 championship featured a 17-team format, with 4 regionals. Each regional consisted of four teams, except for the Arlington regional which had five with a play-in match between Fayetteville State and Prairie View. Each regional had one winner who would go on to play in a four-team tournament for the national championship.[6] The 2023 pre-determined regional locations were as follows:

Each regional was played as a double-elimination tournament, except for the one play-in match. All regional matches, except for what the NCAA calls "if necessary regional finals", were best-of-three matches bowled in the following order: five-person team, Baker total pinfall, Baker best-of-seven match play. Any "if necessary regional final" was Baker best-of-seven. Regional winners advanced to the championship event, which was also double-elimination. All matches were bowled under the standard format for regionals (best-of-three matches using specified formats in a specific order) except the championship final, which was Baker best-of-seven.[7][6]

Qualification

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Since there is only one national collegiate championship for women's bowling, all NCAA bowling programs (whether from Division I, Division II, or Division III) were eligible. A total of 17 teams competed in the double-elimination tournament, with nine conference champions receiving automatic bids and eight teams receiving at-large bids. The teams were revealed in a selection show on March 29, 2023.[8][6]

Bids

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There were 17 teams selected to the tournament - nine were selected automatically as conference champions, while another eight were selected at-large. The top four teams in the tournament were seeded and assigned to separate regions; they were the only teams seeded for this tournament.[9][6]

The Southland Bowling League (SBL) had the most bids of any conference with six, while the Northeast Conference (NEC) and Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) had two. The Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC), Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA), College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW), East Coast Conference (ECC), Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC), and Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) sent only their conference tournament champions. Additionally, one independent team received an at-large bid to the tournament.[9][6]

Seed Team Conference Bid type Appearance Last
1 McKendree GLVC Automatic 7th 2022
2 Vanderbilt SBL At-large 17th 2022
3 Arkansas State SBL Automatic 15th 2022
4 Nebraska Independent At-large 19th 2022
Carthage CCIW Automatic 1st Never
Duquesne NEC At-large 2nd 2021
Fayetteville State CIAA Automatic 2nd 2005
Louisiana Tech SBL At-large 3rd 2022
Maryville GLVC At-large 1st Never
Medaille AMCC Automatic 4th 2022
Mercyhurst ECC Automatic 1st Never
North Carolina A&T MEAC Automatic 5th 2022
Prairie View A&M SWAC Automatic 3rd 2021
Sacred Heart NEC Automatic 9th 2022
Sam Houston SBL At-large 11th 2022
Stephen F. Austin SBL At-large 6th 2022
Youngstown State SBL At-large 3rd 2022

Tournament bracket

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All regions were double-elimination, except for the finals, which was double-elimination before a single Baker best-of-7 championship match.[10]

Arlington Regional

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Play-in

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Play-in match
   
Fayetteville State 1
Prairie View A&M 2

Bracket

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First round
Consolation first round
Second round
Consolation second round
Regional final
          
1 McKendree 2
Prairie View 0
1 McKendree 2
Winner's bracket
Louisiana Tech 0
Sam Houston 0
Louisiana Tech 2
1 McKendree 2 -
Sam Houston 0 -
Prairie View 0
Sam Houston 2
Sam Houston 2
Loser's bracket
Louisiana Tech 1

Lansing Regional

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First round
Consolation first round
Second round
Consolation second round
Regional final
          
2 Vanderbilt 2
Carthage 0
2 Vanderbilt 2
Winner's bracket
Youngstown State 0
Youngstown State 2
Maryville 0
2 Vanderbilt 0 4
Youngstown State 2 0
Carthage 0
Maryville 2
Maryville 1
Loser's bracket
Youngstown State 2

Rochester Regional

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First round
Consolation first round
Second round
Consolation second round
Regional final
          
3 Arkansas State 2
Sacred Heart 0
3 Arkansas State 2
Winner's bracket
North Carolina A&T 1
North Carolina A&T 2
Medaille 0
3 Arkansas State 2 -
North Carolina A&T 0 -
Sacred Heart 2
Medaille 0
Sacred Heart 0
Loser's bracket
North Carolina A&T 2

Pittsburgh Regional

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First round
Consolation first round
Second round
Consolation second round
Regional final
          
4 Nebraska 2
Mercyhurst 0
4 Nebraska 2
Winner's bracket
Duquesne 0
Stephen F. Austin 0
Duquesne 2
4 Nebraska 2 -
Stephen F. Austin 1 -
Mercyhurst 1
Stephen F. Austin 2
Stephen F. Austin 2
Loser's bracket
Duquesne 1

Finals

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Las Vegas, Nevada

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First round
Consolation first round
Second round
Consolation second round
Championship final
          
1 McKendree 0
4 Nebraska 2
4 Nebraska 0
Winner's bracket
3 Arkansas State 2
2 Vanderbilt 0
3 Arkansas State 2
3 Arkansas State 3
2 Vanderbilt 4
1 McKendree 0
2 Vanderbilt 2
2 Vanderbilt 2
Loser's bracket
4 Nebraska 0

References

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  1. ^ "NC Bowling Championship History | NCAA.com". www.ncaa.com. Retrieved May 4, 2019.
  2. ^ "Vanderbilt wins third NCAA bowling championship". WKRN News 2. 2023-04-16. Retrieved 2023-09-23.
  3. ^ Sparks, Adam. "Vanderbilt bowling going for national title at 5:30 p.m. on ESPNU". The Tennessean. Retrieved 2023-09-23.
  4. ^ https://www.wsmv.com/2023/04/16/vanderbilt-women-beat-arkansas-st-win-ncaa-bowling-title/
  5. ^ https://www.kait8.com/2023/04/09/a-state-bowling-punches-ticket-las-vegas-ncaa-championship/
  6. ^ a b c d e https://ncaaorg.s3.amazonaws.com/championships/sports/bowling/nc/NCWBW_SeasonandChampionshipInformation.pdf
  7. ^ https://www.ncaa.com/_flysystem/public-s3/images/2023/04/14/BRACKET_WBW_ChampionshipBracket_2023_FINALS.pdf
  8. ^ "2023 NCAA bowling championship selections announced | NCAA.com". www.ncaa.com. Retrieved 2023-09-23.
  9. ^ a b NCAA.com. "Vanderbilt wins 2023 NCAA bowling championship | NCAA.com". www.ncaa.com. Retrieved 2023-09-23.
  10. ^ http://sidearm.nextgen.sites.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/huskers.com/documents/2023/4/8/BRACKET_WBW_ChampionshipBracket_2023_REGIONALS.pdf