Preseason NCAA Bowling Rankings

Bulldogs Ranked No. 10 in Preseason Poll - LA Tech Athletics (latechsports.com)

C-USA has 7 in the preseason Top 10, and #22. Only Valparaiso is unranked.

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1 Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN (C-USA) 51 2148 94-29-0 (.638) 1
2 Arkansas State University, Jonesboro, AR (C-USA) 3 1940 78-29-0 (.634) 2
3 University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE (INDEPENDENT) 1846 80-37-0 (.633) 4
4 North Carolina A&T, Greensboro, NC (MEAC) 1584 89-32-0 (.622) 6
5 Stephen F. Austin State University, Nacogdoches, TX (C-USA) 1564 81-38-0 (.625) 5
6 Youngstown State, Youngstown, OH (C-USA) 1424 80-41-0 (.616) 7
7 Jacksonville State University, Jacksonville, AL (C-USA) 2 1406 N/A N/A
8 Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, TX (C-USA) 1311 78-45-0 (.608) 9
9 Maryville University, St. Louis, MO (GLVC) 1269 94-41-0 (.610) 8
10 Louisiana Tech University, Ruston, LA (C-USA) 1216 77-43-0 (.599) 10
11 Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, PA (NEC) 940 69-30-0 (.598) 12
12 Univ. of Maryland Eastern Shore, Princess Anne, MD (MEAC) 896 75-44-0 (.597) 11
13 Newman University, Wichita, KS (GLVC) 826 71-34-0 (.597) 13
14 McKendree University, Lebanon, IL (GLVC) 622 100-17-0 (.665) 3
15 Fairleigh Dickinson University, Teaneck, NJ (NEC) 592 79-40-0 (.591) 15
16 Mercyhurst University, Erie, PA (ECC) 455 83-38-0 (.590) 14
17 Sacred Heart University, Fairfield, CT (NEC) 454 59-38-0 (.578) 17
18 Mount St. Mary's Univ., Emmitsburg, MD (INDEPENDENT) 442 80-48-0 (.579) 20
19 University of Central Missouri, Warrensburg, MO (GLVC) 382 72-48-0 (.577) 19
20 University of Wisconsin, Whitewater, WI (INDEPENDENT) 377 64-47-0 (.571) 18
21 Lincoln Memorial University, Harrogate, TN (ECC) 355 64-42-0 (.579) 16
22 Tulane University, New Orleans, LA (C-USA) 271 71-49-0 (.566) 22
23 Delaware State University, Dover, DE (MEAC) 239 53-31-0 (.576) 23
24 Merrimack College, North Andover, MA (NEC) 110 51-28-0 (.561) 25
25 Morgan State University, Baltimore, MD (MEAC) 105 54-41-0 (.566) 24

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Jacksonville State hasn't even bowled a match EVER and is ranked 7th.

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The Gamecocks are diving head first into collegiate bowling after hiring one of the top names in professional and international bowling in O'Keefe. She and husband Bryan O'Keefe bring high expectations and one of the nation's most decorated rosters to Jax State's newest sport.

O'Keefe, who spent the previous nine seasons winning four national titles and coaching over 40 All-Americans at McKendree University. Six members of her 2022-23 team at McKendree transferred to Jax State and will compete for the Gamecocks in 2023-24. Seven of the nine players on the Jax State roster have won at least one national title, while over half of the players with collegiate experience have at least one All-America honor in their careers.

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The team is #10 in the country but have to go to Fort Worth, TX to hold our own tournament? We couldn't find a suitable bowling alley anywhere in the State of Louisiana to hold the Bulldog Classic?

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Originally Posted by kfj

The team is #10 in the country but have to go to Fort Worth, TX to hold our own tournament? We couldn't find a suitable bowling alley anywhere in the State of Louisiana to hold the Bulldog Classic?

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I think it's more for convenience. Easier to fly in to DFW than Shreveport or Monroe. We have schools from New York, DC, Nashville, NOLA at last years tournament. Or it's what the coach wants.

In 2020 we held tournaments in Tennessee & Dallas 2020-21 Women's Bowling Schedule - LA Tech Athletics (latechsports.com)

There are not many centers in Louisiana could field a college tournament comfortably. There are centers in BR and New Orleans that have 64 lanes. There are others large enough to do i it but it is mostly in south Louisiana. Compared to 30 years ago, Louisiana has REALLY lost a lot when it comes to bowling opportunity.

North Louisiana barely fields high school teams - almost all of them are from Shreveport --- a few in Alexandra. Everything else is south Louisiana. It would be NICE to see some traction in the Monroe area but I am not familiar with whether there is even a place that is WILLING to do it. That has been the problem. Proprietors in some parts of the state are not very supportive of high school or college bowling. We bowled playoffs one year and the proprietor was really annoyed that we were taking up lane utilization on the Sunday before playoffs. I get it, they have people to pay and profits to make but as a high school coach, I am growing your future recurring revenue.

Furthermore increasingly some bowling centers do not have lanes that are USBC compliant and the more they are ordered towards video games, beer and pizza as opposed to league play, the more likely they are NOT compliant. So just because there are lanes, does not mean there is an opportunity to host.

Wichita State is adding NCAA bowling soon. They have been a power for decades in non-NCAA play and will be immediately relevant.

Also, Louisiana has sent girls to Nebraska, Lincoln Memorial and SCAD (non NCAA, solid program) in recent years (last two) --- Tech has been bringing in kids nationally and they are typically top tier.

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Originally Posted by kfj

The team is #10 in the country but have to go to Fort Worth, TX to hold our own tournament?

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Oh man, this was right in my backyard! I wish I'd have seen that this was going on.

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Originally Posted by inudesu

Oh man, this was right in my backyard! I wish I'd have seen that this was going on.

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Follow them on X. @LATechBOWL is consistent. And the coach is active on X. Coach @MattNantais is also active.

They're a good follow,

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Originally Posted by Dawgpix

Follow them on X. @LATechBOWL is consistent. And the coach is active on X. Coach @MattNantais is also active.

They're a good follow,

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I think I do, but was just too busy enjoying the weather to look much at twitter. We'd have gone for sure. I'll have to keep a closer eye on it from now on.

Ummm college bowling is difficult to watch. The teams stand. Unless you have a good vantage point, which you typically do not, it is not the most fan friendly event. Watch the live feeds. They are from a vantage point where you can see.

HS bowling in Louisiana - when it is two top teams - is way more entertaining.

I keep holding out hope one day that the NCAA will come up with a method of having team v team events that run about 1.5-2 hours consisting of three traditional games and a group of bakers to round it out. That way, two universities could schedule a 1v1 match in a short block that is fan friendly and matters. It would be even BETTER if they went to a head to head matchup scoring system. The biggest problem with team bowling scoring is that it lacks consistency. Nearly every adult league, youth league, high school association has different scoring. College is closer to standard, but it is tournament based and the real show is when they decide the qualifiers and bowl head to head in the brackets to decide the tournament championships and placing. BUT the format changes in the middle of the event. Not only that, the NCAA championship format is different than the ITC format. It is a problem that I believe is holding the sport back.

People watch football, basketball, tennis etc. because it isn't that complicated to understand the game. I literally have to have a parent meeting every year before HS bowling season to explain the scoring format and then trust that they can do enough math in their head to keep up. They can't. I have to tell them the score almost every time. My kids don't even know what the score is during the match unless I let them know. We have a spreadsheet that calculates the score for us during matches and then we tell our kids --- yeah, we are up 12-4. We need two points to cover the win.

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Originally Posted by weunice

Ummm college bowling is difficult to watch. The teams stand. Unless you have a good vantage point, which you typically do not, it is not the most fan friendly event. Watch the live feeds. They are from a vantage point where you can see.

HS bowling in Louisiana - when it is two top teams - is way more entertaining.

I keep holding out hope one day that the NCAA will come up with a method of having team v team events that run about 1.5-2 hours consisting of three traditional games and a group of bakers to round it out. That way, two universities could schedule a 1v1 match in a short block that is fan friendly and matters. It would be even BETTER if they went to a head to head matchup scoring system. The biggest problem with team bowling scoring is that it lacks consistency. Nearly every adult league, youth league, high school association has different scoring. College is closer to standard, but it is tournament based and the real show is when they decide the qualifiers and bowl head to head in the brackets to decide the tournament championships and placing. BUT the format changes in the middle of the event. Not only that, the NCAA championship format is different than the ITC format. It is a problem that I believe is holding the sport back.

People watch football, basketball, tennis etc. because it isn't that complicated to understand the game. I literally have to have a parent meeting every year before HS bowling season to explain the scoring format and then trust that they can do enough math in their head to keep up. They can't. I have to tell them the score almost every time. My kids don't even know what the score is during the match unless I let them know. We have a spreadsheet that calculates the score for us during matches and then we tell our kids --- yeah, we are up 12-4. We need two points to cover the win.

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Well, now I feel a little better about missing a Tech sporting event right down the road.

It sure seems like you'd try to make a sport at least a little fan-friendly.

So they are bowling in the New Orleans area Fri-Sun if you are interested. It is free if you are in the area and they are trying to get folks to come out. Colonial Lanes in Harahan.

If you have 9 members in a sport and all 9 are in the top twenty, is that good?

1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 9, 11, 12, 19.

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Originally Posted by inudesu

If you have 9 members in a sport and all 9 are in the top twenty, is that good?

1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 9, 11, 12, 19.

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Decent

Guess we're a "bowling" school now...

2/3 of CUSA made the national tournament.

Looks like we'll be right down the road from me in our region - https://conferenceusa.com/news/2024/...-to-ncaas.aspx

But if it's not a good spectator sport, I guess I won't try to go spectate it.