 | |
| Sport | College Bowling |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2004 |
| No. of teams | 98 (regular season, 2024–25) 19 (championship, 2025) |
| Most recent champion | Youngstown State (1) |
| Most titles | Nebraska (6) |
| Broadcaster | ESPNU |
| Official website | NCAA.com |
TheNCAABowling Championship is a sanctioned women's championship in college athletics. Unlike many NCAA sports, only oneNational Collegiate championship is held each season with teams fromDivision I,Division II, andDivision III competing together. Nineteen teams, eleven of them automatic qualifiers and the other eight being at-large selections, are chosen by the NCAA Bowling Committee to compete in the championship. The championship was first held inApril 2004.
The most successful team isNebraska with 6 titles.Youngstown State is the reigning champion, defeating 2024 championJacksonville State 4 games to 3 in the 2025 championship held at Suncoast Bowling Center in Las Vegas, NV.
Nebraska is the only program to qualify for all 21 NCAA Bowling Championships since the NCAA started sponsoring bowling in the 2003–04 season.[1]
In July 2025, the Division II Management Council recommended that the division's executive board sponsor legislation that would establish a separate D-II bowling championship. This legislation is expected to be considered by the D-II membership at the 2026 NCAA convention.[2] The Division II Championships Committee had started a feasibility study for a D-II bowling championship after the 2023–24 school year, at which time 38 D-II members sponsored the sport. Under current Division II rules, 35 members must sponsor a sport before a separate D-II championship can be established. Should the final legislation be approved in 2026, the first D-II bowling championship would take place in April 2028; current NCAA rules require that once a division-specific championship is approved for a sport that uses the National Collegiate format, two National Collegiate championships must be held before the division championship can start.[3]
The collegiate bowling season runs from late October through the end of March, and the National Collegiate Women's Bowling Championship is held in April.
The format for the championships from 2004 to 2017 began with qualifying rounds in which each team bowled one five-person regular team game against each of the other seven teams participating in the championship.
Teams would then beseeded for bracket play based on their qualifying rounds win–loss record and then competed in best-of-seven-gamesBaker matches in a double elimination tournament. In the Baker format, each of the five team members, in order, bowls one frame until a complete (10-frame) game is bowled. A Baker match tied 3½ games to 3½ games after seven games is decided by a tiebreaker, using the Modified Baker format, which takes the scoring from only frames 6 thru 10.[4]
In previous years, all eight participants received at-large bids. In 2018 the NCAA Women's Bowling Committee selected a field of ten participants. Six teams are automatic qualifiers from the conferences that have been granted an automatic bid, and the other four receive at-large bids. At that time, the six conferences that fulfilled the criteria to be granted an automatic qualifier were theDivision IMid-Eastern Athletic Conference,Northeast Conference,Southland Bowling League, andSouthwestern Athletic Conference, plus theDivision IICentral Intercollegiate Athletic Association andEast Coast Conference. The ten participants were ranked and seeded based on the criteria used by the selection committee. The top six seeds automatically entered the championship bracket. The four lowest-seeded teams played in on-campus opening round matches to determine the two participants advancing to the eight-team championship bracket. To minimize travel costs, the matchups were determined by geographical proximity rather than seedings.[5]
In 2019, the championship field expanded from 10 to 12 teams, coinciding with two new conferences fulfilling the criteria for automatic qualification—theDivision IIMid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA) and theDivision IIIAllegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference. Accordingly, eight conference champions received automatic bids, and the NCAA Women's Bowling Committee selected four at-large teams to fill out the 12-team field. The top four teams were seeded into the Championship bracket, while the eight remaining teams competed in four play-in matches. The winners of these matches were seeded into the eight-team championship bracket.[6]
Qualifying rounds were eliminated in favor of a seeded double-elimination bracket. Each match within the bracket consisted of best-of-three matches using specified formats (five-person regular team matches, Baker total pinfall, and Baker match play).
The championship finals were a best-of-seven match using Baker match play rules.[7] The tiebreaker rule used through 2017 will still apply to Baker match play in the new format.
The championship was scheduled to expand to 16 teams in 2020. The number of automatic bids was reduced by one after the MIAA bowling league disbanded at the end of the 2018–19 season. Although five schools that had participated in the final season of MIAA bowling became part of the new bowling league of theGreat Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC), those schools were not in the same bowling league for a sufficient time to allow the GLVC to inherit the MIAA's automatic bid.[8]
The 2020 tournament was intended to be the first to feature regional play. The field was to be split into four regions, each with four teams competing at predetermined sites; each of the top four seeds as chosen by the NCAA selection committee would be placed in a separate regional. Each regional was to be played as a double-elimination tournament, with the format identical to that introduced for the championship event in 2019. All regional matches, except for what the NCAA calls "if necessary regional finals", are 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" will be Baker best-of-seven.[8] Regional winners will advance to the championship event, which will also be double-elimination. All matches will be bowled under the standard format for regionals (best-of-three matches using specified formats in a specific order) except the championship final, which will be Baker best-of-seven.[8]
On March 12, 2020, theNCAA announced that the 2020 tournament was canceled due to theCOVID-19 pandemic.[9]
The 2021 tournament featured six automatic berths (CIAA had its championship cancelled due to COVID-19) and ten at-large selections. This was the first tournament to feature regional play. Both regional and championship rounds were all played at one site.[10] The 2022 tournament saw the number of automatic bids increase by two, to eight, with the GLVC champion receiving an automatic bid for its champion and the CIAA champion returning after a one-year absence. There were eight at-large selections. For the first time, regional competition took place at four predetermined regional sites - Erie, PA, Rochester, NY, Lansing, MI, and Arlington, TX, with the regional winners advancing to the championship round.[11] The 2023 tournament saw the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin gain an automatic bid, bringing the total number of automatic bids to nine. Eight at-large selections and four predetermined regional sites carried over from the 2022 tournament.[12] The 2024 tournament saw the bowling alliance between Conference Carolinas and the Great Midwest Athletic Conference gain an automatic bid, bringing the total number of automatic bids to ten. Eight at-large selections and four predetermined regional sites carried over from the 2023 tournament.[13] The 2025 tournament saw the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference gain an automatic bid, bringing the total number of automatic bids to eleven. Eight at-large selections and four predetermined regional sites carried over from the 2024 tournament.[14]
All schools are listed with their current athletic brand names, which do not always match those used by a school in the relevant season.
| NCAA National Collegiate Bowling Championship | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Site | Championship | ||||||
| Winner | Score | Runner-up | Individual Games | Most Valuable Bowler | Ref | |||
| 2004 Details | Emerald Bowl Houston, Texas | Nebraska | 4–2 | Central Missouri | 170–131, 160–208, 185–190, 239–150, 219–197, 215–173[Note 1] | Shannon Pluhowsky, Nebraska | [15] | |
| 2005 Details | Wekiva Lanes Orlando, Florida | Nebraska | 4–2 | Central Missouri | 220–210, 247–266, 148–192, 205–190, 190–172, 235–184[Note 2] | Amanda Burgoyne, Nebraska | [16][17] | |
| 2006 Details | Emerald Bowl Houston, Texas | Fairleigh Dickinson | 4–1 | Alabama A&M | 209–165, 148–184, 172–165, 200–179, 196–165[Note 3] | Lisa Friscioni, Fairleigh Dickinson | [18] | |
| 2007 Details | Wekiva Lanes Apopka, Florida | Vanderbilt | 4–3 | Maryland Eastern Shore | 167–164, 242–166, 154–202, 148–170, 224–180, 178–235, 198–150[Note 4] | Josie Earnest, Vanderbilt | [19][20] | |
| 2008 Details | Thunder Alley Omaha, Nebraska | Maryland Eastern Shore | 4–2 | Arkansas State | 179–223, 200–181, 180–182, 217–164, 175–152, 174–170 | Jessica Worsley, Maryland Eastern Shore | [21][22] | |
| 2009 Details | Super Bowl Lanes Canton, Michigan | Nebraska | 4–1 | Central Missouri | 200–185, 149–198, 201–168, 201–177, 190–135 | Cassandra Leuthold, Nebraska | [23] | |
| 2010 Details | Brunswick Zone Carolier Lanes North Brunswick, New Jersey | Fairleigh Dickinson | 4–3 | Nebraska | 209–167, 202–222, 203–213, 229–192, 201–222, 230–190, 208–174 | Danielle McEwan, Fairleigh Dickinson | [24] | |
| 2011 Details | Skore Lanes Taylor, Michigan | Maryland Eastern Shore | 4–2 | Vanderbilt | 215–197, 164–193, 201–248, 234–204, 235–166, 192–181 | Kristina Frahm, Maryland Eastern Shore | [25][26] | |
| 2012 Details | Freeway Lanes Wickliffe, Ohio | Maryland Eastern Shore | 4–2 | Fairleigh Dickinson | 222–204, 236–215, 167–249, 208–168, 170–223, 203–176 | T'nia Falbo, Maryland Eastern Shore | [27] | |
| 2013 Details | Super Bowl Lanes Canton, Michigan | Nebraska | 4½–2½ | Vanderbilt | 211–199, 186–197, 156–169, 190–190, 196–189, 202–182, 246–200 | Liz Kuhlkin, Nebraska | [28] | |
| 2014 | Game of Wickliffe Wickliffe, Ohio | Sam Houston | 4–2 | Nebraska | 181–166, 182–187, 193–190, 189–197, 205–191, 195–165 | Kimi Davidson, Sam Houston | [29][30] | |
| 2015 | Tropicana Lanes Richmond Heights, Missouri | Nebraska | 4–2 | Stephen F. Austin | 237–232, 178–253, 201–171, 179–188, 205–201, 195–154 | Julia Bond, Nebraska | [31] | |
| 2016 | Brunswick Zone Carolier Lanes North Brunswick, New Jersey | Stephen F. Austin | 4–3 | Nebraska | 193–205, 238–198, 265–242, 164–227, 196–187, 160–237, 247–192 | Kiara Grant, Stephen F. Austin | [32] | |
| 2017 | Raising Cane's River Center Baton Rouge, Louisiana | McKendree | 4–0 | Nebraska | 182–169, 244–192, 224–212, 240–223 | Breanna Clemmer, McKendree | [33] | |
| 2018 Details | Tropicana Lanes Richmond Heights, Missouri | Vanderbilt | 4–3 | McKendree | 224–204, 174–233, 182–193, 233–204, 203–255, 208–205, 220–191 | Emily Rigney & Katie Stark, Vanderbilt | [34] | |
| 2019 Details | RollHouse Wickliffe Wickliffe, Ohio | Stephen F. Austin | 4–1 | Vanderbilt | 167–183, 222–166, 203–175, 224–190, 213–202 | Paige Beeney, Stephen F. Austin | [35] | |
| 2020 | Thunderbowl Lanes Allen Park, Michigan | Canceled due to theCOVID-19 pandemic | [9] | |||||
| 2021 Details | AMF Pro Lanes North Kansas City, Missouri | Nebraska | 4–1 | Arkansas State | 217–224, 235–194, 201–190, 179–162, 198–170 | Crystal Elliott, Nebraska | [36] | |
| 2022 Details | Wayne Webb's Columbus Bowl Columbus, Ohio | McKendree | 4–0 | Stephen F. Austin | 201–188, 200–188, 186–182, 215–189 | Hope Gramly, McKendree | [37] | |
| 2023 Details | South Point Hotel Enterprise, Nevada | Vanderbilt | 4–3 | Arkansas State | 156–191, 171–189, 215–198, 159–196, 205–156, 193–187, 193–160 | Jennifer Loredo, Vanderbilt | [38] | |
| 2024 | Thunderbowl Lanes Allen Park, Michigan | Jacksonville State | 4–3 | Arkansas State | 239–194, 204–211, 244–207, 183–221, 205–255, 237–190, 255–192 | Rebecca Hagerman, Jacksonville State | [39] | |
| 2025 | Suncoast Bowling Center Las Vegas, Nevada | Youngstown State | 4–3 | Jacksonville State | 204–199, 248–210, 206–258, 244–226, 200–223, 214–232, 228–203 | Jade Cote, Youngstown State | [40] | |
| 2026 | RollHouse Wickliffe Wickliffe, Ohio[41] | |||||||
| 2027 | AMF Mt. Lebanon Lanes Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania[42] | |||||||
| 2028 | Royal Scot Golf & Bowl Lansing, Michigan[43] | |||||||
| Team | # | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Nebraska | 6 | 2004, 2005, 2009, 2013, 2015, 2021 |
| Maryland Eastern Shore | 3 | 2008, 2011, 2012 |
| Vanderbilt | 2007, 2018, 2023 | |
| Fairleigh Dickinson | 2 | 2006, 2010 |
| McKendree | 2017, 2022 | |
| Stephen F. Austin | 2016, 2019 | |
| Jacksonville State | 1 | 2024 |
| Sam Houston | 2014 | |
| Youngstown State | 2025 |
47 teams have appeared in the NCAA Tournament in at least one year starting with 2004. The results for all years are shown in this table below.[44] Conference affiliations in the table reflect those in place for the 2025–26 school year. The code in each cell represents the furthest the team made it in the respective tournament:
2004 through 2019
| 2021 through present
|
A total of98 teams[a] are competing in the 2024–25 season:
| NCAA |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Division I |
| |
| Division II |
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| Division III |
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| Single-division or National Collegiate sports and championships |
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| Litigation | ||
| Related topics | ||
