A-State earns top seed in Southland Bowling Tournament
A-State Sports
Brian Cook, Graduate Student Assistant
JONESBORO – The 2018 Southland Bowling League Championship will take place March 23-25 at USA Bowl in Dallas, Texas. The double-elimination tournament will feature all eight league teams and will be streamed live on InsideBowling.com
The Red Wolves (82-33) earned the No. 1 seed by having the best NCAA RPI ranking of the league’s eight teams entering tournament weekend. A-State will face eighth-seeded Monmouth in its first match Friday morning at 8:30 a.m. If they win that match, the squad will face the winner of the No. 4 Stephen F. Austin and No. 5 Tulane match.
On the other side of the bracket, No. 3 Sam Houston State will face No. 6 Valparaiso and No. 2 Vanderbilt will take on No. 7 Louisiana Tech to complete the first round of the league championship.
Each match will follow a best-of-three format as teams will bowl one standard five-person game for total pinfall, then five baker games for total pinfall. If one team wins both the traditional game and baker games, they advance. If both teams split the standard and baker games, they will move on to a best-of-seven series of baker games. Teams will change lane pairs after each game.
For the first time in NCAA bowling history, automatic qualification to the NCAA tournament will be given to the winning team from qualified conferences’ championships, including the Southland Bowling League.
A-State previously placed third in the Columbia 300 Music City Classic, a tournament that featured 32 teams and 18 of the top 25 teams in the latest NTCA Coaches Poll.
Vanderbilt is the defending league champion after winning its second tournament title in three years at the 2017 championship, which was held in Jonesboro, Ark. Single session tickets, which permits entry for one day only, will cost $10. Three day session passes will permit entry to all matches, costs $15. Both children under the age of five and Southland Bowling League Institution students get in free with valid student ID.
Fans can keep up with the Arkansas State women’s bowling team by following the squad on Twitter (@AStateBowling) and by liking the Arkansas State Women’s Bowling page on Facebook.