2021 NCAA Bowling Championship

2021 NCAA Bowling Championship

Tournament details
Dates	April 7–10, 2021
Teams	16
Final positions
Champions	Nebraska (6th title)
Runners-up	Arkansas State (2nd title match)
←  2019 2022  →

The 2021 NCAA Bowling Championship was the 17th edition of the NCAA Bowling Championship, the annual tournament to determine the national champion of women's NCAA collegiate ten-pin bowling. ^[1] The tournament was hosted by the University of Central Missouri and played at the AMF Pro Bowl Lanes in North Kansas City, Missouri from April 7–10, 2021. ^[2]

Qualification

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 16 teams competed in the double elimination tournament, with six conference champions receiving automatic bids and ten teams receiving at-large bids. The teams were revealed in a selection show on March 31, 2021. ^[2]

Bids

Sixteen teams contested the tournament. The Southland Bowling League (SBL) had the most bids of any conference with five, while the Northeast Conference (NEC) had four and the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) had two. The Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC), Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC), East Coast Conference (ECC), and Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) sent only their conference tournament champion; the first three by an automatic bid and the last by an at-large bid. Additionally, one independent team received an at-large bid to the tournament.

Due in part to the tournament's expansion to sixteen teams, seven programs made their NCAA Tournament debut; three automatic qualifiers and four at-large bids.

Seed	Team	Conference	Bid type	Appearance	Last [a]	Ref
1	McKendree Bearcats	GLVC	At-large [b]	5th	2019	[3]
2	Nebraska Cornhuskers	Independent	At-large	17th	2019	[4]
3	North Carolina A&T Aggies	MEAC	Automatic	3rd	2018	[5]
4	Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters	SBL	At-large	1st	—	[6]
5	Fairleigh Dickinson Knights	NEC	Automatic	13th	2017	[7]
6	Arkansas State Red Wolves	SBL	At-large	13th	2019	[8]
7	Vanderbilt Commodores	SBL	Automatic	15th	2019	[9]
8	Duquesne Dukes	NEC	At-large	1st	—	[10]
9	Sacred Heart Pioneers	NEC	At-large	7th	2019	[11]
10	Mount St. Mary's Mountaineers	NEC	At-large	1st	—	[12]
11	Delaware State Hornets	MEAC	At-large	3rd	2010	[13]
12	Sam Houston State Bearkats	SBL	At-large	9th	2019	[14]
13	Youngstown State Penguins	SBL	At-large	1st	—	[15]
14	Prairie View A&M Panthers	SWAC	Automatic	1st	—	[16]
15	Medaille Mavericks	AMCC	Automatic	1st	—	[17]
16	Roberts Wesleyan Redhawks	ECC	Automatic	1st	—	[18]

1. Since the 2020 championship tournament was cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the last tournament to be held was in 2019.
2. McKendree won the GLVC tournament championship, but the conference does not have an automatic bid to the tournament for their champion.

Schedule

All times Central (UTC-05:00).

Round	Date	Time
Regional stage
First round	April 7	9:00 a.m.
Second round		3:00 p.m.
Consolation first round
Consolation second round	April 8	9:00 a.m.
Regional final		3:00 p.m.
Finals first round	April 9	9:00 a.m.
Finals consolation first round		3:00 p.m.
Finals second round
Finals consolation second round	April 10	9:00 a.m.
National championship Broadcast on ESPNU		6:00 p.m.

Tournament bracket

Region 1

	First round Consolation first round					Second round Consolation second round					Regional final
	1	McKendree	2
	16	Roberts Wesleyan	0
						1	McKendree	2
						9	Sacred Heart	1
	8	Duquesne	0
	9	Sacred Heart	2
											1	McKendree
											9	Sacred Heart
	Lower round 1					Lower final
						9	Sacred Heart	2
	16	Roberts Wesleyan	0			8	Duquesne	1
	8	Duquesne	2

Region 2

	First round Consolation first round					Second round Consolation second round					Regional final
	2	Nebraska	1
	15	Medaille	2
						15	Medaille	0
						7	Vanderbilt	2
	7	Vanderbilt	2
	10	Mount St. Mary's	0
											7	Vanderbilt
											2	Nebraska
	Lower round 1					Lower final
						15	Medaille	0
	2	Nebraska	2			2	Nebraska	2
	10	Mount St. Mary's	1

Region 3

	First round Consolation first round					Second round Consolation second round					Regional final
	3	North Carolina A&T	2
	14	Prairie View A&M	1
						3	North Carolina A&T	1
						6	Arkansas State	2
	6	Arkansas State	2
	11	Delaware State	0
											6	Arkansas State
											3	North Carolina A&T
	Lower round 1					Lower final
						3	North Carolina A&T	2
	14	Prairie View A&M	0			11	Delaware State	1
	11	Delaware State	2

Region 4

	First round Consolation first round					Second round Consolation second round					Regional final
	4	Louisiana Tech	0
	13	Youngstown State	2
						13	Youngstown State	2
						5	Fairleigh Dickinson	0
	5	Fairleigh Dickinson	2
	12	Sam Houston State	0
											13	Youngstown State
											12	Sam Houston State
	Lower round 1					Lower final
						5	Fairleigh Dickinson	1
	4	Louisiana Tech	1			12	Sam Houston State	2
	12	Sam Houston State	2

Finals

	Finals first round Consolation first round					Finals second round Consolation second round					National championship
	1	McKendree	2
	13	Youngstown State	0
						1	McKendree	1
						2	Nebraska	2
	2	Nebraska	2
	6	Arkansas State	0
											2	Nebraska
											6	Arkansas State
	Lower round 1					Lower final
						1	McKendree	1
	13	Youngstown State	1			6	Arkansas State	2
	6	Arkansas State	2

References

1. "NC Bowling Championship History | NCAA.com". www.ncaa.com. Retrieved May 4, 2019.
2. "2021 NCAA bowling championship: Selection show, schedule | NCAA.com". www.ncaa.com. Retrieved March 21, 2021.
3. "Women's Bowling Will Compete For National Championship". McKendree University Athletics. Retrieved March 3, 2021.
4. "Huskers Seeded Second For NCAA Championships". University of Nebraska. Retrieved April 3, 2021.
5. "A&T Returns to the NCAA Tournament As The No. 3 Seed". North Carolina A&T. Retrieved April 3, 2021.
6. "LA Tech Bowling Earns Fourth Seed at 2021 National Collegiate Women's Bowling Championship". LA Tech Athletics. Retrieved April 3, 2021.
7. "No. 7 Women's Bowling Wins 2021 NEC Title, Advances to 13th NCAA Tournament". Fairleigh Dickinson University Athletics. Retrieved April 3, 2021.
8. "A-State Set for 13th Straight Appearance in NCAA Bowling Championship". Arkansas State University. Retrieved April 3, 2021.
9. "Dores Draw Mount St. Mary's in Tourney". Vanderbilt University Athletics - Official Athletics Website. 31 March 2021. Retrieved April 3, 2021.
10. "Dukes Earn NCAA Championship at-Large Bid". Duquesne University Athletics. Retrieved April 3, 2021.
11. "Bowling Set to Compete in NCAA Tournament". Sacred Heart. 1 April 2021. Retrieved April 3, 2021.^{[ permanent dead link ]}
12. "Bowling Earns First-Ever NCAA Bid, Placed in Tennessee Region for USBC". Mount St. Mary's University. Retrieved April 3, 2021.
13. "DSU bowling receives NCAA Tournament bid!!!". Delaware State University. Retrieved April 3, 2021.
14. "Kats headed to 9th NCAA Championship". Sam Houston State University. Retrieved April 3, 2021.
15. "YSU Earns First Bid to Compete at NCAA Bowling Tournament". Youngstown State. 31 March 2021. Retrieved April 3, 2021.
16. "Bowling draws North Carolina A&T to begin NCAA Women's Bowling Championship". Prairie View A&M University Athletics. Retrieved April 3, 2021.
17. "Women's Bowling Set to Face University of Nebraska in NCAA Tournament". Medaille College Athletics. Retrieved April 3, 2021.
18. "Women's Bowling Wins ECC Championship". Roberts Wesleyan College Athletics. Retrieved April 3, 2021.