2015 NCAA Field To Be Announced Wednesday
3/24/2015 12:30:00 PM | Women's Bowling
The NCAA Division I women's bowling national committee will announce their selections Wednesday at 3 p.m. The NCAA Elite Eight will be held Thursday through Saturday, April 9-11 in Saint Louis, Missouri.
Sam Houston is the defending NCAA Division I women's bowling national champion. The Bearkats defeated four-time champion Nebraska in the finals last year.The five-year old Bearkat women's bowling program has earned a berth in the Elite Eight three times before and looks to go four-for-five Wednesday.
“We feel like we have done everything we can to put ourselves in a position to be selected,” Bearkat head coach Brad Hagen said. “We performed well in several of the top national tournaments and posted some outstanding head-to-head wins over top teams."
Win-loss record, results against the top 10 teams in the NCAA RPI standings, strength of schedule and head-to-head scores as among the key factors the committee will use to determine the field.
During the 2014-15 season, Sam Houston has compiled an overall record of 87 victories and only 42 losses in dual match play. That includes a 48-34 record against the teams in the current National Ten Pins Coaches Association (NTCA) top 20.
More importantly, Sam Houston stands 25-25 against teams in the top 10. The Bearkats rank No. 7 currently in the NTCA rankings. The squads judged to be the top eight in the country earn selection by the committee.
Sam Houston holds a 4-2 record head-to-head with No. 9 ranked Maryland-Eastern Shore and a 4-1 mark versus No. 10 North Carolina A&T.
All eight berths in the national tournament are at-large selections. Seedings for the Elite Eight are set during the first day of the NCAA event as the squads play a round-robin schedule. Double elimination match play begins on the second day.
