Music City Classic Features Top Field
3/17/2016 9:49:00 AM | Women's Bowling
Traveling to Smyrna, Tennessee, for the most talent-laden tournament in which they have played during the 2015-16 regular season, the No. 4 ranked Sam Houston women's bowling team sees the Columbia 300 Music City Classic this weekend as one last major opportunity to impress the selection committee for the NCAA Championships.
Twenty-three of the top 25 teams in the latest National Tenpin Coaches Association rankings will be competing in the event being held at the Smyrna Bowling Center. The only ranked teams missing are No. 15 Kutztown and No. 20 Norfolk State.
Eight teams will earn berths in the NCAA Championships April 14-16 in North Brunswick, New Jersey. The Music City event is Sam Houston's next-to-last tournament. The Kats will wrap up the season with the Southland Bowling Conference championships March 25-26 in New Orleans.
“This weekend gives us one more opportunity to add to our resume for the NCAA committee,” Sam Houston head coach Brad Hagen said. “It's crunch time.”
Sam Houston enters the tournament as one of only three teams in the country with more than 80 dual match wins. No. 3 ranked Vanderbilt holds an 88-30 record while No. 1 Nebraska stands 80-28. Sam Houston owns an 83-37 mark that includes 57 wins over top 25 teams. The Kats have a 5-5 record versus Nebraska and a 5-4 mark with Vanderbilt. No. 2 Arkansas State is the only top 10 team with a winning record over the Kats. ASU has won seven of its eight meetings with the SHSU women this season.
The Music City Classic, hosted by Vanderbilt, will consist of six baker four-game matches on Friday, six five-person traditional team contests on Saturday and three baker best of seven matches in bracket play on Sunday.
The Sam Houston women have participated in the Music City Classic each of the program's five years. The Bearkats have won 50 of their 74 matches in Smyrna in the period. The team's top finish in the event was seventh place in 2013.
Sam Houston has earned NCAA Elite Eight berths four times including each of the past three years. The Bearkats won the 2014 National Championship and reached the NCAA semifinals last year.
