C-USA adding bowling for 2023-24 season
5/10/2023 11:05:00 AM | Women's Bowling
DALLAS — After competing in the Southland Bowling League in previous seasons, Sam Houston will be part of Conference USA as the league announced Wednesday it is adding the sport for the 2023-24 season.
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"We are very excited to add bowling to Conference USA," C-USA Commissioner Judy MacLeod said. "We look forward to this very competitive group of programs challenging for national championships every year. We are thankful to Chris Grant and the Southland Conference for the collaboration resulting in the transition of these programs and the automatic qualifier status to C-USA."
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Conference USA will be comprised of nine programs during its first season, joining the Bearkats are Arkansas State, Jacksonville State, Louisiana Tech, Stephen F. Austin, Tulane, Valparaiso, Vanderbilt and Youngstown State.
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Six of those nine programs were a part of the 2023 NCAA Championship, including the national champion, Vanderbilt, and the national runner-up, Arkansas State. Dating back to 2014, this group of institutions has won five of the past nine national championships (Stephen F. Austin in 2016 and 2019, Vanderbilt in 2018 and 2023 and Sam Houston in 2014).
"This is a huge step forward for our sport, all of our university programs' brands, and for potential future Division I expansion," Bearkat bowling coach Brad Hagen said. "We can't be more thankful for everyone at C-USA for their efforts and all that has been done to get C-USA bowling recognized. We're all very thankful for the opportunity to represent the C-USA that keeps exemplifying growth and expansion."
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Sam Houston was selected to the Arlington Regional as an at-large bid this past season, marking the 11th time in 13 years the Kats had qualified for the NCAA Championships. The program made it to the regional finals where it lost to the No. 1 overall seed McKendree.
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Bowling has been an NCAA-sponsored sport since the 2003-04 season, with the first NCAA Championship taking place in 2004. For the 2022-23 academic year, 100 NCAA institutions participated in the sport.
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"We are very excited to add bowling to Conference USA," C-USA Commissioner Judy MacLeod said. "We look forward to this very competitive group of programs challenging for national championships every year. We are thankful to Chris Grant and the Southland Conference for the collaboration resulting in the transition of these programs and the automatic qualifier status to C-USA."
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Conference USA will be comprised of nine programs during its first season, joining the Bearkats are Arkansas State, Jacksonville State, Louisiana Tech, Stephen F. Austin, Tulane, Valparaiso, Vanderbilt and Youngstown State.
Â
Six of those nine programs were a part of the 2023 NCAA Championship, including the national champion, Vanderbilt, and the national runner-up, Arkansas State. Dating back to 2014, this group of institutions has won five of the past nine national championships (Stephen F. Austin in 2016 and 2019, Vanderbilt in 2018 and 2023 and Sam Houston in 2014).
"This is a huge step forward for our sport, all of our university programs' brands, and for potential future Division I expansion," Bearkat bowling coach Brad Hagen said. "We can't be more thankful for everyone at C-USA for their efforts and all that has been done to get C-USA bowling recognized. We're all very thankful for the opportunity to represent the C-USA that keeps exemplifying growth and expansion."
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Sam Houston was selected to the Arlington Regional as an at-large bid this past season, marking the 11th time in 13 years the Kats had qualified for the NCAA Championships. The program made it to the regional finals where it lost to the No. 1 overall seed McKendree.
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Bowling has been an NCAA-sponsored sport since the 2003-04 season, with the first NCAA Championship taking place in 2004. For the 2022-23 academic year, 100 NCAA institutions participated in the sport.
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