2026 NCAA Women’s Bowling Championship Field Announced
INDIANAPOLIS — The NCAA Women’s Bowling Committee has announced the 19 teams that will compete for the 2026 National Collegiate Women’s Bowling Championship. Eleven conferences received automatic qualification, with the remaining eight teams selected at-large.
Automatic Qualifiers
The following conferences and their representatives earned automatic bids to the championship:
- Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference: Saint Vincent College
- Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference: Dominican (New York)
- Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association: Fayetteville State University
- College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin: Carroll University (Wisconsin)
- Conference Carolinas: Belmont Abbey College
- Conference USA: Jacksonville State
- East Coast Conference: Bryant University
- Great Lakes Valley Conference: Newman University
- Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference: North Carolina A&T State University
- Northeast Conference: Duquesne University
- Southwestern Athletic Conference: Alabama A&M University
At-Large Bids
The eight teams selected via the at-large process are:
- Arkansas State University
- Louisiana Tech University
- Maryville University of Saint Louis
- University of Nebraska, Lincoln
- Sam Houston State University
- Vanderbilt University
- Wichita State University
- Youngstown State University
Championship Format and Location
Regional competition will take place from April 2-4 at four predetermined sites. The winners of each regional will advance to the NCAA championship. The championship matches will be held April 10-11 at Yorktown Lanes in Parma Heights, Ohio, hosted by the Mid-American Conference and the Greater Cleveland Sports Commission.
All regionals will be double elimination, except for the opening round at five-team regional sites, which will be single elimination. Each round will consist of best-of-three matches, bowled in the following order: five-person team match, Baker total pinfall, and best-of-seven Baker match play. The championship will be determined by a best-of-seven Baker match play, with the final match airing on ESPNU at 6:30 p.m. Eastern time on Saturday, April 11.
More information about the National Collegiate Women’s Bowling Championship can be found at www.ncaa.com.
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