OFFICIAL NCAA NATIONAL COLLEGIATE BOWLING CHAMPIONSHIPS RELEASE
TOURNAMENT BRACKET
TOURNAMENT HISTORY
NCAA BOWLING RPI

(LEBANON, Ill., March 27)—For the fourth consecutive year, McKendree University has punched its ticket to the NCAA National Collegiate Bowling Championships.
 
The Bearcats earned the No. 2 seed in the 12-team field that will compete for the 2019 NCAA title. McKendree is one of four programs to earn an opening-round bye and will head to RollHouse Wickliffe in Wickliffe, Ohio for the championship matches to be held April 11-13. The Bearcats will take on the winner of an opening-round match between the University of Maryland-Eastern Shore and Bowie State University.
 
One of eight institutions to earn automatic qualification into the 2019 NCAA National Collegiate Bowling Championships, McKendree will enter the national tournament as the No. 2 seed for the second straight year. The Bearcats won a pair of matches as the No. 2 seed at the 2018 tournament held in St. Louis and reached the title match, falling in a best-of-seven Baker final to Vanderbilt University that went the distance.
 
In 2017, McKendree won the NCAA title by sweeping past the University of Nebraska in the championship match, becoming the first non-NCAA Division I program to win the bowling title. In their first NCAA National Collegiate Bowling Championships appearance in 2016, the Bearcats reached the semifinal round.
 
Vanderbilt is the No. 1 seed heading into the 2019 NCAA National Collegiate Bowling Championships. McKendree and Vanderbilt are joined by Nebraska and Sam Houston State University as the four teams to receive opening-round byes.
 
In the opening-round matches, Stephen F. Austin State University will face off against Prairie View A&M on April 5, while the Maryland-Eastern Shore/Bowie State match along with a contest between Sacred Heart University and Caldwell University will take place on April 6. The final opening-round match will pit Arkansas State University against Medaille College on April 9. The winners of all four opening-round contests will advance to the final site in Ohio.

The format for the 2019 NCAA National Collegiate Bowling Championships will be the same as the one employed for the first time last year. The championship bracket will be a double-elimination, with each round consisting of a best-of-three match that includes the use of three team game formats: Baker total pin fall, five-person team match and a best-of-seven Baker match play. The 2019 national champion will be determined using a best-of-seven Baker match that will take place on Saturday, April 13 at 6:30 p.m. ET and will air on ESPNU.
 
McKendree has been ranked at or near the top of the National Tenpin Coaches Association (NTCA) poll all season long. The Bearcats produced a season match record of 82-34, winning four in-season tournaments in 2018-19. McKendree captured back-to-back titles at the Track Kat Klash and Warhawk Invitationals in November before winning the Big Red Invitational in early March. The Bearcats' fourth victory came at last week's Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) Bowling Championships held in Springfield, Mo. It marked the second straight MIAA title for the Bearcats.
 
Fans can purchase tickets to the 2019 NCAA National Collegiate Bowling Championships by visiting www.ncaa.com.