With March Madness finally over, sports fans across the country can finally start to focus on the tournament that actually matters: the NCAA Bowling Championship. In its 14th year, the annual college bowling tournament will be held in St. Louis, MO, on April 12-14, 2018. Out of 80 teams competing across three divisions, only 10 qualify for the tournament, with two out of 8 spots filled by play-in games. Nebraska, which is the only team in the country to qualify for all 14 NCAA tournaments, secured the #1 overall seed in the 2018 tournament. Having won five national titles, Nebraska will face stiff competition en route to their sixth.
Players to Watch:
1. Julia Bond (Nebraska)
A senior out of Aurora, Illinois, Bond made the NTCA All-American First Team in 2016 and 2017. Watch out for her to make a big impact come tournament time.
2. Kelly Belezski (Nebraska)
The other senior on the Big Red team, Belezski made the Academic All-Big Ten Team in 2016 and 2017. We’ll see if Belezski can help Nebraska roll their way to the title.
3. Kelly Huddleston (Nebraska)
Huddleston, a senior from Papillion, Nebraska, won the state championship all four years of high school! Look out for her to turn state titles into national titles
4. Rest of Nebraska roster (Nebraska)
Just watch the rest of the Nebraska roster. This is a Nebraska publication, who else do you expect me to tell you to watch?
Upset Alert:
Upsets are a staple of sports tournaments across the world. Bowling is no different. Here are a few teams that should be on upset alert heading into the tournament!
1. McKendree University
They won the title last year, beating Nebraska 4-0. They’re due for an early upset because they beat us last year. Yeah, still salty.
2. Arkansas State University
We beat them at football, so who’s to say we (or another team) won’t beat them at bowling?
3. Sam Houston State
Sam Houston isn’t even a state. First round upset will send them back to Sam Houston or wherever the hell they come from.
Cinderellas:
Every March Madness has Cinderellas, or teams that advance far into the tournament that aren’t expected to. Loyola-Chicago is a great example from this past March Madness. Here’s a few teams that could make a lot of noise in the upcoming bowling tournament.
1. Lit from “My Own Worst Enemy” music video
These guys seemed to bowl pretty good in their music video for “My Own Worst Enemy.” Look for Lit to carry their momentum from the 1999 music video to the 2018 NCAA tournament.
2. Average Joe’s
They had a pretty good career playing dodgeball and with a new gym, they can probably train their way to an NCAA bowling victory, too!
3. The Big Lebowski bowling team
The dude abides! We’ll see this tournament if he and his buddies can not only get back his rug, but get an NCAA title along the way.
Final Four Predictions:
1. Nebraska
I’m pretty much obligated to pick Nebraska to the Final Four, but they’ve played in 9 of the 14 national title matches, so this really isn’t all that unreasonable.
2. ITT Technical Institute
Having campuses in 38 states and over 40,000 students enrolled, it’s no surprise ITT Tech has a good crop of bowling talent.
3. Golden State Warriors
Golden State will probably find themselves in the championship match, like they do every single year. They’re just unstoppable.
4. Chunky Man
In middle school, I made a Mii character named Chunky Man to play Wii bowling and I almost bowled a 300 one time and averaged over a 200 in all my games. This guy is pretty good.
