NCAA Bowling Tournament Live Thread

The NCAA bowling championship kicks off Friday at 8:00 AM CDT. Vanderbilt is the #3 national seed, behind #1 McKendree and #2 Nebraska.

But for this weekend, Vandy is the 1-seed in the (checks notes) scenic Lansing, Michigan regional. Joining Vanderbilt will be 2-seed Arkansas State (w/admittedly neat logo), 3-seed Youngstown State (w/adorable penguin mascots), and 4-seed Alabama State (w/snowball’s chance).

The regional is double-elimination, so win or lose, Vandy will take on Arkansas State or Youngstown State at 2:00 PM CDT later on Friday.

Video: Vanderbilt is streaming their games on the official athletics YouTube page.

Bracket: Here is the full PDF bracket with all 4 regionals, but since it’s written in inexplicably tiny font, I can’t embed the image. Oh forget it, let’s just edit up something more readable and not entirely stupid:

This works like the Southland Bowling League championship. Teams bowl a traditional game, and then 5 Baker games. Highest pin count wins in both of those. If the two teams split those, they go to a best-of-7 Baker match, where head-to-head scores count instead.

Vanderbilt can beat anyone in this regional, but if they advance, they’ll earn it. Arkansas State is a 50-50 matchup.

Youngstown State’s anchor bowler, Emma Wrenn, pulled a hamstring in the SBL Championship game. Even then, she still made the all-tournament team. If she’s back, the Penguins are easily capable of winning the regional title as well.

Alabama State is essentially Barry Horowitz or the Mulkey Brothers, depending on your 1980s wrestling predilections. That said, D-3 Medaille knocked off Nebraska last year, and the Mulkeys beat the Gladiators, so anything is possible.

Vanderbilt bowling’s Twitter is invaluable for keeping track of scores, so give them a visit.

Anyway, join in! Or just discuss fast food chicken or your lunch plans for the day, whatever works. Ger Ders!