Southland Bowling League

Southland Bowling League
AssociationNCAA
Founded2015
Ceased2023
Sports fielded
DivisionNational Collegiate
No. of teams8
HeadquartersFrisco, Texas
Official websiteSouthland Bowling

The Southland Bowling League (SBL) was a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) bowling-only conference. The SBL was founded in 2015 for schools that sponsor women's bowling teams, but did not have bowling sponsored by their primary conferences. The SBL champion received an automatic bid to the NCAA Bowling Championship since the NCAA first awarded such bids in 2018. While the conference operated independently, administrative services were provided by the Southland Conference.[1][2] The SBL merged into Conference USA (CUSA) after the 2022–23 season, with CUSA inheriting the SBL's automatic championship berth.[3]

The SBL received at least three bids to the NCAA Championship in each season of its existence. Following the inaugural SBL Championship, four league teams (Arkansas State, Sam Houston State, Stephen F. Austin, and Vanderbilt) received at-large bids to the 2015 NCAA Championships, filling half of the eight available spots.[4][5] The same four teams would receive at-large bids to the 2016 NCAA Bowling Championships[6] and 2017 NCAA Bowling Championships.[7] In 2018, the first year for automatic bids to the NCAA Championship and also the first year for a 10-team championship event, Vanderbilt earned the automatic bid and Arkansas State and Sam Houston received at-large bids. In 2019, Sam Houston State earned the automatic bid, while Arkansas State, Stephen F. Austin, and Vanderbilt received at-large bids.[8] In 2021, Vanderbilt earned the automatic bid, while Arkansas State, Louisiana Tech, Sam Houston, and Youngstown State received at-large bids.[9] In 2022, six of the eight members made the NCAA Bowling Championships field with Vanderbilt earning the automatic bid, while Arkansas State, Louisiana Tech, Sam Houston State, Stephen F. Austin, and Youngstown State all receiving at-large bids.[10] In the league's final season in 2023, the same six members from 2022 made the NCAA Bowling Championships field, with Arkansas State earning the automatic bid.[11]

In July 2021, it was announced that Sam Houston and Stephen F. Austin left the Southland for the Western Athletic Conference. After the two schools announced they would join the WAC in fall 2022, they were expelled by the Southland Conference and joined the WAC a year ahead of the originally planned schedule.[12][13] Despite leaving the Southland Conference in all other sports, Sam Houston and Stephen F. Austin remained in the SBL and both participated in the 2022 and 2023 SBL Championships.

  1. ^ "New Southland Bowling League Established". Southland Conference. January 20, 2015. Retrieved April 2, 2015.
  2. ^ "Southland Bowling League Formed". College Sports Business News. January 21, 2015. Retrieved April 2, 2015.
  3. ^ "Conference USA to Add Bowling for 2023-24 Season" (Press release). Conference USA. May 10, 2023. Retrieved May 15, 2023.
  4. ^ "Four Southland Bowling League Teams in NCAA Championship Field". Southland Conference. March 26, 2015. Retrieved April 2, 2015.
  5. ^ "National Collegiate women's bowling championship field for 2015 announced". NCAA. March 25, 2015. Retrieved April 8, 2015.
  6. ^ "FOUR SOUTHLAND BOWLING LEAGUE TEAMS IN NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP FIELD". Southland Conference. March 30, 2016. Retrieved December 23, 2016.
  7. ^ "2017 NCAA Women's Bowling Championship field announced". NCAA. March 29, 2017. Retrieved April 2, 2017.
  8. ^ "Southland Bowling League Lands Four Squads in NCAA Tournament". southland.org. Retrieved 2019-03-28.
  9. ^ NCAA.com. "Nebraska wins the 2021 NC bowling championship | NCAA.com". www.ncaa.com. Retrieved 2022-03-31.
  10. ^ "National Collegiate women's bowling championship field announced". www.ncaa.com. Retrieved 2022-03-31.
  11. ^ "Southland sends six teams to 2023 NCAA Bowling Championship". www.southland.org. 29 March 2023. Retrieved 2023-03-30.
  12. ^ Blum, Sam (January 14, 2021). "As WAC announces addition of 5 schools, Frisco-based Southland Conference left in no man's land". The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved January 18, 2021.
  13. ^ "WAC Announces Expedited Entrance for Four Texas Institutions" (Press release). Western Athletic Conference. January 21, 2021. Retrieved January 25, 2021.