SMYRNA, Tenn. – Bethune-Cookman Bowling grabbed four wins on Friday, opening up the Columbia 300 Music City Classic at Smyrna Bowling Center. The three-day event is hosted by Vanderbilt, and admission is free to the public.
Competing in the largest NCAA tournament of the regular season, Bethune-Cookman posted a 4-2 record in Baker games on Friday. The 30-team field in this year’s Columbia 300 Music City Classic bests last year’s total, which was cut short due to inclement weather in and around the Nashville and Smyrna, Tennessee area.
The Wildcats opened the day with a 920-769 defeat of Franklin Pierce. That was followed with a tough 955-873 loss to the nation’s top-ranked Nebraska Cornhuskers.
B-CU bounced back to take down Elmhurst in its next match, rolling to an 885-871 victory.
Following the 75-minute intermission, B-CU defeated Prairie View A&M, despite a tie in total pin count at 895-all.
Bethune-Cookman fell to seventh-ranked McKendree, 998-864. And it was B-CU concluding the day with an 844-745 victory against fellow Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) opponent Florida A&M.
In overall pin count, Bethune-Cookman sits 17th after the opening day of action. The Wildcats scored a total of 5,281 pins in the Baker format.
LIU-Brooklyn (5,897) leads the field in pin count, followed by Nebraska (5,852) and McKendree (5,807).
Twenty-two of the Top 25 teams in the latest NTCA poll are competing in Smyrna, Tennessee this weekend. That list includes the following: Adelphi, Alabama A&M, Alabama State, Bethune-Cookman, Central Missouri, Elmhurst, Fairleigh Dickinson, Felican, Florida A&M, Franklin Pierce, Howard, Jackson State, Louisiana Tech, Long Island-Brooklyn, Maryland-Eastern Shore, McKendree, Monmouth, Nebraska, North Carolina A&T State, Prairie View, Sacred Heart, Saint Francis College, Saint Francis University, Sam Houston, Stephen F. Austin, Tulane, Valparaiso, Vanderbilt, Wisconsin-Whitewater.
To avoid the randomness of a team playing either a power-packed set of opponents or an agenda of lesser ranked foes, the field has been calibrated mathematically so that every team will have the same approximate degree of difficulty in the Friday and Saturday matches.
Bowling continues with second day action on Saturday, March 19. Saturday’s format includes six traditional team games starting at 9:30 a.m. and again having an intermission midway. Sunday’s championship bracket has three Baker games in a best-of-seven format, starting at 8:30.
For more information visit www.bcuathletics.com