# 2021 NCAA Bowling Championship

The 2021 NCAA Bowling Championship was the 17th edition of the NCAA Bowling Championship, the annual tournament to determine the national champion of women's NCAA collegiate ten-pin bowling. The tournament was hosted by the University of Central Missouri and played at the AMF Pro Bowl Lanes in North Kansas City, Missouri from April 7–10, 2021.

## Qualification

Since there is only one national collegiate championship for women's bowling, all NCAA bowling programs (whether from Division I, Division II, or Division III) were eligible. A total of 16 teams competed in the double elimination tournament, with six conference champions receiving automatic bids and ten teams receiving at-large bids. The teams were revealed in a selection show on March 31, 2021.

### Bids

Sixteen teams contested the tournament. The Southland Bowling League (SBL) had the most bids of any conference with five, while the Northeast Conference (NEC) had four and the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) had two. The Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC), Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC), East Coast Conference (ECC), and Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) sent only their conference tournament champion; the first three by an automatic bid and the last by an at-large bid. Additionally, one independent team received an at-large bid to the tournament.
Due in part to the tournament's expansion to sixteen teams, seven programs made their NCAA Tournament debut; three automatic qualifiers and four at-large bids.
| Seed | Team | Conference | Bid type | Appearance | Last |
| 1 | McKendree Bearcats | GLVC | At-large | 5th | 2019 |
| 2 | Nebraska Cornhuskers | Independent | At-large | 17th | 2019 |
| 3 | North Carolina A&T Aggies | MEAC | Automatic | 3rd | 2018 |
| 4 | Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters | SBL | At-large | 1st | — |
| 5 | Fairleigh Dickinson Knights | NEC | Automatic | 13th | 2017 |
| 6 | Arkansas State Red Wolves | SBL | At-large | 13th | 2019 |
| 7 | Vanderbilt Commodores | SBL | Automatic | 15th | 2019 |
| 8 | Duquesne Dukes | NEC | At-large | 1st | — |
| 9 | Sacred Heart Pioneers | NEC | At-large | 7th | 2019 |
| 10 | Mount St. Mary's Mountaineers | NEC | At-large | 1st | — |
| 11 | Delaware State Hornets | MEAC | At-large | 3rd | 2010 |
| 12 | Sam Houston State Bearkats | SBL | At-large | 9th | 2019 |
| 13 | Youngstown State Penguins | SBL | At-large | 1st | — |
| 14 | Prairie View A&M Panthers | SWAC | Automatic | 1st | — |
| 15 | Medaille Mavericks | AMCC | Automatic | 1st | — |
| 16 | Roberts Wesleyan Redhawks | ECC | Automatic | 1st | — |
* ↑ Since the 2020 championship tournament was cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the last tournament to be held was in 2019.
* ↑ McKendree won the GLVC tournament championship, but the conference does not have an automatic bid to the tournament for their champion.

## Schedule

All times Central (UTC-05:00).
| Round | Date | Time |
| Regional stage |||
| First round | April 7 | 9:00 a.m. |
| Second round | April 7 | 3:00 p.m. |
| Consolation first round | April 7 | 3:00 p.m. |
| Consolation second round | April 8 | 9:00 a.m. |
| Regional final | April 8 | 3:00 p.m. |
| Finals first round | April 9 | 9:00 a.m. |
| Finals consolation first round | April 9 | 3:00 p.m. |
| Finals second round | April 9 | 3:00 p.m. |
| Finals consolation second round | April 10 | 9:00 a.m. |
| National championship Broadcast on ESPNU | April 10 | 6:00 p.m. |

## Tournament bracket
### Region 1

| First round Consolation first round | First round Consolation first round | First round Consolation first round | Second round Consolation second round | Second round Consolation second round | Second round Consolation second round | Regional final | Regional final |
| 1 | McKendree | 2 | | | | | |
| 16 | Roberts Wesleyan | 0 | | | | | |
| 16 | Roberts Wesleyan | 0 | 1 | McKendree | 2 | | |
| | | | 9 | Sacred Heart | 1 | | |
| 8 | Duquesne | 0 | 9 | Sacred Heart | 1 | | |
| 9 | Sacred Heart | 2 | | | | | |
| 9 | Sacred Heart | 2 | | | | 1 | McKendree |
| | | | | | | 9 | Sacred Heart |
| Lower round 1 | Lower round 1 | Lower round 1 | Lower final | Lower final | Lower final | 9 | Sacred Heart |
| | | | 9 | Sacred Heart | 2 | | |
| 16 | Roberts Wesleyan | 0 | 8 | Duquesne | 1 | | |
| 8 | Duquesne | 2 | | | | | |

### Region 2

| First round Consolation first round | First round Consolation first round | First round Consolation first round | Second round Consolation second round | Second round Consolation second round | Second round Consolation second round | Regional final | Regional final |
| 2 | Nebraska | 1 | | | | | |
| 15 | Medaille | 2 | | | | | |
| 15 | Medaille | 2 | 15 | Medaille | 0 | | |
| | | | 7 | Vanderbilt | 2 | | |
| 7 | Vanderbilt | 2 | 7 | Vanderbilt | 2 | | |
| 10 | Mount St. Mary's | 0 | | | | | |
| 10 | Mount St. Mary's | 0 | | | | 7 | Vanderbilt |
| | | | | | | 2 | Nebraska |
| Lower round 1 | Lower round 1 | Lower round 1 | Lower final | Lower final | Lower final | 2 | Nebraska |
| | | | 15 | Medaille | 0 | | |
| 2 | Nebraska | 2 | 2 | Nebraska | 2 | | |
| 10 | Mount St. Mary's | 1 | | | | | |

### Region 3

| First round Consolation first round | First round Consolation first round | First round Consolation first round | Second round Consolation second round | Second round Consolation second round | Second round Consolation second round | Regional final | Regional final |
| 3 | North Carolina A&T | 2 | | | | | |
| 14 | Prairie View A&M | 1 | | | | | |
| 14 | Prairie View A&M | 1 | 3 | North Carolina A&T | 1 | | |
| | | | 6 | Arkansas State | 2 | | |
| 6 | Arkansas State | 2 | 6 | Arkansas State | 2 | | |
| 11 | Delaware State | 0 | | | | | |
| 11 | Delaware State | 0 | | | | 6 | Arkansas State |
| | | | | | | 3 | North Carolina A&T |
| Lower round 1 | Lower round 1 | Lower round 1 | Lower final | Lower final | Lower final | 3 | North Carolina A&T |
| | | | 3 | North Carolina A&T | 2 | | |
| 14 | Prairie View A&M | 0 | 11 | Delaware State | 1 | | |
| 11 | Delaware State | 2 | | | | | |

### Region 4

| First round Consolation first round | First round Consolation first round | First round Consolation first round | Second round Consolation second round | Second round Consolation second round | Second round Consolation second round | Regional final | Regional final |
| 4 | Louisiana Tech | 0 | | | | | |
| 13 | Youngstown State | 2 | | | | | |
| 13 | Youngstown State | 2 | 13 | Youngstown State | 2 | | |
| | | | 5 | Fairleigh Dickinson | 0 | | |
| 5 | Fairleigh Dickinson | 2 | 5 | Fairleigh Dickinson | 0 | | |
| 12 | Sam Houston State | 0 | | | | | |
| 12 | Sam Houston State | 0 | | | | 13 | Youngstown State |
| | | | | | | 12 | Sam Houston State |
| Lower round 1 | Lower round 1 | Lower round 1 | Lower final | Lower final | Lower final | 12 | Sam Houston State |
| | | | 5 | Fairleigh Dickinson | 1 | | |
| 4 | Louisiana Tech | 1 | 12 | Sam Houston State | 2 | | |
| 12 | Sam Houston State | 2 | | | | | |

### Finals

| Finals first round Consolation first round | Finals first round Consolation first round | Finals first round Consolation first round | Finals second round Consolation second round | Finals second round Consolation second round | Finals second round Consolation second round | National championship | National championship |
| 1 | McKendree | 2 | | | | | |
| 13 | Youngstown State | 0 | | | | | |
| 13 | Youngstown State | 0 | 1 | McKendree | 1 | | |
| | | | 2 | Nebraska | 2 | | |
| 2 | Nebraska | 2 | 2 | Nebraska | 2 | | |
| 6 | Arkansas State | 0 | | | | | |
| 6 | Arkansas State | 0 | | | | 2 | Nebraska |
| | | | | | | 6 | Arkansas State |
| Lower round 1 | Lower round 1 | Lower round 1 | Lower final | Lower final | Lower final | 6 | Arkansas State |
| | | | 1 | McKendree | 1 | | |
| 13 | Youngstown State | 1 | 6 | Arkansas State | 2 | | |
| 6 | Arkansas State | 2 | | | | | |