# 2023 NCAA Bowling Championship

The 2023 NCAA Bowling Championship was the 19th edition of the NCAA Bowling Championship, the annual tournament to determine the national champion of women's NCAA collegiate ten-pin bowling. The finals were hosted by UNLV and played at the South Point Hotel in Enterprise, Nevada from April 14 to 15, 2023. The championship game was streamed live on ESPNU. Vanderbilt beat Arkansas State in the championship game to win their third title.

## Format

The 2023 championship featured a 17-team format, with 4 regionals. Each regional consisted of four teams, except for the Arlington regional which had five with a play-in match between Fayetteville State and Prairie View. Each regional had one winner who would go on to play in a four-team tournament for the national championship. The 2023 pre-determined regional locations were as follows:
* Arlington, Texas
* Lansing, Michigan
* Rochester, New York
* Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Each regional was played as a double-elimination tournament, except for the one play-in match. All regional matches, except for what the NCAA calls "if necessary regional finals", were best-of-three matches bowled in the following order: five-person team, Baker total pinfall, Baker best-of-seven match play. Any "if necessary regional final" was Baker best-of-seven. Regional winners advanced to the championship event, which was also double-elimination. All matches were bowled under the standard format for regionals (best-of-three matches using specified formats in a specific order) except the championship final, which was Baker best-of-seven.

## 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 17 teams competed in the double-elimination tournament, with nine conference champions receiving automatic bids and eight teams receiving at-large bids. The teams were revealed in a selection show on March 29, 2023.

### Bids

There were 17 teams selected to the tournament - nine were selected automatically as conference champions, while another eight were selected at-large. The top four teams in the tournament were seeded and assigned to separate regions; they were the only teams seeded for this tournament.
The Southland Bowling League (SBL) had the most bids of any conference with six, while the Northeast Conference (NEC) and Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) had two. The Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC), Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA), College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW), East Coast Conference (ECC), Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC), and Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) sent only their conference tournament champions. Additionally, one independent team received an at-large bid to the tournament.
| Seed | Team | Conference | Bid type | Appearance | Last |
| 1 | McKendree | GLVC | Automatic | 7th | 2022 |
| 2 | Vanderbilt | SBL | At-large | 17th | 2022 |
| 3 | Arkansas State | SBL | Automatic | 15th | 2022 |
| 4 | Nebraska | Independent | At-large | 19th | 2022 |
| | Carthage | CCIW | Automatic | 1st | Never |
| | Duquesne | NEC | At-large | 2nd | 2021 |
| | Fayetteville State | CIAA | Automatic | 2nd | 2005 |
| | Louisiana Tech | SBL | At-large | 3rd | 2022 |
| | Maryville | GLVC | At-large | 1st | Never |
| | Medaille | AMCC | Automatic | 4th | 2022 |
| | Mercyhurst | ECC | Automatic | 1st | Never |
| | North Carolina A&T | MEAC | Automatic | 5th | 2022 |
| | Prairie View A&M | SWAC | Automatic | 3rd | 2021 |
| | Sacred Heart | NEC | Automatic | 9th | 2022 |
| | Sam Houston | SBL | At-large | 11th | 2022 |
| | Stephen F. Austin | SBL | At-large | 6th | 2022 |
| | Youngstown State | SBL | At-large | 3rd | 2022 |

## Tournament bracket

All regions were double-elimination, except for the finals, which was double-elimination before a single Baker best-of-7 championship match.

### Arlington Regional
#### Play-in

| Play-in match | Play-in match | Play-in match |
| Fayetteville State | Fayetteville State | 1 |
| Prairie View A&M | Prairie View A&M | 2 |

#### Bracket

| 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 | Regional final | Regional final |
| 1 | McKendree | 2 | | | | | | | |
| | Prairie View | 0 | | | | | | | |
| | Prairie View | 0 | 1 | McKendree | 2 | | | | |
| Winner's bracket | Winner's bracket | Winner's bracket | 1 | McKendree | 2 | | | | |
| Winner's bracket | Winner's bracket | Winner's bracket | | Louisiana Tech | 0 | | | | |
| Sam Houston | Sam Houston | 0 | | Louisiana Tech | 0 | | | | |
| Louisiana Tech | Louisiana Tech | 2 | | | | | | | |
| Louisiana Tech | Louisiana Tech | 2 | | | | 1 | McKendree | 2 | - |
| | | | | | | | Sam Houston | 0 | - |
| Prairie View | Prairie View | 0 | | | | | | | | Sam Houston | 0 | - |
| Sam Houston | Sam Houston | 2 | | | | | | | |
| Sam Houston | Sam Houston | 2 | Sam Houston | Sam Houston | 2 | | | | |
| Loser's bracket | Loser's bracket | Loser's bracket | Sam Houston | Sam Houston | 2 | | | | |
| Loser's bracket | Loser's bracket | Loser's bracket | Louisiana Tech | Louisiana Tech | 1 | | | | |

### Lansing Regional

| 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 | Regional final | Regional final |
| 2 | Vanderbilt | 2 | | | | | | | |
| | Carthage | 0 | | | | | | | |
| | Carthage | 0 | 2 | Vanderbilt | 2 | | | | |
| Winner's bracket | Winner's bracket | Winner's bracket | 2 | Vanderbilt | 2 | | | | |
| Winner's bracket | Winner's bracket | Winner's bracket | | Youngstown State | 0 | | | | |
| Youngstown State | Youngstown State | 2 | | Youngstown State | 0 | | | | |
| Maryville | Maryville | 0 | | | | | | | |
| Maryville | Maryville | 0 | | | | 2 | Vanderbilt | 0 | 4 |
| | | | | | | | Youngstown State | 2 | 0 |
| Carthage | Carthage | 0 | | | | | | | | Youngstown State | 2 | 0 |
| Maryville | Maryville | 2 | | | | | | | |
| Maryville | Maryville | 2 | Maryville | Maryville | 1 | | | | |
| Loser's bracket | Loser's bracket | Loser's bracket | Maryville | Maryville | 1 | | | | |
| Loser's bracket | Loser's bracket | Loser's bracket | Youngstown State | Youngstown State | 2 | | | | |

### Rochester Regional

| 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 | Regional final | Regional final |
| 3 | Arkansas State | 2 | | | | | | | |
| | Sacred Heart | 0 | | | | | | | |
| | Sacred Heart | 0 | 3 | Arkansas State | 2 | | | | |
| Winner's bracket | Winner's bracket | Winner's bracket | 3 | Arkansas State | 2 | | | | |
| Winner's bracket | Winner's bracket | Winner's bracket | | North Carolina A&T | 1 | | | | |
| North Carolina A&T | North Carolina A&T | 2 | | North Carolina A&T | 1 | | | | |
| Medaille | Medaille | 0 | | | | | | | |
| Medaille | Medaille | 0 | | | | 3 | Arkansas State | 2 | - |
| | | | | | | | North Carolina A&T | 0 | - |
| Sacred Heart | Sacred Heart | 2 | | | | | | | | North Carolina A&T | 0 | - |
| Medaille | Medaille | 0 | | | | | | | |
| Medaille | Medaille | 0 | Sacred Heart | Sacred Heart | 0 | | | | |
| Loser's bracket | Loser's bracket | Loser's bracket | Sacred Heart | Sacred Heart | 0 | | | | |
| Loser's bracket | Loser's bracket | Loser's bracket | North Carolina A&T | North Carolina A&T | 2 | | | | |

### Pittsburgh Regional

| 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 | Regional final | Regional final |
| 4 | Nebraska | 2 | | | | | | | |
| | Mercyhurst | 0 | | | | | | | |
| | Mercyhurst | 0 | 4 | Nebraska | 2 | | | | |
| Winner's bracket | Winner's bracket | Winner's bracket | 4 | Nebraska | 2 | | | | |
| Winner's bracket | Winner's bracket | Winner's bracket | | Duquesne | 0 | | | | |
| Stephen F. Austin | Stephen F. Austin | 0 | | Duquesne | 0 | | | | |
| Duquesne | Duquesne | 2 | | | | | | | |
| Duquesne | Duquesne | 2 | | | | 4 | Nebraska | 2 | - |
| | | | | | | | Stephen F. Austin | 1 | - |
| Mercyhurst | Mercyhurst | 1 | | | | | | | | Stephen F. Austin | 1 | - |
| Stephen F. Austin | Stephen F. Austin | 2 | | | | | | | |
| Stephen F. Austin | Stephen F. Austin | 2 | Stephen F. Austin | Stephen F. Austin | 2 | | | | |
| Loser's bracket | Loser's bracket | Loser's bracket | Stephen F. Austin | Stephen F. Austin | 2 | | | | |
| Loser's bracket | Loser's bracket | Loser's bracket | Duquesne | Duquesne | 1 | | | | |

### Finals
#### Las Vegas, Nevada

| 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 | Championship final | Championship final | Championship final | Championship final | |
| 1 | McKendree | 0 | | | | | | | | |
| 4 | Nebraska | 2 | | | | | | | | |
| 4 | Nebraska | 2 | 4 | Nebraska | 0 | | | | | |
| Winner's bracket | Winner's bracket | Winner's bracket | 4 | Nebraska | 0 | | | | | |
| Winner's bracket | Winner's bracket | Winner's bracket | 3 | Arkansas State | 2 | | | | | |
| 2 | Vanderbilt | 0 | 3 | Arkansas State | 2 | | | | | |
| 3 | Arkansas State | 2 | | | | | | | | |
| 3 | Arkansas State | 2 | | | | 3 | Arkansas State | Arkansas State | 3 | |
| | | | | | | 2 | Vanderbilt | Vanderbilt | 4 | |
| 1 | McKendree | 0 | | | | | | | | 2 | Vanderbilt | Vanderbilt | 4 |
| 2 | Vanderbilt | 2 | | | | | | | | |
| 2 | Vanderbilt | 2 | 2 | Vanderbilt | 2 | | | | | |
| Loser's bracket | Loser's bracket | Loser's bracket | 2 | Vanderbilt | 2 | | | | | |
| Loser's bracket | Loser's bracket | Loser's bracket | 4 | Nebraska | 0 | | | | | |