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. The SBL merged into Conference USA (C-USA) after the 2022–23 season, with C-USA inheriting the SBL's automatic championship berth.

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. The same four teams would receive at-large bids to the 2016 NCAA Bowling Championships and 2017 NCAA Bowling Championships. 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. In 2021, Vanderbilt earned the automatic bid, while Arkansas State, Louisiana Tech, Sam Houston, and Youngstown State received at-large bids. 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. 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.

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. 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.

Final members 
All of the SBL's final members will compete in C-USA bowling from 2023–24.

On August 7, 2018, the SBL and Youngstown State University announced that Youngstown State's bowling program was joining the league for competition beginning in the 2018–2019 season. Youngstown State replaced Monmouth, who accepted an invitation to join the MEAC.

Previous members

SBL Championship

All-Tournament Teams

NCAA Bowling Championship participation
Source:

Bold: Champion
Italics: Runner-Up

See also
NCAA Bowling Championship

References

Ten-pin bowling competitions in the United States
Sports leagues established in 2015
Sports leagues disestablished in 2023
Defunct NCAA Division I conferences
Southland Conference
Conference USA
2015 establishments in Texas
2023 disestablishments in Texas