April 11, 2011
Vanderbilt’s bowling team will leave campus Tuesday for Detroit and the 2011 NCAA Championship later in the week.
The team has a busy schedule with a practice Wednesday at the Skore Lanes in Taylor, a suburb of Detroit. Wednesday evening is the annual Tournament Banquet, in which the National Ten Pin Coaches Association will announce the All-America teams and Player of the Year Awards.
Thursday brings the four team games that will go toward seeding the field and establishing the championship bracket. The long day starts at 9 o’clock (ET) and isn’t scheduled to conclude until approximately 7:30 p.m. Match play with its best four-of-seven Baker format comes Friday.
The double-elimination bracket begins play at 9:50 a.m. (practice begins at 9:20) with a second round at 11:20 a.m. and continuing throughout the afternoon.
On Saturday, if there is another match required to reduce the field to the two final teams that semi-final game will be played at 10:40 a.m. The championship game starts at 3:40 p.m.
The title game will be televised on a delayed basis the next day by ESPN at 2:30 (ET). The first four or, if needed, five rounds will be live streamed on www.NCAA.com using new, high definition camera equipment.
The Commodores are making their sixth consecutive appearance at the national finals, winning the title in 2007 and being semi-finalists in 2008. The past two years they have placed fifth. They were 81-39 over the long season and carried the nation’s best strength of schedule. Highlighting their season were team championships at Arkansas State’s Mid-Winter Classic and the Holiday Classic, hosted by Alabama A & M.
Joining Vanderbilt in the field are Kutztown, Fairleigh Dickinson, Nebraska, Central Missouri, Sam Houston State, Maryland-Eastern Shore and Arkansas State.