Fresh off its best regular season in program history, the Youngstown State bowling team will begin what it hopes is a memorable postseason run this weekend in suburban New Orleans at the Conference USA Championship. The tournament is being held at Colonial Lanes in Harahan, La., and the third-seeded Penguins will begin play in the double-elimination portion of the event on Friday against sixth-seeded Sam Houston.

Live video for the tournament will be streamed on ESPN+, and updates will be posted regularly on YSU's social media channels.

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Youngstown State has its highest seed in the tournament in program history at No. 3, and the Penguins are ranked third in the NCAA RPI and the National Tenpin Coaches Association Top 25 Poll. YSU's first match will be at 10 a.m. Eastern against the Bearkats, and the Penguins will play either No. 2 Arkansas State or No. 7 Stephen F. Austin later on Friday.

The winner of the Conference USA Championship will receive the league's automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament, which will begin on April 5 at one of four regional sites (Arlington, Texas; Lansing, Mich.; Pittsburgh, Pa; and Rochester, N.Y).

Tournament Preview

Tournament Format

After Thursday's play-in round, the Conference USA Bowling Championship will be a double-elimination format decided in the mega-match format. Teams will bowl one standard five-person game for total pinfall, then five Baker games for total pinfall. If one team wins both the traditional point and Baker point, they will advance to the next round. If the teams split the standard and Baker games, they will move on to a best-of-seven series of Baker games to determine the winner. If necessary, the second championship match on Sunday will be Baker best-of-seven match play only.

Schedule

Eighth-seeded Tulane and ninth-seeded Valparaiso will square off in a play-in match on Thursday at 11:30 a.m. Eastern, and the second round and double-elimination portion of the tournament will start on Friday at 10 a.m. Eastern. There will be another round of matches on Friday at 2 p.m., and the tournament will continue with two matches on Saturday and Sunday. If the team emerging from the losers' bracket wins against the team advancing to the finals from the winners' bracket, a third match will be held on Sunday to determine the champion. That winner-take-all contest will be a best-of-seven Baker match.

Round One - Thursday at 11:30 a.m. Eastern

• Match 1 - No. 8 Tulane vs. No. 9 Valparaiso | Lanes 17-18

Round Two - Friday at 10 a.m. Eastern

• Match 2 - No. 1 Jacksonville State vs. Match 1 Winner | Lanes 5-6
• Match 3 - No. 4 Vanderbilt vs. No. 5 Louisiana Tech | Lanes 9-10
• Match 4 - No. 3 Youngstown State vs. No. 6 Sam Houston | Lanes 13-14
• Match 5 - No. 2 Arkansas State vs. No. 7 Stephen F. Austin | Lanes 17-18

Round Three - Friday at 3 p.m. Eastern

• Match 6 - Match 2 Loser vs. Match 3 Loser | Lanes 19-20 (elimination match)
• Match 7 - Match 4 Loser vs. Match 5 Loser | Lanes 7-8 (elimination match)
• Match 8 - Match 2 Winner vs. Match 3 Winner | Lanes 11-12
• Match 9 - Match 4 Winner vs. Match 5 Winner | Lanes 15-16

Round Four - Saturday at 10:30 a.m. Eastern

• Match 10 - Match 6 Winner vs. Match 8 Loser | Lanes 7-8 (elimination match)
• Match 11- Match 7 Winner vs. Match 9 Loser | Lanes 11-12 (elimination match)

Round Five - Saturday at 2:30 p.m. Eastern

• Match 12 - Match 10 Winner vs. Match 11 Winner | Lanes 9-10 (elimination match)
• Match 13 - Match 8 Winner vs. Match 9 Winner | Lanes 19-20 (winner's bracket final)

Round Six - Sunday at 10 a.m. Eastern

• Match 14 - Match 12 Winner vs. Match 13 Loser (elimination match) | Lanes 21-22

Championship

• Match 15 - Match 13 Winner vs. Match 14 Winner | Lanes 17-18
• Match 16 (if necessary) - Match 15 Winner vs. Match 15 Loser | Lanes 15-16

Tournament Field

Regardless of the seed line, it will be a challenging week for every team this weekend as Conference USA boasts juggernauts across the bracket. A team currently in Conference USA has appeared in the national championship match in nine of the last 10 seasons, and Vanderbilt and Arkansas State finished first and second in 2022-23. All nine teams are ranked in the top 17 of both the NCAA RPI and the National Tenpin Coaches Association Top 25 Poll, and six are in the top 10 of both.

Jacksonville State, Arkansas State and Youngstown State have been the top three teams in the last two coaches polls, and the Gamecocks have collected 130 out of a possible 144 first-place votes in the NTCA's three in-season polls. Other than Jacksonville State, Arkansas State, YSU and Vanderbilt are the only other teams in the country to earn a first-place vote during the season. Heading into the final weekend of the regular season, those four teams were each among the top five programs in the country in scoring average.

YSU's Record vs. Conference USA Teams in 2023-24 (20-14)

• 3-5 vs. Arkansas State
• 3-5 vs. Jacksonville State
• 2-0 vs. Louisiana Tech
• 2-0 vs. Sam Houston
• 3-1 vs. Stephen F. Austin
• 0-1 vs. Tulane
• 2-0 vs. Valparaiso
• 5-2 vs. Vanderbilt

History at the Conference Championship

This is Youngstown State's fifth appearance at a conference championship with the first four being in the Southland Bowling League. The Penguins, along with Arkansas State and Vanderbilt, are a top-four seed for the fourth straight season. YSU's best finish at the Southland tournament was second in 2021-22, and the Penguins finished fourth at last season's edition. In 2022-23, the Penguins dropped their opening match to Sam Houston, then fought off elimination matches against eighth-seeded Valparaiso and top-seeded Vanderbilt before bowing out of the tournament with a loss to sixth-seeded Louisiana Tech.

Yearly Summaries

• 2018-19 (No. 6 seed; finished tied for seventh): L, 2-0 vs. No. 3 Arkansas State; L, 2-0 vs. No. 7 Louisiana Tech
• 2019-20: Tournament canceled due to COVID-19
• 2020-21 (No. 4 seed; finished tied for fifth): L, 2-1 vs. No. 5 Sam Houston; W, 2-0 vs. No. 8 Valparaiso; L, 2-0 vs. No. 1 Arkansas State
• 2021-22 (No. 4 seed; finished second): W, 2-1 vs. No. 5 Louisiana Tech; W, 2-1 vs. No. 1 Sam Houston; L, 2-1 vs. No. 2 Vanderbilt; W, 2-1 vs. No. 5 Louisiana Tech; L, 2-0 vs. No. 2 Vanderbilt... Emma Dockery and Emma Wrenn were named to the all-tournament team.
• 2022-23 (No. 4 seed; finished fourth): L, 2-0 vs. No. 5 Sam Houston; W, 2-1 vs. No. 8 Valparaiso; W, 2-1 vs. No. 1 Vanderbilt; L, 2-0 vs. No. 6 Louisiana Tech... Megan Grams was named to the all-tournament team.

Record as Seed

• No. 4: 6-6
• No. 6: 0-2

Record vs. Seed

• No. 1: 2-1
• No. 2: 0-2
• No. 5: 2-2
• No. 3: 0-1
• No. 6: 0-1
• No. 7: 0-1
• No. 8: 2-0

Record vs. Opponents

• Arkansas State: 0-2
• Louisiana Tech: 2-2
• Sam Houston: 1-2
• Valparaiso: 2-0
• Vanderbilt: 1-2

Recapping the Music City Classic

Youngstown State had its best finish ever at Vanderbilt's Music City Classic last weekend by finishing second at the 33-team event. The Penguins qualified second after posting the highest traditional round in the field on Saturday, and they defeated Jacksonville State 4-1 in the opening match of the best-of-seven bracket on Sunday to advance to the championship. The Gamecocks topped the Penguins in six games in the championship match as YSU had to settle for the runner-up finish. It was YSU's fourth top-two finish at a tournament this season, and the Penguins placed among the top four in seven of their eight regular-season tournaments.

Kirsten Moore won the individual title at the event by topping the field in traditional play with a five-game set of 1,170. It was her second straight individual crown and her third this season. Madyson Marx joined her on the all-tournament team by placing fifth with a set of 1,121, and Jade Cote and Megan Grams also placed in the top 25 individually.

Record Book Updates

• The Penguins posted a 1,128 score in a Baker victory over Sacred Heart, which is the 11th-highest match total in program history.
• YSU followed that with a 1,127 in traditional-format win over Louisiana Tech. That is the 13th-best traditional score in school history.
• The Penguins' traditional round total of 5,300 was the fourth highest in program history.
• Kirsten Moore had the third-highest traditional at a tournament in program history at 234.0, and Madyson Marx posted the 10th-best average at 224.2.

Scouting the Penguins

• This is a veteran Penguins squad taking the lanes this weekend at the Conference USA Championship. All nine bowlers from last year's squad that bowled in the Regional finals are back on the 2023-24 team. Megan Grams is a fifth-year senior, and Madyson Marx and Kirsten Moore are fourth-year members of the program.
• YSU is ranked third in both the RPI and the most recent NTCA Preseason Top 25 Poll that was released in March. The Penguins were sixth in the preseason, third in December and second in February. - LINK
• Youngstown State ranks second in Conference USA in overall scoring average at 20.62 pins per frame, and it is also second in both formats. Jacksonville State leads the league in all three categories.
• Jade Cote ranks second in the conference in individual scoring average at 21.41 pins per frame, and Marx and Moore are 13th and 14th, respectively. Moore is third in the conference in traditional average at 21.69, and Cote is second in Baker at 21.50.
• Youngstown State had three straight tournament MVP awards to begin the season and it has four overall. Moore earned the award at the Penguin Classic when she was the top individual finisher at the season-opening tournament. Cote was then named MVP of the Destination Orlando tournament as the anchor during YSU's championship run, and Marx topped the individual standings at the MOTIV Ladyjack Classic. Moore was the top finisher again at the Mid-Winter Invitational, becoming the Penguin ever to win two events in the same season, and she repeated as the individual champion last week at the Music City Classic. The Penguins have more MVPs and individual champions in 2023-24 than they had in their first seven years as a program combined.
• Cote was named the Conference USA Bowler of the Month for January. She was the individual tournament champion at the Northeast Classic, and she was the runner-up at the PVAMU Invitational. - LINK
• Moore followed Cote by earning the conference's Bowler of the Month award in February. Moore won the Mid-Winter Invitational by 47 pins in YSU's lone competition of the month. - LINK
• Marx and Moore were both named to the six-member Conference USA All-Academic Team that was announced on March 15. - LINK
• Youngstown State has bowled the toughest schedule in the country this season, according to the NCAA RPI. YSU ranks eighth in the country in winning percentage at .699, and it is third in the RPI.
• YSU is on pace to smash several single-season school records. Among them are Baker average (20.46), traditional average (20.87), fill percentage (85.3%) and strike percentage (53.7%).
• As of the most-recent stat release on March 3, Youngstown State ranked second in the country in overall scoring average at 20.64 pins per frame. It ranked second in traditional average (20.82) and third in Baker average (20.53).
• Also as of March 3, Cote ranked third in the country in scoring average this season at 21.50 pins per frame, while Marx was 13th at 20.84. In the traditional format, Moore was fourth (21.47), Cote was sixth (21.26), Lyndsay Ennis was eighth (21.11), and Madison Doseck ranked 14th (20.81).
• As of March 3, Cote ledsthe nation in strike percentage at 58.7%, and she ranked second on the national chart in Baker double percentage at 61.9%.
• YSU had the top grade-point average out of all bowling programs in the country in 2022-23 - LINK
• Marx and Moore had two of the most accomplished seasons ever by a Penguin in 2022-23. Both were named Honorable Mention All-Americans by the NTCA, and Marx was a First-Team All-Southland Selection. - LINK
• Cote has bowled in two international events for Team Canada since August. In October, she earned a silver medal at the IBF World Championships in trios. Between semesters, Cote clinched positions on Team Canada and Youth Team Canada for 2024. She was named Canada's Adult Bowler of the Year for 2023 by the Canadian Tenpin Federation. - LINK

Up Next

With the strength of its regular season, Youngstown State should have a bid locked up to compete in the NCAA Regional for the fourth straight season. The selection show is scheduled to air on NCAA.com at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, March 27. Regional competition will be April 5-6.