Huskers Return to Action at Music City Classic

Nebraska Cornhuskers (80-28)
at Columbia 300 Music City Classic

Friday-Sunday, March 18-20, 9:40 a.m., 9:30 a.m., 8:30 a.m. – Smyrna, Tenn. (Smyrna Bowling Center)

Huskers Return to Action at Music City Classic
The top-ranked Nebraska bowling team returns to action this weekend at the Columbia 300 Music City Classic, held Friday through Sunday at the Smyrna Bowling Center in Smyrna, Tenn. The tournament is hosted by third-ranked Vanderbilt, and is the last time the Huskers will compete before the NCAA Championships Selection Show on March 30.

The Cornhuskers (80-28) jumped to the top spot in the March NTCA Top 25 poll, after having been ranked second the previous two months. The Huskers have not competed in almost a month, when they won the Warhawk Invitational in mid-February. NU defeated fifth-ranked Central Missouri in the championship match, and finished the weekend with an 11-2 record and a pinfall of 13,940, fifth-most in school history.

Julia Bond led the way for Nebraska individually, finishing second overall with an average of 229. Briana Zabierek finished third overall with an average of 225.2, while freshman Meghan Straub earned the first top-ten finish of her career, finishing sixth with an average of 213.2.

The Music City Classic features 32 teams, making it the largest NCAA-sanctioned tournament of the regular season. 23 of the top 25 teams in the nation will compete, including each of the top ten teams. In addition to the Huskers, hosts Vanderbilt, No. 2 Arkansas State, No. 4 Sam Houston State and No. 5 Stephen F. Austin will all compete this weekend. Top-ten teams No. 6 Central Missouri, No. 7 McKendree, No. 8 North Carolina A&T, No. 9 Fairleigh Dickinson and No. 10 Wisconsin-Whitewater will also bowl at the tournament.

The Huskers have competed at the Music City Classic in each of the last seven years, winning three times while finishing no lower than fifth. NU also won the tournament in 2007. No official team champion was crowned at the Music City Classic last season because of weather-related travel issues, but Gazmine Mason won MVP honors with a 230 average.

Competition begins Friday at 9:40 a.m., with teams playing six sets of five-game Baker matches, followed by six traditional matches Saturday, beginning at 9:30 a.m. Friday and Saturday’s combined results will determine the seeding for Sunday’s bracket-play tournament to determine a champion, consisting of three best-of-seven Baker format matches, with play set to begin at 8:30 a.m.

The Opening Frame

Huskers Return to the Top
Nebraska regained the top spot in the March 9 NTCA Top 25 poll after being ranked second in the previous two polls. The Huskers began the season as the preseason No. 1 team, but had not returned to the top spot since then. Arkansas State fell one spot to No. 2, while Vanderbilt and Sam Houston State held steady in third- and fourth-place, respectively. Stephen F. Austin jumped one spot to join the top five.

Making History
Nebraska finished with a weekend pinfall of 13,940 at the Warhawk Invitational Feb. 19-21, good for fifth-most in school history. The total is second-highest this season after the Huskers scored a pinfall of 14,494 at the Big Red Invitational Nov. 12-14, second-most in program history. The Huskers’ highest single-tournament pinfall occurred nearly eight years before on Nov. 16-18, 2007, when they scored a 14,968 pinfall at the Maverick Challenge.

Top-Ten Huskers
A trio of Huskers finished in the top ten of the individual standings at the Warhawk Invitational Feb. 19-21. Julia Bond finished second overall with an average of 229, her fourth top-five finish this season. Junior Briana Zabierek recorded her second top-five finish, placing third with a 225.2 average. Freshman Meghan Straub recorded the first top-ten finish of her career, averaging a 213.2 to finish sixth overall.

Columbia 300 Music City Classic - Teams Competing
Nebraska
Vanderbilt
Adelphi
Alabama A&M
Alabama State
Arkansas State
Bethune-Cookman
Central Missouri
Delaware State
Elmhurst
Fairleigh Dickinson
Felician
Florida A&M
Franklin Pierce
Howard
Jackson State
LIU-Brooklyn
Louisiana Tech
McKendree
Monmouth
North Carolina A&T
Prairie View A&M
Sacred Heart
St. Francis Brooklyn (N.Y.)
St. Francis (Pa.)
Sam Houston State
Stephen F. Austin
Texas Southern
Tulane
Maryland-Eastern Shore
Valparaiso
Wisconsin-Whitewater

Looking Ahead
The Huskers will await selection and seeding for the NCAA Championships, with the selection show set to take place on March 30. The NCAA Championships will take place April 14-16 in North Brunswick, N.J. Nebraska won the 2015 NCAA championship, as well as NCAA titles in 2004, 2005, 2009 and 2013.