SECTIONAL QUALIFIERS
USBC INTERCOLLEGIATE TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS
March 15-16, 2008

Team Qualifier Guidelines | Rules/Policies - Tier I / Tier II / Points

Team Qualifier Guidelines

An intercollegiate bowling team must become one of the top 64 men’s or top 48 women’s schools during the regular season to advance into postseason competition and participate in the USBC Intercollegiate Team Championships’ Sectional Qualifying events. To become one of the 64 men's or 48 women's teams, schools will need to advance by:

• Winning their USBC Collegiate certified conference
  
  
• Earning enough points in the Team Ranking System (TRS)

USBC Collegiate will determine which of four Sectional Qualifiers each team will participate in creating a balance in field strength at each Sectional. Sectional Qualifying will consist of a two-day competition with the top four finishers in the men’s and women’s division at each Sectional Qualifier advancing to the USBC Intercollegiate Team Championships.

The Sectional Qualifiers will consist of a two-day competition and will take place March 15-16, 2008.

• Entry fees and forms must be submitted by March 5, 2008. Non-refundable entry fees are $300 per team. Missing the deadline will result in forfeit of Sectional Qualifier competition. All other expenses associated with competing in the Sectional Qualifier are the responsibility of the team competing.
  
  
• Failing to meet the February 1 spring semester or April 5 spring quarter eligibility deadlines will result in termination of any postseason competition (Sectional Qualifiers or USBC Intercollegiate Team Championships).
  
  
• Only one men’s team and one women’s team per school may compete in the Sectional Qualifier.
  
  
• The advancing 64 men’s and 48 women’s schools will be ranked from high to low based on the final TRS totals.
  
  
• USBC Collegiate will consider field strength, geographic distance and economics when assigning schools to Sectional Qualifiers and attempt to assign both men’s and women’s teams from the same school to the same Sectional, if applicable, and subject to other requirements.
  
  
• USBC Collegiate will attempt to have no more than two of the top eight schools and no more than four of the top 16 schools based on the final TRS totals in the same Sectional, subject to other requirements.
  
  
• USBC Collegiate will release final TRS standings and Sectional Qualifier assignments by February 20, 2008. Results can be found on the Collegiate section of bowl.com. Official confirmation of a team’s assigned Sectional Qualifier will be sent by USBC Collegiate. USBC Collegiate decisions on team placement at the Sectional Qualifiers are final.
  
  
• At the Sectional Qualifiers, team rosters can include up to eight student-athletes who have bowled for their school in a minimum of one certified intercollegiate team competition during the current season prior to Sectional Qualifying competition.
  
  
• Teams qualifying to compete in the USBC Intercollegiate Team Championships are financially responsible for their travel and all other expenses associated with the competition except for team lodging and local transportation, which will be covered by USBC Collegiate.

Sectional Qualifier Guidelines Rules & Policies

An intercollegiate bowling team must become one of the top 64 men’s or top 48 women’s schools during the regular season to advance into postseason competition and participate in the USBC Intercollegiate Team Championships’ Sectional Qualifying events. There will be four Sectional Qualifiers in which the top four finishers in each division will advance to the USBC Intercollegiate Team Championships’ 32-team field of 16 men’s and 16 women’s teams.

Schools will have two opportunities to advance into postseason Sectional Qualifying events.

I. Conference – Each school is eligible to declare one USBC Collegiate certified conference in which they will attempt to advance to the post season Sectional competition. The school shall declare through the Standardized USBC Collegiate Eligibility Form and notify their Conference Commissioner or Secretary who also will report that information on the USBC Collegiate Conference Certification Application. For a conference to be eligible as a qualifier to Sectionals, the conference must have:

A. Six (6) USBC Collegiate certified men’s teams representing different schools, all who have declared that conference as their Sectional qualifier and/or four USBC Collegiate certified women’s teams representing different schools, all who have declared that conference as their Sectional qualifier. Conferences are required to have six (6) women’s teams representing different schools, all who have declared that conference as their Sectional qualifier.

B. Conference competition must consist of a minimum 18 equivalent team games.

C. The conference must be certified by USBC Collegiate.

D. The conference champion will advance to Sectional Qualifying competition.

II. Team Ranking System – Once it is determined how many teams will advance from conferences, the rest of the Sectional Qualifying field will be completed using the Team Ranking System. The TRS ranks schools based on their performance in USBC Collegiate certified events.

During the regular season, a school earns points based on its finish in up to 10 USBC Collegiate certified competitions. The 10 events shall include no more than six (6) Tier I tournaments and the remainder of the 10 events filled by Tier II tournaments and final conference standings (if applicable).

A. If a school participates in more than six (6) Tier I tournaments, the points earned shall be averaged and multiplied by six to fit within the limit.

B. If a school competes in more Tier II tournaments and conferences (if applicable) than required to complete the 10-event limit, these points shall be averaged and multiplied by the applicable number to complete the limit.

Tier I Tournaments

A. Competition must be completed by Sunday, February 17, 2008 to be eligible for point consideration.

B. The tournament format must have at minimum nine (9) equivalent team games (i.e. five Baker System games equal one regular game) prior to any team being cut or eliminated from the field.

C. Tournament entries must be available to all institutions a minimum of 50 days prior to the start of the event. Entries from multiple five-person teams representing the same institution can only be accepted 25 days prior to the start of the event providing space is available.

D. If an institution has multiple five-person teams competing, only the highest finishing team representing that institution shall earn tournament awards.

E. Student-athletes are limited to use of a maximum of five (5) bowling balls in Tier I events, including practice and competition. All teams participating in Tier I events must submit a ball registration form prior to the start of competition.

F. Lane conditions must comply with all current USBC Sport Bowling regulations.

G. The following tournaments are Tier I tournaments provided they meet the above listed requirements:

Brunswick Southern Collegiate Classic	Nittany Lion Kegler Classic
Hammer Midwest Collegiate Tournament	Keystone Quaker Classic
National Collegiate Team Match Games	Blue and Gold Classic
Las Vegas Invitational	Brunswick Coca-Cola Open
Sam’s Town Shoot-Out	Hoosier Classic

Tier II Tournaments and Conferences

A. Tier II events are all other USBC Collegiate certified tournaments, conferences (if applicable) and ACUI Regional team tournaments provided they meet the following requirements.

B. Tier II events must have a minimum of six men’s teams representing different schools and/or four women’s teams representing different schools participating. Tournaments and conferences are required to have six women’s teams representing different schools participating.

C. The tournament must have a minimum of eight equivalent team games (i.e. five Baker System games equal one regular game) or 10 matches (i.e. one team game, three Baker System Games, or a best 3 of 5 Baker System Games) prior to any team being cut or eliminated from the field.

D. Competition must be completed by Sunday, February 17, 2008 to be eligible for point recognition.

E. The highest finishing declared conference team advances to Sectional competition.

Points

A. To be eligible for all points, teams must meet the October 15 fall semester or winter quarter and the February 1 semester or April 5 quarter deadlines for USBC Collegiate membership and eligibility. Teams not meeting these deadlines will not earn points for events competed in prior to having a USBC Collegiate approved membership and eligibility application on file. These competitions’ final standings will remain and the TRS points will not be recalculated. Teams missing the deadline begin to earn points with the day a USBC Collegiate approved membership and eligibility application is on file. Refer to USBC Collegiate Rules for membership and eligibility guidelines.

B. TRS points will be awarded to five-player teams only. Intercollegiate teams competing with less than five players will not receive TRS points.

C. If an ineligible player is used in any competition, that team will receive no TRS points and that competition’s final standings will be recalculated along with the TRS points. The team also is not eligible for bonus pins or extra games.

D. Each school is ranked separately in men’s and women’s divisions with mixed teams being ranked in the men’s division.

E. Any USBC Collegiate certified school that participates in an eligible competition will receive points. If a school has multiple five-player teams competing in a tournament or conference; only the highest finishing team representing that school shall earn points. The other teams do not block other schools from receiving points.

F. If a school has a team(s) in two or more conferences, the school only will receive points from the USBC Collegiate-certified conference declared as its advancer into postseason Sectional Qualifiers.

G. If a school has a team(s) in two or more tournaments that are held concurrently, each tournament shall be counted separately.

H. If a competition only has one division, the final standings will be split into a men’s division and women’s division for point consideration. If the competition and each division separately meet all requirements, then the men’s and women’s schools will receive applicable points.

I. For a Tier I event that uses a roll-off format that drops prior pinfall or a stepladder final to determine the champion or order of finish, the final standings for point consideration shall be determined by the qualifying results before such roll-off or stepladder finals.

J. If two or more schools tie for a position, the points are split and any fractions of points are dropped.

K. All schools receive one point for participation and one point for every school it finishes ahead of in the final standings. No points are awarded for any schools tied.

L. Standings will be updated weekly through the regular season ending February 17, 2008 pending receipt of competition results. Standings can be found on collegebowling.com Web site.

M. Teams withdrawing from a tournament or not completing the competition schedule are not eligible for TRS points.

N. Schools shall be ranked from high to low based on the average of the school’s earned points per event plus their total season points after earning TRS points in more than one competition. The average of the points earned per event will be calculated by dividing the total regular season points earned by the number of regular season competitions competed in not to exceed 10. This average will be multiplied by an “event factor” that will equal the average number of regular season competitions completed by the top 100 men’s schools and 50 women’s schools during the prior season. Once the average number of competitions is determined for the men and women, those two numbers will be rounded into one number to be used for both divisions. The event factor is seven (7). Once the “event factor” is determined, it will remain constant during the entire season. Once the average of the school’s earned points per event is calculated, it is added to the total of their total season points earned multiplied by two.

O. Tier I points are awarded to the top 20 teams in order of finish as follows:

Place	Points	Place	Points
1	250	11	100
2	220	12	90
3	200	13	80
4	180	14	70
5	160	15	60
6	150	16	50
7	140	17	40
8	130	18	30
9	120	19	20
10	110	20	10

P. Tier II points are awarded in three categories based on field size as follows:

1. 4-10 different women’s schools and 6-10 different men’s schools participate

Place	Points
1	150
2	100
3	60
4	30
5	10

2. 11-16 different schools participate

Place	Points	Place	Points
1	150	5	40
2	110	6	30
3	80	7	20
4	60	8	10

3. 17 or more different schools participate

Place	Points	Place	Points
1	150	7	60
2	120	8	50
3	100	9	40
4	90	10	30
5	80	11	20
6	70	12	10