Updated Bracket
 
HARAHAN, La. – The 2026 Conference USA Bowling Championships kicked off Wednesday afternoon with a six-match first round at Colonial Lanes in Harahan, Louisiana.
 
No. 1 Jax State and No. 2 Vanderbilt each won their matches, advancing them to the quarterfinals. The Gamecocks defeated No. 12 Valparaiso 2-0, while the Commadores swept No. 11 Tulane 2-0.
 
Also winning in sweeping fashion and advancing to the second round was No. 4 Nebraska and No. 3 Arkansas State.
 
Two matches were forced to the best-of-seven tiebreaker. No. 5 LA Tech opened their match against eighth-ranked Sam Houston with a win in game one. The Bearkats bounced back to win game two, but ultimately fell short in the final, giving the Bulldogs the 2-1 advantage. Also playing a three-game tiebreaker was No. 6 Wichita State against No. 7 Youngstown. The Penguins secured the first point before the Shockers evened the match in game two. The two battled to seven, with Youngstown State ultimately taking the point and winning the match.
 
No. 9 Sacred Heart and No. 10 Wright State will move to the contender’s bracket on Thursday at 2 p.m. CT for round three. The Pioneers will face off against the Shockers and the Raiders will play the Bearkats. Valparaiso will play the loser of Match 7 and Tulane will face the loser from Match 8.

Action will pick back up with two round two matches beginning Thursday morning at 9 a.m. CT. 
 
Round One
Match One – No. 1 Jax State 2 (1234-1128), No. 12 Valparaiso 0 (858-940)
Match Two – No. 5 LA Tech 2 (978-974-4), No. 8 Sam Houston 1 (968-1133-2)
Match Three – No. 9 Sacred Heart 0 (1070-967), No. 4 Nebraska 2 (1083-1049)
Match Four – No. 3 Arkansas State 2 (956-1006), No. 10 Wright State 0 (820-888)
Match Five – No. 6 Wichita State 1 (985-1060-3), No. 7 Youngstown State 2 (1044-1043-4)
Match Six – No. 11 Tulane 0 (953-1007), No. 2 Vanderbilt 2 (977-1115)

Championship Format
The Conference USA Championship is determined by the mega-match format. A mega-match encompasses three different rounds or points, and a team must get to two points to win the match.

The first round is the traditional format. Each team in the match has five players bowl a full game, and each individual's total score is added together for the team total. Whichever team has the highest score from all five individual games wins the point and leads the mega-match 1-0.

The second round of the mega-match is the Baker total pinfall portion, which consists of five games. The winner is determined by adding the pinfall of all five games together. In the Baker format, lineups are comprised of five bowlers with each being responsible for two frames in each game. The leadoff player bowls in frames one and six. The second person in the lineup bowls in frames two and seven, etc. If the team that wins the traditional round also wins the Baker pinfall round, they win the match 2-0. If the team that lost the traditional round wins the Baker point, the mega-match is tied 1-1 and goes to a best-of-seven Baker match play format.

In the best-of-seven tiebreaker format, instead of adding five games together to determine a total, all that matters is the score each game. Winning 300-175 of 176-175 has the same weight. The first team to four games wins the point and wins the mega-match 2-1.

How To Keep Up
The tournament bracket, results and TV links can be found on our Championship Central page. Each round of the tournament will be streamed live on ESPN+. Admission to the championship is free.