North Carolina A&T Bowling Earns No. 10 National Preseason Ranking

COURTESY NORTH CAROLINA A&T ATHLETICS

GREENSBORO, North Carolina -- The North Carolina A&T bowling team starts where it started in last year’s National Tenpin Coaches Association. NTCA released its preseason poll recently and for the second straight season the Aggies cracked the top-10 with a No. 10 ranking.

N.C. A&T is the only MEAC team ranked in the top-10.

The Aggies finished the 2014-2015 season 70-37, ranked ninth by NTCA, making it the highest ranking the program has ever received. The Aggies bowling program is also coming off a season where they established the distinction of being the only N.C. A&T athletics program with a national championship after winning the 2015 United States Bowling Congress Intercollegiate Team Championships.

The Aggies national championship team is intact for their 2015-16 run. N.C. A&T will seek its third straight 70-plus win season. Head coach James Williams is looking for his third straight MEAC Coach of the Year award and Emily Strombeck is looking to be the first Aggie ever to win conference player of the year honors for a third straight year in that person’s respective sport. Strombeck and teammate MacKenzie Robinson also earned NTCA All-American honors last season.

Robinson, along with Kristin Shinn and Kori Smith, was also named to the National Tenpin Coaches Association All-Academic Team for the 2014-2015 season. North Carolina A&T will start the season in New Orleans for the Tulane Invitational.

The National Tenpin Coaches Association

2015-2016 Preseason Poll 

2015-2016 NATIONAL TENPIN COACHES ASSOCIATION PRESEASON POLL

October 1, 2015 

		Season Record W - L	1st Place Votes	Adjusted Point Standing	Previously Ranked
1.	University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE	0-0	17	941	1
2.	Arkansas State University, Jonesboro, AR	0-0	5	865	4
3.	Stephen F. Austin State University, Nacogdoches, TX	0-0	2	844	2
4.	Fairleigh Dickinson University, Teaneck, NJ	0-0	1	827	3
5.	Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 0-0 382 6	0-0		757	7
6.	Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, TX	0-0		719	5
7.	University of Wisconsin, Whitewater, WI	0-0		655	6
8.	University of Central Missouri, Warrensburg, MO	0-0		587	8
9.	McKendree University, Lebanon, IL	0-0		577	11
10.	North Carolina A&T, Greensboro, NC	0-0		543	9
11.	University of Maryland Eastern Shore, Princess Anne, MD	0-0		539	10
12.	St. Francis University, Loretto, PA	0-0		417	12
13.	Sacred Heart University, Fairfield, CT	0-0		391	13
14.	LIU Brooklyn, Brooklyn, NY	0-0		363	14
15.	Valparaiso University, Valparaiso, IN	0-0		258	16
16.	Saint Francis Brooklyn College, Brooklyn Hieghts, NY	0-0		247	15
17.	Delaware State University, Dover, DE	0-0		201	17
18.	Kutztown University, Kutztown, PA	0-0		182	19
19.	Tulane University, New Orleans, LA	0-0		151	NR
20.	Norfolk State University, Norfolk, VA	0-0		136	18
21.	Prairie View A&M University, Prairie View, TX	0-0		90	NR
22.	Adelphi University, Garden City, NY	0-0		78	NR
23.	Monmouth University, West Long Branch, NJ	0-0		69	NR
24.	Bowie State University, Bowie, MD	0-0		36	NR
25.	Alabama State University, Montgomery, AL	0-0		26	NR

Also receiving points:

Franklin Pierce University, Rindge, NH; Jackson State University, Jackson, MS; Felician College, Lodi, NJ; Cheyney University, Cheyney, PA; Bethune Cookman University, Daytona Beach, FL; Texas Southern University, Houston, TX; Fayetteville State University, Fayetteville, NC; Virginia State University, Petersburg, VA; Virginia Union University, Richmond, VA; Alabama A&M University, Huntsville, AL

Point system:

NTCA voters rank the top 20 teams on their ballot. Each position has a designated point value, ranging from 32 points for first place and one point for twentieth place. Teams are ranked using the adjusted total point standings, after the highest and lowest votes are dropped. The specific point values follow: 1st place = 42 points, 2nd =39, 3rd =37, 4th =35, 5th =33, 6th =31, 7th =29, 8th =27, 9th =25, 10th =23, 11th =21, 12th =19, 13th =17, 14th =15, 15th =13, 16th =11, 17th =9, 18th =8, 19th =7, 20th =6, 21^st =5, 22^nd =4, 23^rd =3, 24^th =2, 25^th =1.

COURTESY NORTH CAROLINA A&T STATE UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION