Carson-Newman Regains Number One Ranking in the Bass Pro Shops School of the Year presented by Abu Garcia
SAN ANTONIO, TX (March 20, 2024) – For the second time this season, and also for the second time in its program’s fishing team’s history, Carson-Newman University is again ranked number one in the Bass Pro Shops School of the Year presented by Abu Garcia. Sitting in 2nd, and trailing just over 800 points behind 1st place Carson-Newman in the standings, is three-time defending School of the Year title winner the University of Montevallo. Lander University moves up one spot since the most recent rankings and is now in 3rd place.
Less than three months remain in the race for 2023-24 Bass Pro Shops School of the Year presented by Abu Garcia. The spring season is loaded with valuable double and triple points opportunities that will make for a dramatic stretch run to see who will end the season ranked number one, and which school fishing teams will finish the year inside of the Top 25 teams in the nation going into the summer recruiting season.
The latest points update features results from multiple School-Run/Other sanctioned events, as well as two major double points tournaments on both the Bassmaster and MLF College Series.
Carson-Newman University finds itself ranked number one in the Bass Pro Shops School of the Year presented by Abu Garcia for the second time this spring. The most recent Bassmaster College Series event was contested very close to the Carson-Newman campus at Douglas Lake. The school capitalized on their knowledge of this local fishery to earn the most points out of any team to compete in the tournament. Bolstered by a 2ndplace finish from Drake Hemby & Ewing Minor and an 8th place showing by Alex Gore & Colby Reece, Carson-Newman earned a total of 2,420 points at their second Bassmaster College Series event of the season. With Montevallo not competing at the Douglas Lake event, Carson-Newman was able to jump from 2nd into 1st with a more than 800 point lead over 2nd ranked Montevallo, and a 1,500 plus point gap between 3rd ranked Lander University.
Here is a look at teams that made significant moves up inside of the Top 25 during this points update to the Bass Pro Shops School of the Year presented by Abu Garcia:
4) Campbellsville University – Previously Ranked 6th
6) LSU-Shreveport – Previously Ranked 8th
10) Tarleton State University – Previously Ranked 13th
18) Bryan College – Previously Ranked 21st
Click here to view the complete updated rankings.
Erskine College was the only team to move into the Top 25 after being previously ranked on the outside looking in. Erskine moved up two places, from 26th previously, to now be ranked 24th in the Bass Pro Shops School of the Year presented by Abu Garcia.
As mentioned earlier, the University of Montevallo did not compete in the most recent double points event. However, they did earn valuable points at two School-Run/Other Events. Team members Tyler Cory & Scott Sledge won the Southern Collegiate Bass Series event at Lake Eufaula and Peyton Harris & Dalton Head won the Montevallo College Series tournament on Logan Martin. Each of those victories earned Montevallo 200 points to count towards their season total. The three-time defending title winners are within striking distance, as they’ve competed in one less MLF event than top ranked Carson-Newman…meaning there is still room for them to gain ground on, or overtake, that top spot.
Rounding out the Top 3 is Lander University. Lander earned a total of 2,110 points at Douglas Lake, which helped to propel them from 4th up to 3rd overall in college fishing’s only all-encompassing National Rankings system. Team members Garrett Smith & Andrew Blanton took 6th and Jeremy Dellinger & William Hammond finished in 35th. A team that opened the year ranked number 1, Lander University is positioned for a shot at claiming the team’s first ever title as Bass Pro Shops School of the Year presented by Abu Garcia.
