Montevallo Extends its Lead in the Bass Pro Shops School of the Year presented by Abu Garcia
Carson-Newman holds onto 2nd, University of North Alabama closes gap but remains in 3rd.
SAN ANTONIO, TX (May 30, 2024) – The Association of Collegiate Anglers recently contested its final event of the 2023-24 season on the Bass Pro Shops Collegiate Bass Fishing Series. The 19th Collegiate Bass Fishing Championship presented by Bass Pro Shops, held on Pickwick Lake in Florence, AL, was a triple points event to count towards the Bass Pro Shops School of the Year presented by Abu Garcia. This triple points tournament is the most important event of the year on the calendar, as it’s one of the last opportunities for schools to earn points, as well as presents a chance for major shake ups in the National Rankings.
Entering the 2024 Collegiate Bass Fishing Championship presented by Bass Pro Shops, 24 of the Top 25 ranked schools were registered to compete at Pickwick Lake. With the event now complete, all of the top teams earned points at the final ACA event of the year, as well as 32 of the Top 33 in the national ranking system. This points update features several teams moving up and down in the standings. While there is not a large amount of change in the standings, it’s important to note that the gaps and margins between many teams inside of the Top 25 grew tighter with the triple points awarded to schools.
The top ranked University of Montevallo continued to dominate the college fishing scene, as they placed three teams in the Top 25 at Pickwick Lake to earn over 6,000 points. These top finishes allowed them to maintain the number one ranking and widen the gap between 2nd ranked Carson-Newman University.
3rd ranked University of North Alabama, coming off its best finishes of the year, earned the most points of any school to compete in the ACA National Championship. This allowed UNA to narrow the margin between themselves and 2nd place by more than half.
Here is a look at teams that made significant moves inside of the Top 25 for the Bass Pro Shops School of the Year presented by Abu Garcia:
4) LSU-Shreveport – Previously Ranked 5th
8) Lander University – Previously Ranked 9th
13) Dallas Baptist University – Previously Ranked 16th
18) Blue Mountain Christian University – Previously Ranked 20th
23) USC-Union – Previously Ranked 25th
View the complete updated rankings here.
At the Collegiate Bass Fishing Championship presented by Bass Pro Shops, the University of Montevallo earned a total of 6,700 points. Here are the top ranked school’s highest finishing pairings from Pickwick Lake:
12) James Willoughby & Phillip Herring
15) Brody Robison & Colton White
16) Beau Browning
Entering the final ACA event of the season, Montevallo held a lead of 2,335 points over 2nd ranked Carson-Newman University. With the conclusion of this tournament, Montevallo now leads 2nd place by 4,085 points. Montevallo earned the second most points of any team to compete at the Collegiate Bass Fishing Championship presented by Bass Pro Shops. This dominant showing at Pickwick Lake likely secures the school’s 4th straight title for finishing the year ranked number one.
Maintaining its 2nd place ranking is Carson-Newman University. In the midst of its best season in program history, Carson-Newman entered the ACA National Championship at Pickwick Lake with a puncher’s chance to overtake that number one spot. The team from eastern Tennessee only placed one team in the Top 50, with its three highest-finishing teams last week being in 43rd, 52nd, and 57th. Those three finishes earned the school 4,950 points. That points total is the lowest mark earned by any of the current Top 10 teams to compete at Pickwick Lake.
The school that earned the most points of any team to compete in the Collegiate Bass Fishing Championship presented by Bass Pro Shops is the University of North Alabama. The hometown team from Florence, AL, on the shores of Pickwick Lake, amassed a total of 6,980 points at the ACA triple points tournament. These are the Top 3 finishing teams for UNA last week:
1) Dylan Nutt & Carter Nutt
3) Nathan Reynolds & Banks Shaw
25) Preston Kolisek & Smith McGregor
UNA entered the final ACA event of the season ranked 3rd in the Bass Pro Shops School of the Year presented by Abu Garcia, 3,825 points behind 2nd ranked Carson-Newman. Following the conclusion of last week’s tournament, UNA remains in 3rd but closed the gap between themselves and Carson-Newman to only 1,795 points.
Only one points earning opportunity remains on the schedule for this current season. The Bassmaster College Series is scheduled to compete at Saginaw Bay in Michigan on June 6-7. That is the final event that will count towards the 2023-24 Bass Pro Shops School of the Year presented by Abu Garcia. Per the program details for college fishing’s only all-encompassing National Rankings system, schools are only eligible to earn points at their first three Bassmaster College Series events competed in, excluding the series’ National Championship.
Both Montevallo and Carson-Newman have maxed out at Bassmaster College Series events and will not be eligible to earn points at Saginaw Bay. 3rd ranked UNA, however, has only earned points at two Bassmaster College Series tournaments. Entering the final points eligible event of the season just 1,795 points behind 2nd ranked Carson-Newman, UNA has a realistic shot at earning enough points in Michigan to move into that 2nd ranked position.
With just the lone double points event remaining on the schedule for the 2023-24 season, there is still potential for a lot of movement in the Bass Pro Shops School of the Year presented by Abu Garcia. Including 3rd ranked UNA, 8 of the Top 20 teams in the National Rankings have the potential to earn points at the Saginaw Bay event. Included in that group are these prestigious teams:
6) McKendree University
7) Auburn University
10) Murray State University
11) Adrian College
Each of these programs trail the school ahead of them by less than 1,000 points, meaning that it is highly likely for those 8 schools to create some shake ups in the rankings before season’s end.
