San Antonio, TX – A new season of the Bass Pro Shops School of the Year presented by Abu Garcia is set to begin on June 1, 2023. In preparation for this new season to start, the Association of Collegiate Anglers (ACA) is announcing modifications to the program details for this upcoming campaign. These modifications will best support college fishing teams nationwide while creating as fair a program as possible based on current tournament schedules.
Changes to the program details include increasing point allotments at school-run events and modifying points distribution at major college tournaments to promote a more competitive race for the National Rankings.
“Each year, we sit down as a staff to take a look at the Bass Pro Shops School of the Year presented by Abu Garcia and the program details for this National Rankings system,” said Wade Middleton, ACA Director and President of CarecoTV. “The modifications we’ve put in place come from feedback we received from various fishing programs, and our own data gathered over past seasons. For this upcoming season, we feel our program will not only help minimize the amount of class time missed by student anglers, but will also be key in creating a very competitive race that will come to an exciting conclusion at the Collegiate Bass Fishing Championship presented by Bass Pro Shops to be held in May 2024 on Pickwick Lake.”
View the 2023-24 Bass Pro Shops School of the Year presented by Abu Garcia program details here.
One of the main highlights to the updated program details for the 2023-24 chase for Bass Pro Shops School of the Year presented by Abu Garcia addresses events and points distribution for both the MLF and B.A.S.S. college series regular season events. For each trail, schools will only be eligible to earn points at the first three events competed in. Here is the official wording from the new program details:
MLF
Each university/college bass fishing club can earn points at their first three (3) MLF major events competed in, excluding the MLF College Championship, meaning teams can only earn points in a maximum of three (3) MLF major events during the 2023-24 race for Bass Pro Shops School of the Year presented by Abu Garcia.
Once a university/college bass fishing club has competed in its first three (3) MLF major events, regardless of whether they earned points or not, any other MLF major events competed in after that time will not count for points towards the Bass Pro Shops School of the Year presented by Abu Garcia.
B.A.S.S.
Each university/college bass fishing club can earn points at their first three (3) B.A.S.S. regular season collegiate events competed in, excluding the B.A.S.S. College Championship and Wild Card. The B.A.S.S. Wild Card event points are explained below.
Once a university/college bass fishing club has competed in its first three (3) B.A.S.S. regular season collegiate events, regardless of whether they earned points or not, any other B.A.S.S. regular season collegiate events competed in after that time will not count for points towards the Bass Pro Shops School of the Year presented by Abu Garcia.
For both MLF and B.A.S.S., each series’ college Championship will count for points, regardless of how many regular seasons events a team has competed on either trail. The ACA will list the events as soon as MLF and B.A.S.S announce their collegiate schedules and will adjust accordingly to ensure a fair points breakdown between each series is allocated.
“As student anglers, these young fishermen and women work very hard to maintain their grades and time spent in the classroom while also remaining competitive on the college fishing circuit for 12 months out of the year,” noted Kyle Curry, ACA Managing Director. “By reducing the number of regular season events a school can earn points at for each of the major college trails, the season schedule will demand less time spent on the road…allowing these anglers to focus on their studies while also competing on a national level.”
Another modification made by the ACA for the 2023-24 Bass Pro Shops School of the Year presented by Abu Garcia is in regards to the School-Run Events. The maximum number of School-Run Events a school can earn points at is five. Here is how this new rule change reads in the program details:
School bass fishing clubs/teams will only be eligible to earn points at the first five (5) school-run and other sanctioned events competed in. This does not include school hosting bonus points that can be earned as those are separate.
Along with the maximum number of School-Run Events a school can earn points at set to five, two different points distributions are available based on the total number of teams competing in each School-Run Event:
School-run or other sanctioned events that are sanctioned for School of the Year points will be eligible to receive points based off the field size for that event. School-run or other sanctioned events fielding 35 boats or more will award 200 points to 1st place. Points will decrease in 10-point increments through 20th place. School-run or other sanctioned events fielding 34 boats or less will award 100 points to 1st place. Points will decrease in 5-point increments through 20th place, or in the case where there are not 20 teams competing, until the last team in the standings to weigh in fish earns points. All school-run or other sanctioned events must have at least five (5) different schools competing in the event for points to be awarded.
“Many of the major college sports have an assigned schedule that teams have set going into each year. College football teams know they’ve got to play 12 regular season games, and basketball programs enter the year preparing for roughly 30 games,” explained Middleton. “These new modifications to the School of the Year program details set a more concrete formula for teams to follow to be competitive. With a maximum number of roughly 18-20 events schools can earn points at, this is going to be a very exciting next 12 months to follow college bass fishing!”
The Bass Pro Shops School of the Year presented by Abu Garcia is college fishing’s only all-encompassing rankings system. Hundreds of college teams compete at a variety of events, both regionally and nationally, to earn thousands of valuable points. Each of these schools enter the year with the hopes of being ranked inside of the coveted Top 25, and possibly even finishing the year ranked number one. The Bass Pro Shops School of the Year presented by Abu Garcia is managed by the Association of Collegiate Anglers. This upcoming season will begin on June 1, 2023, and run through May 24, 2024.
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