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Collegiate championships to be broadcast on ESPN2

ESPN2 will tape the one-hour finals of the Intercollegiate Bowling Championships on Saturday for airing at a later date. The network and College Bowling USA, which governs the sport at that level, reached the agreement last week.

The Central Florida men and Florida State women are in the 16-team fields at Buffalo, N.Y. The men's and women's finals will feature the top two teams in each division competing in a best two-of-three Baker-style format.

Central Florida finished second to Purdue in the Central Region qualifier at Louisville two weeks ago. UCF is coached by Pat Costello, WIBC and pro women's Hall of Fame member, and Lynn Carpenter. Other men's teams in the field are Morehead State, Michigan State, Washington State, Northern Illinois, Erie Community College, Nebraska, Wichita State, Kansas, Saginaw Valley State, St. John's, St. Peter's, Penn State, San Jose State and defending champion Western Illinois.

FSU finished third to Nebraska in its Midwest qualifier at Oklahoma City. Other women's teams are Fresno State, Wichita State, McKendree College, Pikeville, Shippensburg, Sacred Heart, St. Peter's, Morehead State, Northern Illinois, Erie Community College, Cal State-Fullerton, Central Missouri State, Arizona State and Indiana State. Bob Soety and Marvin Overby are the FSU coaches.

NCAA POSSIBLE?: Fairleigh Dickinson will start a women's team next year, becoming the 40th college in the country with a women's program. If the application is approved and the other 39 schools continue their programs, the NCAA will recognize women's bowling as an official women's sport. Last year, 15 schools added women's squads, enhancing the chances of NCAA sanction.

PWBA GETS TV: The 22-stop Professional Women's Bowling Association Tour will include 16 tape-delayed telecasts and five live broadcasts on ESPN and ESPN2.

The 90-minute live telecasts will air at 4:30 p.m., in June on ESPN. ESPN2 will air the other 16 60-minute events on either Tuesdays or Sundays, and ESPN will televise the live final of the U.S. Women's Open. A new event, the PWBA Women's Collegiate Pro Doubles Challenge slated May 29-June 2, pits the top women pros against the best collegiate players. It will be televised live at 4:30 June 2 on ESPN. The PWBA schedule can be viewed at www.pwba.com.

REGIONAL FARM SYSTEM: In the late 1960s the PBA formed seven regions that would become a proving ground for professionals aspiring to reach the PBA national tour.

The West Region holds the most national tour titles with 262 and the South has 171. California has the most national titles per state at 216, followed by Florida with 112. The West Region is home to 79 national tour champions, the South to 46. California has 60 national champions and Florida is second with 28.

-- Phil Gulick can be reached at xerxes8@msn.com

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