Carson-Newman Tops the First Rankings

Bass Pro Shops School of the Year presented by Abu Garcia
University of North Alabama is ranked 2^nd, and three-time defending title winner Montevallo drops to 3^rd

The Association of Collegiate Anglers has updated the points standings for the 2023-24 Bass Pro Shops School of the Year presented by Abu Garcia.

The first points update of 2024 features results and points from an MLF College Series regular-season event at the Harris Chain, as well as the MLF Championship at Lake Toho.

For the first time in its fishing program’s history, Carson-Newman University is ranked number one in the Bass Pro Shops School of the Year presented by Abu Garcia. Past two-time title winner University of North Alabama moves up one place to take the 2^nd spot and three-time defending School of the Year winner University of Montevallo falls to 3^rd.

Carson-Newman University is ranked number one.

Carson-Newman started the year off with a bang by earning the most points of any team competing at the MLF College Series regular-season event at the Harris Chain. The school’s top two teams finished in 4^th and 12^th, earning a total of 2,360 points. Nicholas Dellaporta & Drew Pitts finished in 4^th, and Riley Faulkner & Szymon Piton took 12^th.

The following week, Carson-Newman had five teams compete in the MLF College Series Championship on Lake Toho. Ben Cully & Hayden Gaddis claimed 8^th, and Drake Hemby & Ewing Minor finished the event in 13^th. Those two Top 15 finishes earned Carson-Newman a total of 3,620 points. This points total was the third highest of any team competing in the event.

In one week, Carson-Newman earned a total of 5,980 points. That mark was good enough for the team from Jefferson City, TN to move from 3^rd to 1^st in the latest points update. This is the first time Carson-Newman has ever been ranked number one in the Bass Pro Shops School of the Year presented by Abu Garcia.

Currently ranked 2^nd in college fishing’s only all-encompassing National Rankings system is the University of North Alabama. This moved the UNA fishing team up one spot in the rankings since the previous update.

UNA’s 2^nd place ranking is the school’s highest mark of the 2023-24 season for the Bass Pro Shops School of the Year presented by Abu Garcia.

Sitting in 3^rd for this rankings update is the University of Montevallo. The three-time defending title winner fell two spots since the previous points update. While the two teams ahead of them competed at both MLF College Series events, Montevallo only participated in the Championship.

Montevallo currently sits 1,500 points behind top-ranked Carson-Newman and just over 500 points behind 2nd-ranked UNA. For the season, Montevallo has competed in one less MLF regular season event than the two schools ahead of them. Depending on how Montevallo fairs at their two remaining MLF events, they will likely close the gap, or even take the lead.

With two major double-point events being contested to start the year, a very large number of points were available to teams. Because of this, there was a lot of shake-up in the standings for the Bass Pro Shops School of the Year presented by Abu Garcia. Here are some notable teams that improved their ranking inside of the Top 25:
5) Campbellsville University – Previously Ranked 11^th
7) LSU-Shreveport – Previously Ranked 13^th
15) University of Tennessee – Previously Ranked 19^th
20) Georgia College – Previously Ranked 24^th

View the complete updated rankings.

Three teams moved into the Top 25 after being on the outside looking in during the previous rankings. Florida Gateway College made the biggest move of any team, moving up 16 spots from 38^th to 22^nd. Kentucky Christian University moved up three spots to 23^rd, and Bryan College went from 32^nd to 24^th.

Just over six months remain in the 2023-24 race for Bass Pro Shops School of the Year presented by Abu Garcia.  View the current schedule of points qualifying events.