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This is the final installment of a three-part article series highlighting the Top 25 ranked teams in the final standings for the 2023-24 Bass Pro Shops School of the Year presented by Abu Garcia. In this piece, we will be taking a look at the Top 5 ranked teams. Each of these five teams were picked inside of the Top 10 for the ACA Pre-Season Poll coming into this year:
1) University of Montevallo
The University of Montevallo won the 2023-24 Bass Pro Shops School of the Year presented by Abu Garcia with a season total of 40,305 points. This victory adds to Montevallo’s legacy in the college fishing record books, as they are the first school ever to win four titles. Those four titles have also been won in four consecutive seasons (2021, 2022, 2023, 2024). Montevallo edged out its next closest competitor by close to 4,000 points.
Montevallo started off the 2023-24 campaign by earning the most points of any team to compete at the Bassmaster College Series National Championship at Pickwick Lake. Brody Robison & Jack Alexander finished in 3rd, and Easton Fothergill & Nick Dumke took 5th. Those two Top 5 finishes earned the team 3,880 points.
At major national tournaments (ACA, BASS, and MLF) Montevallo anglers won four of those events:
Across all 12 of the double and triple points events on the three major college series, Montevallo’s two highest-finishing teams never placed outside of the Top 25. 7 out of 12 times, their two highest-placing teams were both inside of the Top 10.
2) University of North Alabama
Like top ranked Montevallo, the University of North Alabama is a multiple time winner of the Bass Pro Shops School of the Year presented by Abu Garcia. UNA won back-to-back titles in 2014, and 2015. The 2023-24 2nd place finish is UNA’s highest end-of-season ranking since another 2nd in 2018.
UNA earned a season total of 36,355 points. 15,670 of those points were earned at ACA events. The team’s season started off strong with a 5th & 12th place finish at the Bass Pro Shops Big Bass Bash presented by Berkley. UNA’s top two teams at the AFTCO Collegiate Bass Open in October of 2023 placed 21st & 22nd. Their worst showing of the season at an ACA event came during the Hartwell Slam, where the team’s two highest-placing boats were 63rd & 64th.
However, UNA closed the season strong at the triple points Collegiate Bass Fishing Championship presented by Bass Pro Shops. Here were UNA’s top three finishing teams at the ACA’s season ending National Championship:
1st Place – Dylan Nutt & Carter Nutt
3rd Place – Nathan Reynolds & Banks Shaw
25th Place – Preston Kolisek & Smith McGregor
UNA earned the most points of any team to compete at Pickwick Lake. These Top 3 finishes earned them 6,980 points. At the time, this helped them to narrow the gap between themselves and 2nd ranked Carson-Newman from 3,825 points down to 1,795 points.
3) Carson-Newman University
Carson-Newman University was selected as 4th in the ACA Pre-Season Poll coming into the year, and their final ranking for the 2023-24 Bass Pro Shops School of the Year presented by Abu Garcia is 3rd. The team amassed a total of 36,220 points, with 15,180 points coming at ACA ran events.
Carson-Newman earned over 3,000 points at each ACA regular-season double points event contested. At the Hartwell Slam in April, they earned the most points of any team to compete in the event with 3,420. Here is a look at their top two finishes at each ACA regular-season event:
Bass Pro Shops Big Bass Bash presented by Berkley – Top two finishes:
4th – Jacob Deel, T-6th – Dylan May
AFTCO Collegiate Bass Open – Top two finishes: 6th – Hayden Gaddis & Ben Cully, 7th– Storm Cline & Gavin Clevenger
Hartwell Slam – Top two finishes: 4th Cason Price & Brayden Ruckman, 6th – Drake Hemby & Ewin Minor
While Carson-Newman did not have a victory at a major double/triple points college series event (ACA, BASS, MLF), they still had a very strong year. At those 12 specific tournaments, their two highest-placing teams were both in the Top 25 at a total of eight events.
4) McKendree University
The next team to be featured is one that has cemented its place amongst the top of the rankings over the course of the last 10 years. McKendree University finishes the 2023-24 Bass Pro Shops School of the Year presented by Abu Garcia ranked 4th. McKendree, a two-time title winner (2019, 2020), has finished inside of the Top 5 for the last six seasons, and the Top 10 for 9 straight. The worst finish in that stretch was a 6th place in 2018.
McKendree was picked 5th in the ACA Pre-Season Poll to start the year. Like Carson-Newman in front of them, McKendree did not win a major double or triple points event this season. Out of those 12 major tournaments, they placed both of their two highest-finishing teams inside of the Top 25 four times.
The two-time School of the Year title winner competed in all four ACA major events last season. Across those tournaments, they earned a total of 14,870 points. McKendree’s best finish at an ACA event came during the Bass Pro Shops Big Bass Bash presented by Berkley. With a 9th and 25th place finish, McKendree earned 3,180 points at Kentucky Lake. They were also only one of five teams to earn over 6,000 points at the Collegiate Bass Fishing Championship presented by Bass Pro Shops.
5) Auburn University
Rounding out this rankings review is Auburn University. Auburn finishes the 2023-24 season ranked 5th in the Bass Pro Shops School of the Year presented by Abu Garcia. The Alabama based team was picked 1st in the ACA Pre-Season Poll entering this year.
Auburn anglers started the year off strong as team members Hayden Marbut & Tucker Smith won the Bassmaster College Series National Championship on Pickwick Lake. Auburn placed its two highest-finishing teams in the Top 25 at five of the 12 major college events contested in this cycle.
With a total of 33,450 points earned, Auburn finishes in the Top 5 for the third-straight season. This 5th place finish also makes eight straight seasons(2017-2024) in which the team has ended the year in the Top 15. The last time Auburn finished outside of the Top 25 for the Bass Pro Shops School of the Year presented by Abu Garcia was 2016 (26th).