JACKSONVILLE – The stage is now set for the inaugural season of Jacksonville State Bowling after head coach Shannon O'Keefe announced the Gamecocks' first schedule.
 
The completion of the 2023-24 schedule puts the final touches on the preparation for the first season of bowling at Jax State, which will officially begin on Oct. 27 in Orlando. It culminates the process that started with a January announcement that bowling would be coming to Jax State this fall.
 
Conference USA announced the addition of bowling as a conference sport on May 11, one day before the Gamecocks announced the hiring of O'Keefe to lead the program. She came to Jax State from McKendree along with her husband Bryan after winning four national titles with the Bearcats.
 
The next step was the announcement of their first Jax State roster in early August, which includes six transfers from McKendree and another from Nebraska, along with two freshmen signees. The Gamecocks will practice at Big Time Entertainment in Oxford.
 
"Both Bryan and I are extremely excited to get the inaugural season started at JSU," O'Keefe said. "We were very fortunate that our ladies wanted to follow us on this new journey and we are ready to get this started and look forward for what's to come."
 
That journey will take the Gamecocks across the country to compete against the nation's best competition, so they will be best prepared to compete for both the CUSA and NCAA titles at season's end.
 
Three events during the fall semester will feature an Oct. 27-29 trip to Sacred Heart's Destination Orlando event, followed by Stephen F. Austin's LadyJack Classic from Nov. 10-12 in Kenosha, Wis. The Hawk Classic, hosted by Maryland Eastern Shore from Nov. 17-19 in Woodbridge, Va., will wrap up the fall portion of the schedule.
 
The Gamecocks will be busy after the Christmas break, starting with three January events. The new year will begin in Las Vegas at Mount St. Mary's Stormin' Blue & White Vegas Classic from Jan. 8-10. That event will be followed by Sacred Heart's Northeast Classic from Jan. 19-21 at Deptford, N.J., and then the Prairie View Invitational from Jan. 26-28 in Arlington, Texas.
 
Two event in February will be the Mid-Winter Invitational in Jonesboro, Ark., from Feb. 16-18, hosted by Arkansas State and followed by the NCAT Stallings Invitational from Feb. 23-25 in Greensboro, N.C.
 
The United States Bowling Congress (USBC) Sectionals will be from March 8-10 at a site to be determined, and Vanderbilt's Columbia 300 Music City Classic will wrap up the regular season from March 15-17 in Smyrna, Tenn.
 
The Conference USA Championship will be held March 24-26 at a site to be determined at a later date and looks to be the premiere league championship in collegiate bowling. The nine-team league will feature six programs that were a part of the 2023 NCAA Championship, including defending national champion Vanderbilt. The programs competing for the CUSA title will be Arkansas State, Jax State, Louisiana Tech, Sam Houston, Stephen F. Austin, Tulane, Valparaiso, Vanderbilt and Youngstown State.
 
The NCAA Regionals will be held from April 4-6, setting up the NCAA Championships from April 11-13 in Detroit. The Gamecocks will wrap up the schedule from April 17-20 at the USBC Intercollegiate Team Championships, an event that O'Keefe and her McKendree squad won in 2023.