The NCAA Rifle Championships

Kentucky has qualified as one of eight teams that will compete in this year's NCAA Rifle Championships.  The Big Blue won the title in 2011 and 2018, and has six runner-up finishes.

Here are the eight qualifiers for the 2021 championships, which will take place in Columbus, Ohio.  I'm sorry to see that Murray State (which traditionally has a strong rifle program) didn't make it:

Air Force

Alaska Fairbanks

Kentucky

Memphis

Nebraska

Mississippi

Texas Christian

West Virginia

UK Rifle Comes in Second

TCU, an all-female team that was ranked number one in the country, came from behind today in the air rifle competition to overtake UK and capture its second national championship in the last three seasons. But congrats to the RifleCats on another great season, and we look forward to another run for the title next year.

Final Scores:

Texas Christian: 4,676
Kentucky: 4,661
Alaska-Fairbanks: 4,661
Army: 4,658
Texas-El Paso: 4,648
W. Virginia: 4,647
Jacksonville St: 4,645
Nevada: 4,632

Kentucky Seeks to Defend Its Rifle Crown

UK won the NCAA Rifle Championships last year for the first time in school history. This year's team is also strong, as the Wildcats won the Great American Rifle Conference. (Note: The Great American Rifle Conference -- which is the best name of any conference on earth -- exists because the conferences to which its members usually belong do not sponsor rifle competitions. In other words, there is no SEC Rifle Championship, so UK shoots for the GARC title instead. The members of the GARC are: Army, Kentucky, Memphis, North Carolina State, Nebraska, Ole Miss, and West Virginia.)

Now the RifleCats have moved on to the NCAA tournament in Columbus, Ohio. Only eight schools have qualified, and they are a high-powered bunch:

Alaska-Fairbanks (winner in 1994, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, and 2008; runner-up in 1991, 1992, 1993, 1998, and 2010)
Army (2005 winner; runner-up 2007 and 2008)
Jacksonville State (2005 runner-up)
Kentucky (2011 winner; runner-up in 2001, 2002, and 2009)
Nevada (2004 runner-up)
Texas Christian (2010 winner)
Texas-El Paso
West Virginia (winner in 1983, 1984, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, and 2009; runner-up in 1980, 1981, 1982, 1985, 1987, 1994, and 2011)

Last year, Kentucky beat West Virginia with 4,700 points to 4,697 points, which seems incredibly close.

Kentucky goes into the tournament as the number 2 team in the country. The favorite is Texas Christian, the 2010 champ who beat UK 4,703 to 4,693 in Fort Worth earlier this year. But we'll see if the Horned Frogs can do as well on neutral ground.

If you want to watch the rifle championships, you can do so at this web page.