The Central Intercollegiate Bowling Conference (CIBC) has been approved by the NCAA Division III Membership Committee as an active NCAA Division III single-sport member conference effective September 1, 2019.
 
Members of the CIBC for its inaugural season (2019-20) include Augustana College (Rock Island, Ill.), Aurora University (Aurora, Ill.), Elmhurst College (Elmhurst, Ill.), Marian University (Fond du Lac, Wis.), North Central College (Naperville, Ill.) and the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater (Whitewater, Wis.).
 
The CIBC is on track to receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Championship starting in 2021-22. The winner of the conference tournament, which will be conducted starting in 2019-20, will receive the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Championship following the two-year probationary period.
 
The CIBC is the ninth official intercollegiate bowling conference, joining the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference, the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association, the East Coast Conference, the Great Lakes Valley Conference, the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, the Northeast Conference, the Southland Bowling League and the Southwestern Athletic Conference.
 
Michael Kraushaar will serve as Commissioner of the CIBC. Kraushaar started the Northwest Indiana Junior Touring Players Association (NWIJTPA), which gives youth bowlers the opportunity to earn scholarships, qualify for the Junior Gold tournament and gain national exposure and notice from college coaches. He currently serves as director of the NWIJTPA.
 
Kraushaar has served as a tournament official and National Tenpin Coaches Association statistician and scoring advisor. His daughter, Paige, was a bowling student-athlete at Stephen F. Austin (Texas).
 
The CIBC's inaugural season will begin in October. The annual CIBC Tournament will take place in March and will be hosted by member schools on a rotational basis.
 
Follow the CIBC on Twitter: @CIBC_Bowling
Follow the CIBC on Facebook: fb.me/CIBCBowling