The Top 5 Teams in the Final Standings for the 2024-25 Bass Pro Shops School of the Year presented by Abu Garcia

SAN ANTONIO, TX (July 11, 2025) – In the third and final article of this latest series highlighting teams that finished the 2024-25 season in the Top 25 for the Bass Pro Shops School of the Year presented by Abu Garcia, the Association of Collegiate Anglers will take a look at teams ranked 1^st-5^th.

1)University of Montevallo

The first team to be highlighted in this rankings review article is the University of Montevallo.  With a season total of 40,575 points, Montevallo bested second place by 1,745 points to finish the year ranked number one.  This victory during the 2024-25 season marks Montevallo’s fifth straight title as Bass Pro Shops School of the Year presented by Abu Garcia.

On the Bass Pro Shops Collegiate Bass Fishing Series, at ACA ran events, Montevallo started the 2024-25 campaign off strong at Kentucky Lake.  Team member Evan Mabrey won the Bass Pro Shops Big Bass Bash presented by Berkley with a largemouth bass weighing 7.11 pounds.  Montevallo’s next highest-placing angler was Storm Clark, who finished in 6^th place with 6.06 pounds. Those two Top 10’s earned Montevallo 3,450 points, the most of any team on hand in Paris, TN that weekend.

Montevallo earned over 3,300 points at each ACA event throughout the 2024-25 season.

Bass Pro Shops Big Bass Bash presented by Berkley

3.450 points: 1^st, 6^th

AFTCO Collegiate Bass Open

3,410 points: 5^th, 6^th

Pickwick Slam

3,310 points: 8^th, 13^th

Collegiate Bass Fishing Championship presented by Bass Pro Shops

7,300 points: 1^st, 3^rd, 9^th

Montevallo secured its fifth straight title as Bass Pro Shops School of the Year presented by Abu Garcia at Lake Hartwell during the historic 20^th ACA National Championship.  Peyton Harris & Dalton Head won the 2025 Collegiate Bass Fishing Championship presented by Bass Pro Shops.  Montevallo’s three highest-finishing teams that week placed in 1^st, 3^rd, and 9^th overall.  Those three finishes amassed 7,300 points, 300 points better than any other team to compete in that tournament.

Anglers from the University of Montevallo secured numerous other victories at major college events last season.

Bassmaster College Series at Smith Lake

1^st Place: Daylon Milam & James Dubose

MLF College Series National Championship

1^st Place: Brody Robison & Peyton Sorrow

Montevallo entered the 2024-25 season as the unanimous number one ranked team in the ACA’s annual Pre-Season Poll.

2)University of North Alabama

The University of North Alabama was voted as the 6^th ranked team in the annual Pre-Season Poll going into the 2024-25 campaign.  The team from Florence, AL outperformed those projections and finished in 2^nd place for the Bass Pro Shops School of the Year presented by Abu Garcia.

UNA is just one of three teams to have finished the season ranked number one multiple times (2014, 2015).  Montevallo and McKendree are the other two teams to have achieved this milestone.

Like Montevallo ahead of them, UNA earned over 3,000 points at each ACA event last season.

Team members Tripp Berlinsky and Bryce Dimauro won the 2024 AFTCO Collegiate Bass Open at Lake Dardanelle in Russellville, AR.  The pair weighed in a two-day total weight of 30.96 pounds to take the title.  Carter Nutt & Dylan Nutt finished in 9^th place.  The two Top 10 finishes earned UNA the most points of any school to compete at Lake Dardanelle with 3,420.

Along with the victory at Lake Dardanelle, UNA anglers secured three other major victories throughout 2024-25.  Gage King and Banks Shaw won three major college tournaments as a two-angler team:

MLF College Series at Lake Chickamauga

MLF College Series at Kentucky Lake

Bassmaster College Series at Lake Chickamauga

UNA has finished the year ranked 2^nd place for the Bass Pro Shops School of the Year presented by Abu Garcia in back-to-back seasons.

3)Carson-Newman University

Carson-Newman University, who was selected third overall in the 2024 ACA Pre-Season Poll, finished the 2024-25 Bass Pro Shops School of the Year presented by Abu Garcia in 3^rd.  This marks three straight seasons in which Carson-Newman has ended the year ranked third.

Year in and year out, Carson-Newman displays a great deal of consistency.  The team from Jefferson City, TN has finished ranked in the Top 10 for six-straight seasons.

Throughout the 2024-25 season, Carson-Newman occupied the number one spot at various times.  As has been the theme thus far, Carson-Newman earned more than 3,000 points at each ACA major event.

In a full season schedule for the Bass Pro Shops School of the Year presented by Abu Garcia, there are a total of 12 major double and triple points events.  At nine of those 12 tournaments, Carson-Newman’s highest-placing, points earning teams finished inside of the Top 25.

Carson-Newman anglers were featured on the latest episode of the Rapala #WeAreCollegiateBass Podcast.  During that interview, the team members expressed optimism that the 2025-26 team at Carson-Newman could be equipped to move up to first or second by the end of this upcoming season.

4)McKendree University

Finishing the year ranked fourth is McKendree University.  After being ranked second in the Pre-Season Poll, McKendree University anglers earned a total of 34,575 points to finish the year ranked in the Top 5 for seven straight seasons.  This also makes 11 years in a row which McKendree has ended the season in the Top 10 of college fishing’s only all-encompassing National Rankings.

As was the case with both Montevallo and UNA ahead of them, McKendree University has won the Bass Pro Shops School of the Year presented by Abu Garcia multiple times.  The team from Illinois has finished the year ranked number one twice (2019, 2020).

McKendree University, like a majority of the college teams in the Top 25 to finish the 2024-25 season, has exhibited a great deal of consistency throughout the years.  During this season, McKendree’s points earning teams at events placed in the Top 25 five different times:

Bassmaster College Series at Lake Eufaula: 6^th, 23^rd

MLF College Series at Kentucky Lake: 17^th, 18^th

MLF College Series at Grand Lake: 4^th, 10^th

Bassmaster College Series at Smith Lake: 9^th, 16^th

Bassmaster College Series at Harris Chain: 13^th, 23^rd

Along with achieving success on the water, college anglers work extremely hard to maintain their grades in the classroom.  New for its historic 20^th season, the ACA introduced the collegiate All-Academic Team presented by Yamaha.  McKendree angler Harmon Marien received the distinction as 2025 ACA collegiate Academic All-American presented by Yamaha.

5)Campbellsville University

Rounding out the Top 5 for the 2024-25 Bass Pro Shops School of the Year presented by Abu Garcia is Campbellsville University.  Campbellsville was selected 7^th overall in the ACA Pre-Season Poll entering this past season.  Last year, Campbellsville finished in 9^th place.

The Top 5 finish in 2024-25 is Campbellsville’s highest-ever end of season ranking.  It also marks seven straight years in which Campbellsville has finished the season ranked in the Top 20.

Campbellsville University’s best showing of the season on the Bass Pro Shops Collegiate Bass Fishing Series came at the Collegiate Bass Fishing Championship presented by Bass Pro Shops.

At Lake Hartwell for the historic 20^th ACA National Championship, Campbellsville’s three highest-placing teams earned a total of 6,505 points.

8) Ryan Lachniet & Brayden Hoehn

19) Wyatt Pearman & Ridge Rutledge

26) Evan Fields & Noah Dabney

Campbellsville and Carson-Newman are the two teams in this rankings review in search of their first-ever title as Bass Pro Shops School of the Year presented by Abu Garcia during this upcoming 2025-26 season.