Big February is here and it starts with a bang this week at the most prestigious tournament of the entire year, the PBA Tournament of Champions.

Only champions are allowed in this event and they will bowl for a $100,000 first-place prize this year, which is double what it paid last season. Also, the $1 million prize for a 300 in the title match is back starting with this event.

An all-star field will hit the lanes at historic AMF Riviera Lanes in Fairlawn, Ohio, when the event begins Wednesday with qualifying live on FloBowling. It kicks off a month where three major champions will be crowned, including at the PBA Players Championship and U.S. Open.

Here are a few key points to get you ready for the PBA Tournament of Champions:

Defending champ Belmo is the clear favorite

Last year when Jason Belmonte won the PBA Tournament of Champions it allowed him to tie the late Earl Anthony and Pete Weber for the all-time majors record with 10. He blew past that total a few weeks later when he won the PBA World Championship for his 11^th major win.

Belmonte enters the 2020 TOC as the clear favorite to win the event even though he’s only made one show in three events this season and missed a cut in another.

After finishing fourth at the PBA Jonesboro Open over the weekend, the Australian two-hander is back on top of our 2020 FloBowling PBA Power Rankings heading into Big February.

As the great Ric Flair said, “to be the man, you gotta beat the man” and right now, Belmonte is still the man especially when it comes to majors.

Last season, he made the show at four of the five majors. In addition to his two wins, he finished second at the PBA Players Championship and fourth at the U.S. Open. If not for an injury just before the USBC Masters, he very well may have made it five-for-five.

Duke will return this week

After dropping out with an injury in the final round of match play at the PBA Hall of Fame Classic to open the season, Norm Duke has missed the past two events.

He intended to skip the PBA Oklahoma Open but withdrew from the PBA Jonesboro Open as he continued to recover from an upper left thigh injury.

We checked in with Duke on Sunday and he said he was “good to go” for the TOC.

Salvino’s swan song

As mentioned a couple days ago on FloBowling, this year’s TOC will mark the end of an era as 86-year-old Carmen Salvino says he will compete in the event for the final time.

Salvino, the PBA’s greatest showman, bowled in the very first PBA event and still enjoys the challenge of taking on the young guns. Expect a lot of well-deserved fanfare around Salvino’s final time competing in the event.

The format and lane condition

As we head into Big February, the formats get longer as players will bowl more games this week than they have in an event all season if they want to make the show.

Qualifying is three six-game rounds with everyone on the same squad. Two rounds will take place Wednesday and the first cut will be made after Thursday’s third round of qualifying.

The 24 players who survive and advance will bowl 24 games of round robin match play starting Thursday night and continuing throughout the day on Friday.

When the dust settles, the top five players after 42 games will bowl for the title under the lights on Sunday afternoon.

Unlike the past three weeks, the TOC will be contested on just one pattern. Dual patterns are gone for a while and this week they will battle on the 40-foot Don Johnson pattern.

How to watch

Every round of qualifying and match play will be broadcast live exclusively on FloBowling. When it comes times for the stepladder finals, fans can watch live on their local FOX affiliate (United States) or on FloBowling (international).

What the schedule looks like

Here’s the schedule for this event. All times listed are Eastern.

Wednesday, Feb. 5
11 a.m. – Qualifying Round 1 (six games)
6 p.m. – Qualifying Round 2 (six games)

Thursday, Feb. 6
11 a.m. – Qualifying Round 3 (six games)
6 p.m. – Match Play Round 1 (eight games)

Friday, Feb. 7
11 a.m. – Match Play Round 2 (eight games)
6 p.m. – Match Play Round 3 (eight games)

Sunday, Feb. 9
5 p.m. – Stepladder Finals* (Top five)

* - FloBowling live broadcast only for audiences outside the United States. The archive of the finals will be available for all audiences seven days after it airs live.