3/17 ITA Rankings Have Been Released

Oklahoma stays at #1 in the ITA rankings for the 3rd week in a row and for the 4th time in the last 5 weeks.  OU’s win last Tuesday over Virginia kept it atop the rankings because had they lost Illinois would have moved to #1.  Oklahoma’s top 5 best wins are over #3 Baylor, #4 USC, #9 Virginia, #10 North Carolina, and at #11 Ohio State. The Sooners also own wins over #12 Wake Forest, #13 Ole Miss, #14 Northwestern, plus a 2nd win over #10 North Carolina so that means they have wins over everyone ranked from 9-14 which means they are positioned very well for the next several rankings where an additional best win is added each week starting next week. Oklahoma also gets an opportunity to pad its resume this weekend when they head to Indian Wells for the BNP Paribas Collegiate Challenge and it’s likely that they’ll face either #3 Baylor or #4 USC in the Championship on Sunday.

Illinois moves up 2 spots to #2 on the strength of a pair of Top 10 road wins last weekend over Texas and Texas A&M.  The Illini’s best 5 wins for this week are the road wins at #3 Baylor, #8 Texas, and #7 Texas A&M along with home/neutral court wins over #10 North Carolina and #11 Ohio State. Illinois dropped its match yesterday to #18 TCU so that loss will count against them next week and with Illinois now idle until March 27th that means it’s points average will probably drop slightly with its 6th best against #14 Northwestern.

Baylor drops 1 spot to #3 despite picking up a road win at Ole Miss last Tuesday.  BU’s 5 best wins for these rankings are #6 Duke, #9 Virginia (2X), #19 UCLA, and the road win over #13 Ole Miss. Baylor is positioned fairly well for next week when the 6th best win is added because they currently have wins over #18 TCU and a road win at #20 Tulsa sitting in the bag plus the Bears could face #4 USC and potentially #1 Oklahoma this weekend in Indian Wells.

USC is up 1 spot to #4 after adding a win over then #14 UCLA to its resume.  The Trojans 4 other best wins are against #5 Georgia (2X +1 was at UGA), #11 Ohio State, and #15 Florida.  USC’s 6th best win is over #30 San Diego so the Trojans need a good win or two this weekend to stay in the top 5. USC plays #20 Tulsa on Friday in Indian Wells and if they win that one they’ll likely face #3 Baylor and a win over them would likely have the Trojans facing #1 Oklahoma in the final so this a big weekend of tennis for SC.

Georgia falls 2 spots to #5 even though they picked up a pair of road wins at Tennessee and Kentucky.  In years past those would have been a pair of Top 10 wins but both programs are down a little this year.  Georgia’s 5 best wins are against #2 Illinois, #7 Texas A&M, #19 UCLA, #29 Columbia, and a road win at #15 Florida. Georgia’s only ranked opponent this week is #47 South Carolina however the Bulldogs will add a previous win over #23 LSU to its list for next week’s rankings.

Duke holds firm at #6 after playing just once last weekend against unranked Miami. The Blue Devils 5 best wins for these ranking are road wins over #2 Illinois and #14 Northwestern and home/neutral wins over #12 Wake Forest, #13 Ole Miss, and #18 TCU.  Duke hosts #37 NC State and #12 Wake Forest this weekend so they’ll have a chance to possibly move up a spot if they can sweep both of those matches.

Texas A&M comes up to 2 spots to #7 after beating Vanderbilt before losing to Illinois. The Aggies 5 best wins are over #1 Oklahoma, #11 Ohio State,  #17 Vanderbilt, #30 San Diego, and at #47 South Carolina.  Texas A&M hits the road this weekend to face #35 Mississippi State and #60 Alabama so the Aggies need wins over both to help itself for next week.  With South Carolina and Vanderbilt both dropping this week, Texas A&M will likely fall a few spots next week because the Aggies 6th best win will at best be against somebody ranked outside the top 30.

Despite the loss to Illinois, Texas holds firm at #8 largely due to a few of its best wins making big rises from the previous week (MN+12, UNC+7).  The Longhorns 5 best wins are over #10 North Carolina, #12 Wake Forest, at #20 Tulsa, #25 Minnesota, and #29 Columbia.  Texas has a chance to add a big 6th best win when they host #11 Ohio State this afternoon.  Their current 6th best win is over #27 Florida State though since Columbia dropped down in the rankings they’d be the 6th best with FSU the 5th best.

Virginia drops 2 spots to #9 after coming up short in Norman against #1 Oklahoma. UVA’s best 5 wins are #10 North Carolina, at #12 Wake Forest, #18 TCU, #26 Louisville, and at #37 NC State. Virginia won’t get much of a chance to move up because the only ranked team it plays this week is #36 Notre Dame though at least its on the road.

North Carolina moves up 2 spots to #10 despite only picking up an unranked win over Miami last week.  UNC’s bump is largely due to Virginia Tech making such a large rise from the previous week with the Hokies coming up 29 spots.  UNC’s 5 best wins are over #16 Virginia Tech, #19 UCLA, #25 Minnesota, #27 Florida State, and #37 NC State.  UNC’s only match this week is on the road at #26 Louisville so a win there would make that the 6th best win for next week.