Oklahoma stays at #1 in the ITA Men’s rankings for the 6th week in a row and for the 7th time in the last 8 weeks. The top 8 in the Women’s rankings stay the same with USC, North Carolina, Cal, UCLA, and Georgia holding down the top 5.
Below I’ll breakdown the Top 10 on the men’s side looking at the 8 best wins that were used in the rankings this week along with other quality ranked wins that could potentially fit in down the road. You’ll notice some of the quality wins are ranked higher than a top 8 win and that is because I used the new ranking so that you can see what changes will be made next week. I also listed the point totals gained from the best wins and losses to come up with the computer score.
Next week’s rankings will use each teams 9 best wins as will each subsequent set of rankings until the NCAA field is announced on April 28th at 5pm (Women) and 5:30pm (Men).
Oklahoma is still at #1 with the Sooners winning its only match last week over Tulsa.
- 8 Best Wins (701.8): #2 Baylor (2x), #4 Virginia, #5 USC, #9 Texas, #10 TCU, at #11 Ohio State, at #13 Wake Forest
- Other Quality Wins: #14 Ole Miss, #16 North Carolina (2X), #19 South Florida, #26 Northwestern, #29 Tulsa
- Losses (8.2): #7 Texas A&M
- Computer Score: 701.8/8.2 = 85.59 (was 86.36)
- What’s Coming Up: at #2 Baylor (4/10), at #23 Texas Tech (4/12), #25 Oklahoma State (4/19)
- Comments: Big match this Friday as the Sooners go to Waco to play Baylor for the 3rd time this year. Oklahoma should stay #1 regardless of the outcome but it’s lead would narrow a good bit if it lost. I’ll run the #s on Wednesday to see what would happen if each won.
Baylor stays at #2 after taking the week off though its point total came up slightly due to adding a good 8th best win over Tulsa.
- 8 Best Wins (652.1): #4 Virginia (2X), #5 USC, #6 Duke, #10 TCU, at #14 Ole Miss, #15 UCLA, at #29 Tulsa
- Other Quality Wins: #31 Drake, at #46 Memphis
- Losses (8.3): #1 Oklahoma (2X), #3 Illinois
- Computer Score: 78.57 (was 77.82)
- What’s Coming Up: Seminole CC (4/7), #1 Oklahoma (4/10), #25 Oklahoma State (4/12), at #9 Texas (4/15), at #23 Texas Tech (4/18)
- Comments: Baylor is going to have several chances to improve on its best wins over the next 2+ weeks due everyone in the Big 12 being ranked inside the top 25. Obviously the match on Friday will be huge because a win would tack on another 106 points.
Illinois stays at #3 after picking up road wins over Michigan and Michigan State – both were unranked so neither helped Illinois in the rankings.
- 8 Best Wins (612): at #2 Baylor, at #7 Texas A&M, at #9 Texas, #11 Ohio State (2X), #16 North Carolina, #26 Northwestern, at #38 Notre Dame
- Other Quality Wins: #27 California, #41 Indiana, #50 Penn State
- Losses (8.5): #6 Duke, #8 Georgia, #10 TCU
- Computer Score: 72.00 (was 77.65)
- What’s Coming Up: #72 Iowa (4/11), Nebraska (4/12), at #32 Minnesota (4/17), at Wisconsin (4/19)
- Comments: Illinois will have a hard time pressing Baylor for #2 due to a down Big 10 not helping out the Illini in terms of quality ranked wins. While all 6 members of the Big 12 are ranked inside the top 25 the Big 10 only has 2 in the Top 25. Illinois needs Ohio State, Northwestern, and Minnesota to come up but those guys are in the same boat as Illinois in that its going to be hard to move up when you’re not facing higher ranked teams.
Virginia stays at #4 but they closed the gap between #4 and #3 after knocking off #12 Virginia Tech.
- 8 Best Wins (557.1): #6 Duke, #10 TCU, #12 Virginia Tech, at #13 Wake Forest, #16 North Carolina (2X), #28 Louisville, at #34 NC State
- Other Quality Wins: at #38 Notre Dame, #70 Clemson
- Losses (8.3): #1 Oklahoma, #2 Baylor (2X)
- Computer Score: 67.12 (was 68.19)
- What’s Coming Up: Georgia Tech (4/10), #28 Louisville (4/12), at #33 Florida State (4/17), at Miami (4/19), ACC Tourney.
- Comments: Virginia has a chance to pick up a decent 9th best win when they host Louisville on Sunday. The Cavaliers will likely face at least 2 or 3 top 20 opponents in the ACC Tournament so they’ll have a chance to make a run at the #3 spot if they win out.
USC rises 2 spots from 7 to 5 after beating Utah and Arizona over the weekend. USC’s rise was attributed to Georgia losing and Duke taking a slight points drop when it added its 8th best win which was ranked #38.
- 8 Best Wins (573.8): #8 Georgia (2X+1 was at UGA), #11 Ohio State, #15 UCLA, #17 Florida, #18 San Diego, #22 Columbia, #29 Tulsa
- Other Quality Wins: #36 Stanford, #56 Oregon, #62 Washington
- Losses (8.6): #1 Oklahoma, #2 Baylor, #29 Tulsa
- Computer Score: 66.72 (was 65.65)
- What’s Coming Up: at #27 Cal (4/10), at #36 Stanford (4/11), at #15 UCLA (4/17), Pac 12 Tourney
- Comments: USC really has a chance to pick up some quality wins over the next 3 weeks with everyone from here on out ranked inside the top 35. USC has 16.7 more points than #4 Virginia from its top 8 wins however the loss to Tulsa is the difference right now. USC needs #29 Tulsa to stay inside the top 30 otherwise the loss will count that much more if they fall.
Duke drops 1 spot from 5 to 6 despite sweeping #38 Notre Dame and Boston College. The slight point drop was due to its 8th best win being ranked outside the top 30.
- 8 Best Wins (558.6): at #3 Illinois, #10 TCU, #13 Wake Forest (2X), #14 Ole Miss, at #26 Northwestern, #34 NC State, #38 Notre Dame
- Other Quality Wins: #43 Tennessee, #46 Memphis, at #70 Clemson
- Losses (8.5): #2 Baylor, #4 Virginia, #12 Virginia Tech
- Computer Score: 65.72 (was 66.9)
- What’s Coming Up: at #16 North Carolina (4/10), #32 Florida State (4/12), at #28 Louisville (4/17), at Georgia Tech (4/19), ACC Tourney
- Comments: Duke will have plenty of opportunities to pick up some quality wins over the next few weeks with UNC, FSU, and Louisville on the schedule.
Texas A&M rises 1 spot from 8 to 7 after winning at Rice and #17 Florida as well as beating Auburn at home.
- 8 Best Wins (553.9): #1 Oklahoma, #11 Ohio State, #14 Ole Miss, at #17 Florida, #18 San Diego, at #20 Mississippi State, #21 Vanderbilt, at #47 South Carolina
- Other Quality Wins: #43 Tennessee, #52 Auburn, at #55 Rice, at #59 Alabama, #71 Arkansas
- Losses (8.5): #3 Illinois, #8 Georgia, #10 TCU
- Computer Score: 65.16 (was 64.16)
- What’s Coming Up: at #24 LSU (4/9), at #10 TCU (4/11), SEC Tourney
- Comments: If Texas A&M can sweep LSU and TCU they’ll definitely pass Duke next week and there’s a good chance they could pass USC at #5.
Georgia drops 2 spots from 6 to 8 after getting upset in Starkville by #20 Mississippi State.
- 8 Best Wins (537.5): #3 Illinois, #7 Texas A&M, #15 UCLA, at #17 Florida, #21 Vanderbilt, #22 Columbia, #24 LSU, at #43 Tennessee
- Other Quality Wins: at #52 Auburn, at #59 Alabama
- Losses (9.0): #5 USC (2X), #20 Mississippi State
- Computer Score: 59.72 (was 66.38)
- What’s Coming Up: #71 Arkansas (4/9), #15 Ole Miss (4/11), SEC Tourney
- Comments: Despite the loss last week Georgia has a chance to improve on its resume this weekend when they welcome in #14 Ole Miss. The losses to USC won’t hurt as much next week since USC has moved into the top 5 plus the Mississippi State loss won’t be as bad with State’s rise in into the top 20.
Texas stays at #9 after beating #23 Texas Tech 4-1.
- 8 Best Wins (504.4): #11 Ohio State, #13 Wake Forest, #16 North Carolina, #22 Columbia, #23 Texas Tech, #25 Oklahoma State, at #29 Tulsa, #32 Minnesota
- Other Quality Wins: #33 Florida State, at #44 SMU, #50 Penn State
- Losses (8.5): #1 Oklahoma, #3 Illinois, #11 Ohio State
- Computer Score: 59.34 (was 60.07)
- What’s Coming Up: #74 UTSA (4/7), #53 Texas A&M CC (4/8), #2 Baylor (4/15), at #10 TCU (4/18)
- Comments: Texas is the only team in the top 10 that doesn’t have a win over a current top 10 team. The Longhorns face 2 lower ranked teams this week so neither will help them in the rankings. It’ll be tough for Texas to move up much more unless they can upset Baylor or have someone else ahead of them stumble against a lower ranked team.
TCU stays at #10 this week after beating #23 Texas Tech and #19 South Florida.
- 8 Best Wins (531.6): #3 Illinois, at #7 Texas A&M, #19 South Florida, #23 Texas Tech, #24 LSU, #25 Oklahoma State, at #29 Tulsa, #45 New Mexico
- Other Quality Wins: #54 Dartmouth, #60 UT Arlington, #65 UC Santa Barbara
- Losses (9.0): #1 Oklahoma, #2 Baylor, #4 Virginia, #6 Duke, #13 Wake Forest, #15 UCLA
- Computer Score: 59.07 (was 53.63)
- What’s Coming Up: at #44 SMU (4/8), #7 Texas A&M (4/11), #9 Texas (4/18), Big 12 Tourney
- Comments: TCU made up a ton of ground on #9 Texas by beating a pair of top 25 teams last week. The Horned Frogs have a chance to move up even further if they can beat #7 Texas A&M at home on Saturday – as a reminder TCU already owns one win over aTm and that came in College Station.
Other Comments:
- Portland re-enters the rankings at #64 due to both Pepperdine and East Tennessee State making decent size jumps in the rankings last week. Pepperdine, who Portland beat on 3/21, jumped 8 spots last week and ETSU, who Portland beat on 1/25, jumped 20+ spots. Portland dropped out the rankings last week.
- Utah State re-enters the rankings at #66 after the Aggies upset then #42 New Mexico this past Sunday. Utah State also has a win over San Diego State from earlier in the year. The Aggies were last ranked in early March before they dropped out after dropping back-to-back matches to Cal-Poly and Loyola Marymount.
- UC Davis re-enters the rankings at #68 after dropping out the previous week. The Aggies (yes another Aggies) jump was tied almost entirely to Rice making such a large jump last week when the Owls came from unranked to #48. UC Davis beat Rice back on March 5th.
- University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) re-enters the rankings at #74 after dropping out the previous week. The Roadrunners jump was also tied to Rice making its big jump last week. UTSA beat Rice all the way back on January 16th.
- Dropping out of the top 75 this week are South Alabama (lost to Old Dominion), Penn (lost to Yale and Brown), UC Irvine (lost to Fresno State and Cal-Poly), and Nebraska (lost to Indiana).
Projection Misses:
- TCU – had them in the right spot but the points were way off due to my spreadsheet not counting the 8th win since it was in a cell that was outside of the range I had built in.
- Northwestern – I had them at 27 instead of 26 due to the Michigan State win giving them 16 points (ranked 76-85) and not the 14 (86-95) I estimated.
- Louisville – I had them at 29 instead of 28 due to my Michigan State points being off
- Tulsa – I had them at 28 instead of 29 due to my points for the Michigan and Central Florida wins being off. I had Michigan pegged for the 96-105 bucket and they ended up in the 106-115. I had Central Florida pegged for the 86-95 bucket and they ended up in the 96-105 one.
I saw this tweet come out from the ITA about the women’s doubles rankings but I can say it wasn’t me who found the error in case you were wondering.
| Men’s National Team Rankings | |||
| Administered by the ITA | |||
| NCAA Division I Tennis | |||
| April 7, 2015 | |||
| Rank | Avg | School | Previous Rank |
| 1 | 85.59 | University of Oklahoma | 1 |
| 2 | 78.57 | Baylor University | 2 |
| 3 | 72.00 | University of Illinois | 3 |
| 4 | 67.12 | University of Virginia | 4 |
| 5 | 66.72 | University of Southern California | 7 |
| 6 | 65.72 | Duke University | 5 |
| 7 | 65.16 | Texas A&M University | 8 |
| 8 | 59.72 | University of Georgia | 6 |
| 9 | 59.34 | University of Texas | 9 |
| 10 | 59.07 | TCU | 10 |
| 11 | 50.94 | Ohio State University | 11 |
| 12 | 45.31 | Virginia Tech | 13 |
| 13 | 44.75 | Wake Forest University | 12 |
| 14 | 43.99 | University of Mississippi | 14 |
| 15 | 40.63 | UCLA | 15 |
| 16 | 39.58 | North Carolina | 19 |
| 17 | 39.03 | University of Florida | 16 |
| 18 | 38.14 | University of San Diego | 17 |
| 19 | |||
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