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3/15 Oracle/ITA Men’s Rankings Release – Top 5 Profiles

by | Mar 15, 2016 | Blog

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The new rankings are out and as expected we have a new No. 1 with Virginia sliding ahead of North Carolina. TCU holds firm at No. 3, Ohio State slides down to No. 4 and UCLA comes up to No. 5 just a .03 ahead of Oklahoma State. Further down below I have a more in depth breakdown of the top 5 and how the points were calculated.

Northwestern moved back into the top 10 at No. 7 after its first win over Illinois since 1997 while Texas Tech, who was idle, slid up No. 10 to No. 8. Texas A&M dropped from No. 7 to No. 9 after losing at Arkansas while Wake Forest dropped one spot from No. 9 to No. 10 despite a 7-0 win over Notre Dame.

Arkansas, Florida State, Mississippi State, and Wisconsin were the big movers this week. Arkansas rose 19 spots from No. 32 to No. 13 after taking out both Texas A&M and LSU. Florida State rose 28 spots from No. 51 to No. 23 after the Noles stunned North Carolina on Friday night. Mississippi State rose 19 spots from No. 44 to No. 25 after beating Kentucky and Tennessee. Wisconsin rose 18 spots from No. 49 to No. 31 after winning at Drake plus it benefited from Princeton moving up eight spots.

Despite shutting out Fresno State 7-0, Oregon fell 10 spots from No. 20 to No. 30. Four of the Ducks five best wins fell in the rankings last week which therefore impacts the rankings this week. Indiana fell from No. 58 to unranked, Boise State fell from No. 71 to unranked, UC Santa Barbara fell from No. 46 to No. 52, and Old Dominion fell from No. 28 to No. 40.

I didn’t see any keying errors in the system this week so that’s a good things moving forward.

The following teams made double-digit increases versus the last rankings – movement in ( ):
#13 Arkansas (+19)
#23 Florida State (+28)
#25 Mississippi State (+19)
#31 Wisconsin (+18)
#32 Georgia Tech (+10)
#55 East Tennessee State (+12)
#58 Utah State (+13)
#63 UC Davis (+10)

The following teams made double-digit decreases versus the last rankings (still ranked):
#30 Oregon (-10)
#45 Washington (-10)
#51 Notre Dame (-13)
#68 Vanderbilt (-12)
#72 UC Irvine (-15)
#74 Utah (-13)

These 4 teams entered the rankings after being unranked and here is why they are now ranked
#61 Lamar – beat then #47 Iowa
#71 Pepperdine – previous wins over Loyola Marymount and San Diego State improved with both rising from the previous week
#73 Cal Poly – SMU loss was lessened after they went from unranked to #37
#75 San Diego State – beat then #70 Penn and Arizona

These 4 teams dropped out of the rankings with last week’s rankings in ( ):
Auburn (64) – lost 4 of last 5
Tennessee (72) – lost 8 in a row
Miami FL (74) – lost to Middle Tennessee State, Duke, and UNC last week
Florida Gulf Coast (75) – lost to Troy and Penn State last weekend in Tampa

Here is the ITA’s release which breaks it down by conference affiliation.


Below I’ll breakdown the Top 5 looking at the 5 best wins that were used in the rankings this week along with other quality ranked wins. I also listed the point totals gained from the best wins and losses to come up with the computer score.  

Virginia is the new No. 1 after defeating Tulsa and Oklahoma last week.  

  • 5 Best Wins (409): #3 TCU, #5 UCLA, #10 Wake Forest, #15 Oklahoma, #17 Kentucky
  • Other Quality Wins: #29 Tulsa, #34 San Diego, #40 Virginia Tech
  • Losses (5.3): #2 North Carolina, #11 Illinois
  • Computer Score:  409/5.3 = 77.17 (was 70.74)
  • What’s Coming Up: NC State (3/18), Florida State (3/20), Notre Dame (3/25), Boston College (3/26)
  • Comments:  Florida State could give the Hoos a decent match on Sunday but the real tests will come in April when UVA goes to North Carolina and Florida while hosting Wake Forest on April 15. 

North Carolina falls one spot to No. 2 after its loss at Florida State last Friday. Barring another slip up I’d expect UNC will probably retake the No. 1 spot next week since it’ll have six top 15 wins counted plus its loss to FSU won’t count as much with FSU jumping into the top 25. 
  • 5 Best Wins (452.4): at #1 Virginia, #4 Ohio State, #5 UCLA, #8 Texas Tech,  #11 Illinois
  • Other Quality Wins: #15 Oklahoma, #33 NC State, #68 Vanderbilt
  • Losses (5.9): at #23 Florida State
  • Computer Score:  452.4/5.9 = 76.68 (was 89.24)
  • What’s Coming Up: Louisville (3/18), at NC State (3/20), Clemson (3/25), Virginia Tech (3/27)
  • Comments: The ACC regular season title will likely be decided the weekend of April 1-3 with UNC hosting both Virginia and Wake Forest – win both and UNC will be the regular season champion.
TCU holds firm at No. 3 after sitting out last week. 

  • 5 Best Wins (402.8): #6 Oklahoma State, #11 Illinois (2X +1 on the road), #12 USC, at #16 South Florida
  • Other Quality Wins: at #31 Wisconsin, #42 Stanford
  • Losses (5.4): #1 Virginia, #14 California
  • Computer Score:  402.8/5.4 = 74.59 (was 71.45)
  • What’s Coming Up: Tulsa (3/15), Columbia (3/19), Dartmouth (3/20), Northwestern (3/22), at Texas A&M (3/28)
  • Comments: The match at Texas A&M on 3/28 will be a big one as will be all five conference matches.The weekend of April 8-10 TCU hosts both Oklahoma and Oklahoma State.
Ohio State drops two spots to No. 4 despite not playing last week. The reason for the drop was because Baylor and Texas dropped four spots each while some TCU’s best wins improved.

  • 5 Best Wins (375.1): #9 Texas A&M (2X), at #15 Oklahoma, #18 Texas, #21 Baylor 
  • Other Quality Wins: #24 Florida, #27 Penn State, #40 Virginia Tech, at #51 Notre Dame
  • Losses (5.1): #2 North Carolina
  • Computer Score:  375.1/5.1 = 73.55 (was 74.14)
  • What’s Coming Up: at South Florida (3/17), at Georgia (3/20), at Michigan State (3/25), Michigan (3/27)
  • Comments: The Buckeyes have three big matches coming up in the next week and a half. Ohio State’s depth down low will pull it through against South Florida but it’ll face a stiff test on Sunday in Athens. 

UCLA moves up to No. 5 just .03 ahead of Oklahoma State after picking up a win over BYU last week. UCLA’s point total actually went down but Oklahoma State’s dropped just a little more due to Memphis, Arkansas, and Wake Forest each dropping several spots. Oklahoma State will likely move back up next week with Arkansas making a big jump.
  • 5 Best Wins (335): #9 Texas A&M, #12 USC, #19 Georgia (2X), #34 San Diego 
  • Other Quality Wins: #32 Georgia Tech, at #42 Stanford, #44 SMU
  • Losses (5.2): #1 Virginia, #2 North Carolina
  • Computer Score:  335/5.2 = 64.42 (was 65.00)
  • What’s Coming Up: at UNLV (3/22), at Oregon (3/25), at Washington (3/27)
  • Comments: UCLA’s biggest tests will come on April 1 and 2 when Cal and Stanford come to the LA Tennis Center and then on April 15 the Bruins make the 14-mile trek to USC. 


3/15 Oracle/ITA Men’s Rankings

    Rank Avg School Previous Rank
    1 77.17 University of Virginia 4
    2 76.68 North Carolina 1
    3 74.59 TCU 3
    4 73.55 Ohio State University 2
    5 64.42 UCLA 6
    6 64.39 Oklahoma State University 5
    7 60.58 Northwestern University 11
    8 57.83 Texas Tech University 10
    9 57.31 Texas A&M University 7
    10 54.37 Wake Forest University 9
    11 52.95 University of Illinois 8
    12 51.45 University of Southern California 15
    13 45.78 University of Arkansas 32
    14 44.86 California 14
    15 44.66 University of Oklahoma 13
    16 44.41 University of South Florida 16
    17 40.58 University of Kentucky 12
    18 39.17 University of Texas 19
    19 38.39 University of Georgia 17
    20 37.19 University of Michigan 24
    21 35 Baylor University 18
    22 33.3 University of Mississippi 22
    23 30.99 Florida State University 51
    24 29.86 University of Florida 25
    25 29.77 Mississippi State University 44
    26 29.76 University of Memphis 28
    27 28.98 Penn State University 23
    28 28.62 Tulane University 21
    29 28 University of Tulsa 26
    30 27.33 University of Oregon 20
    31 26.78 University of Wisconsin 49
    32 24.4 Georgia Tech 42
    33 24.03 North Carolina State 27
    34 23 University of San Diego 29
    35 22.44 Dartmouth College 34
    36 22.33 Princeton University 30
    37 22.1 Old Dominion University 40
    38 21.85 Rice University 33
    39 21.68 Columbia University 31
    40 19.43 Virginia Tech 39
    41 18.15 Drake University 36
    42 17.86 Stanford University 48
    43 17.84 University of Alabama 50
    44 17.68 SMU 37
    45 17.16 University of Washington 35
    T46 17.09 University of Denver 41
    T46 17.09 Purdue University 45
    48 16.99 LSU 43
    49 16.4 Harvard University 46
    50 15.42 UC Santa Barbara 52
    51 14.49 University of Notre Dame 38
    52 13.79 University of Iowa 47
    53 12.17 St. John’s University 60
    54 11.5 Middle Tennessee State University 54
    55 11.28 East Tennessee State University 67
    56 10.63 University of New Mexico 63
    57 10.25 UNC Wilmington 65
    58 9.57 Utah State University 71
    59 9 Brigham Young University 55
    60 8.98 Cornell University 53
    61 8.71 Lamar University NR
    62 8.54 University of South Carolina 69
    63 8.44 UC Davis 73
    64 8.39 Georgia State University 59
    65 8.2 University of Pennsylvania 70
    66 8.16 University of the Pacific (California) 58
    67 8.13 Western Michigan University 68
    68 8.07 Vanderbilt University 56
    69 7.69 Duke University 66
    70 7.35 College of William and Mary 62
    71 7.19 Pepperdine NR
    72 7.12 UC Irvine 57
    73 7.04 Cal Poly NR
    74 6.89 University of Utah 61
    75 6.84 San Diego State University NR

    I’ll have another release later this evening about the women’s rankings.