Tagged with: Army, Buffalo, Cal, Chris Eubanks, Denver, Division II, Division III, Duke, East Tennessee State, Florida A&M, Georgia, Georgia Gwinnett, Memphis, NAIA, NCAA Tournament Previews, North Carolina, Northwestern, Ole Miss, Oregon, San Diego, South Carolina, South Florida, Tennessee Tech, Texas A&M, UCLA, UCSB, USC, Utah State, VCU, Wisconsin

Georgia Tech junior Chris Eubanks accepted a main draw wild card into the BB&T Atlanta Open, which is an ATP 250 event, with his opening round match scheduled for Tuesday, July 25. Eubanks has played in the main draw of the Atlanta event two years in a row though he had to go through qualies last year to do so. Eubanks has been ranked in the ITA Top 10 all year and was recently named the ACC Men’s Player of the Year for the second year in a row. For more information see the release from the BB&T Atlanta Open.

The NCAA Division II Men’s Round of 16 got underway today in Altamonte Springs, Florida, with #1 West Florida, #2 Barry, #3 Columbus State, #4 Hawaii Pacific, #14 Azusa Pacific, #16 Ferris State, #18 Drury, and #23 Southwest Baptist moving on to tomorrow’s quarterfinal round. Of those eight winners the only lower ranked team to win was Southwest Baptist which defeated #20 St. Mary’s (TX) 5-3. The highest profile matchup in the quarterfinals will be #1 West Florida taking on #4 Hawaii Pacific. For the men’s bracket click here and to see individual match results click here. The women’s round of 16 gets started tomorrow though I see that #1 BYU-Hawaii and #2 Barry are in the same quarterfinal so I’m not sure what’s going on with the bracket making at the D2 level. The bracket is available here and the box scores from each match are available here. The brackets don’t have any seeds listed (guess they don’t do that?) so it’s kind of hard to tell who is the better team without going through the rankings.

The NCAA Division III selections were made on Monday with the men’s selections here and the women’s here. Opening round matches are played on Thursday and Friday and then second and third round matches are played on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday at campus sites. If you want an education on D3 Tennis head over to division3tennis.com because those guys have all the angles covered. Interesting observation if you type in D3tennis.com that goes to the University of Texas at Tyler.

The NAIA released the brackets for the upcoming NAIA National Championships which will be held in Mobile, Alabama, from May 16 – 20. Top ranked, undefeated, and three time defending champion Georgia Gwinnett is the men’s top seed though they needed an at-large to get in which seems kind of strange. The top ranked, undefeated, defending national champion Georgia Gwinnett women are the top seed in the women’s draw. To see the men’s bracket click here and for the women click here.

Yesterday I previewed the Wake Forest and Stanford Regionals and today I have previews of the North Carolina, California, UCLA, Texas A&M, Georgia, and USC Regionals. The approved final lineups for each team are listed at this link plus I’ve added some additional information, including UTRs, to each of my regional previews. As with yesterday I’ll give the first one away for free but to see the rest you’ll need to be a CTT subscriber ($9.99 month/no long term commitment required).

North Carolina Regional

#9 North Carolina [1] vs. #102 VCU [4] – Friday 1 p.m. ET – VCU is making its first NCAA appearance since 2013 but it’ll be its 21st in the last 27 years. VCU has made it out of the regional rounds only one time with that coming in 2000 when Daniel Andersson led the Rams all the way to the national championship match before it fell to Stanford 4-0. VCU played two ranked teams this season falling to Duke 6-1 and South Florida 4-0. For those that were wondering VCU’s Daryl Monfils is the younger brother of Gael Monfils. North Carolina went undefeated against every team this season that wasn’t Virginia or Wake Forest so I think they’ll be fine in this one. Prediction: North Carolina 4-0

Overall Record: North Carolina 24-4; VCU 14-11

Doubles Record: North Carolina 22-6; VCU 9-12

UTR Power 6: North Carolina 86; VCU 79

Pos	ITA Rnk	Player	Team	UTR	DM			ITA Rnk	Player	Team	UTR	DM
Pos	ITA Rnk	Player	Team	UTR	W	L		ITA Rnk	Player	Team	UTR	W	L
1	22	Ronnie Schneider	UNC	14.72	20	5	vs.		Daryl Monfils	VCU	13.74	9	10
2	16	William Blumberg	UNC	14.74	21	2			Marten Jonsson	VCU	13.10	10	10
3	116	Robert Kelly	UNC	14.23	18	4			Arvid Noren	VCU	13.25	13	5
4		Simon Soendergaard	UNC	13.59	8	13			Vitor Lima	VCU	13.03	7	11
5		Jack Murray	UNC	14.22	21	5			Ignacio Rivero	VCU	12.90	11	8
6		Bo Boyden	UNC	14.04	19	3			Javier Amantegui	VCU	12.98	13	8
Bench Players
7		Anu Kodali	UNC	13.35	5	0			Louis ishizaka	VCU	12.67	6	5
8		Josh Peck	UNC	13.90	1	1			Philip Mobius	VCU	12.75	1	3

#20 South Carolina [2] vs. #73 East Tennessee State [3] – Friday 10 a.m. ET – ETSU is back in the NCAA Tournament for the 11th year in a row, which matches Southern California and is one better than Stanford, so the guys won’t be intimidated by the big stage. ETSU won the Southern Conference final by edging Mercer 4-3 in a season that saw the program change coaches mid-season due to the sudden departure of Yaser Zaatini. ETSU went 0-4 against ranked opponents this year with losses to Wake Forest 6-1, USC 4-0, Georgia State 4-3, and UCF 4-3. ETSU is 2-15 all-time in the NCAAs with its last win coming over Alabama in 2010. South Carolina is making its first appearance in the NCAAs since 2014 after a solid season that saw the Gamecocks defeat the likes of Mississippi State, Ole Miss, Kentucky, and Texas Tech.

If this were last year’s ETSU team, which had a little more depth but lost Rogerio Ribeiro, Sebastian Yllera, and Ismael Merino, I might be inclined to pick the upset here but I don’t think this year’s team has the firepower to pull it off. I could see the doubles point going to ETSU and Biosca and Herrera will be tough outs but I see SC making its hay at 3 through 6. Prediction: South Carolina 4-1

Overall Record: South Carolina 20-6, East Tennessee State 16-7

Doubles Record: South Carolina 17-9; East Tennessee State 15-8

UTR Power 6: South Carolina 84; East Tennessee State 80

Pos	ITA Rnk	Player	Team	UTR	DM			ITA Rnk	Player	Team	UTR	DM
Pos	ITA Rnk	Player	Team	UTR	W	L		ITA Rnk	Player	Team	UTR	W	L
1	49	Gabriel Friedrich	S. Carolina	14.43	12	9	vs.	65	David Biosca	ETSU	14.24	17	3
2	71	Harrison O’Keefe	S. Carolina	14.13	17	9			Robert Herrera	ETSU	13.95	17	4
3		Andrew Schafer	S. Carolina	13.88	19	6			Diego Nunez	ETSU	13.08	7	11
4		Yancy Dennis	S. Carolina	13.89	10	9			Miguel Este	ETSU	12.89	5	8
5		Alex Fennell	S. Carolina	13.72	17	7			David Gonzalez	ETSU	12.91	13	6
6		Paul Jubb	S. Carolina	13.46	11	2			Juan Lugo	ETSU	12.58	5	4
Bench Players
7		Thomas Mayronne	S. Carolina	13.67	6	7			Wenceslao Albin	ETSU	12.56	8	11
8		Sam Swank	S. Carolina	12.95	1	0

Regional Final: North Carolina hasn’t lost to South Carolina since 2003 and while I think this will be a close match I don’t see North Carolina losing. I’ll take Schafer and Dennis in singles for SC but I like UNC everywhere else. Prediction: North Carolina 4-2

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California Regional

#8 California [1] vs. #100 Tennessee Tech [4] – Friday 4 p.m. ET – Last year was an unbelievable year for Cal that ended with a trip to the NCAA semifinals but this season they’ve hit a few more potholes in the road largely due to many of the guys battling injuries. Tennessee Tech, which is one of only two schools that has men’s tennis but not women’s tennis, is back in the dance for the second year in a row after blanking Eastern Kentucky in the finals of the Ohio Valley Tournament. Tennessee Tech has eight guys on its roster but only six are listed on its postseason roster so they better hope nobody gets injured before the match. Tennessee Tech went 0-3 against ranked opponents with 6-1 losses to UCF, Louisville, and Tennessee. Prediction: Cal 4-0

Overall Record: Cal 18-7; Tennessee Tech 13-6

Doubles Record: Cal 19-6 ; Tennessee Tech 12-7

UTR Power 6: Cal 85, Tennessee Tech 77

Pos	ITA Rnk	Player	Team	UTR	DM			ITA Rnk	Player	Team	UTR	DM
Pos	ITA Rnk	Player	Team	UTR	W	L		ITA Rnk	Player	Team	UTR	W	L
1	12	Florian Lakat	Cal	14.69	12	7	vs.	58	Eduardo Mena	TN Tech	13.71	17	2
2	61	Andre Goransson	Cal	14.76	12	7			Alberto Esteban	TN Tech	12.75	9	8
3		Filip Bergevi	Cal	14.16	7	7			Guillermo Nicolas	TN Tech	12.85	11	2
4	81	Billy Griffith	Cal	14.20	14	6			Jorge Alfonzo	TN Tech	12.77	10	4
5		JT Nishimura	Cal	13.95	11	5			Marc Mila	TN Tech	12.17	7	8
6		Bjorn Hoffmann	Cal	13.63	8	11			Carlos Tajes	TN Tech	11.99	3	4
Bench Players
7		Connor Heap	Cal	12.68	2	5
8		Dominic Barretto	Cal	12.97	1	5

#21 Northwestern [2] vs. #45 Utah State [3] – Friday 1 p.m. ET – Utah State booked its first ever ticket to the dance after blanking UNLV in the finals of the Mountain West Tournament. The Aggies also qualified for the National Team Indoors earlier this season after pulling off a huge stunner over TCU (Cam Norrie didn’t play). Northwestern started off the season by winning its first 10 but then the Cats hit the skids and dropped five straight. Utah State went 1-6 against ranked opponents with the win coming over TCU and the losses coming to San Diego, Washington, Oregon, Virginia, USC, and Georgia. This is a match that Northwestern should win but I think Utah State will be playing loose with nothing to lose. Utah State was just 1-7 when it lost the doubles point and that’ll go to 1-8 after Northwestern takes the early lead and then picks up wins from Kirchheimer, Zieba, and Shropshire. I could see Utah State taking two of the bottom three but it won’t be enough. Prediction: Northwestern 4-1

Overall Record: Northwestern 21-10; Utah State 23-8

Doubles Record: Northwestern 21-10; Utah State 19-11

UTR Power 6: Northwestern 84, Utah State 81

Pos	ITA Rnk	Player	Team	UTR	DM			ITA Rnk	Player	Team	UTR	DM
Pos	ITA Rnk	Player	Team	UTR	W	L		ITA Rnk	Player	Team	UTR	W	L
1	37	Strong Kirchheimer	Nwestern	14.50	17	7	vs.		Kai Wehnelt	Utah St	13.70	12	12
2	67	Konrad Zieba	Nwestern	14.25	19	7			Jaime Barajas	Utah St	13.44	13	9
3		Sam Shropshire	Nwestern	14.16	8	8			Sam Serrano	Utah St	13.59	15	5
4		Dominik Stary	Nwestern	13.93	16	8			Jack Swindells	Utah St	13.53	16	9
5		Ben Vandixhorn	Nwestern	13.27	13	12			Sergiu Bucur	Utah St	13.49	17	8
6		Jason Seidman	Nwestern	13.59	20	5			Jonas Maier	Utah St	13.06	17	6
Bench Players
7		Brenden Volk	Nwestern	12.77	4	2			Andrew Nakajima	Utah St	12.61	2	0
8		Michael Lorenzini	Nwestern	12.66	1	2			Austin Bass	Utah St	11.75	0	0

Regional Final: Last year a west coast team came east and took out Northwestern in the second round so the Cats hope they can reverse that this year. Northwestern is at its best indoors but there won’t be any roofs around for this one. I like Cal in doubles and Lakat, Griffith, and Nishimura in singles with Northwestern getting wins from Zieba and Shropshire. Prediction: Cal 4-2

UCLA Regional

#5 UCLA [1] vs. #138 Army [4] – Friday 4 p.m. ET – Army is back in the NCAAs for the eighth time in school history after defeating Navy 4-2 while UCLA has qualified for the NCAA Tournament every year since the dual-match format was created in 1977. The Bruins are the only team to advance to the Sweet 16 every year since the field was expanded to 64 in 1999 and they’ll be well on their way after rolling in this one. Prediction: UCLA 4-0

Overall Record: UCLA 19-5; Army 21-9

Doubles Record: UCLA 15-9; Army 20-9

UTR Power 6: UCLA 85, Army 75

Pos	ITA Rnk	Player	Team	UTR	DM			ITA Rnk	Player	Team	UTR	DM
Pos	ITA Rnk	Player	Team	UTR	W	L		ITA Rnk	Player	Team	UTR	W	L
1	28	Gage Brymer	UCLA	14.48	10	7	vs.		Michael Nyugen	Army	13.26	16	7
2	60	Martin Redlicki	UCLA	14.54	19	3			Sam Lampman	Army	12.54	11	9
3		Evan Zhu	UCLA	14.06	11	8			Grant Riechmann	Army	12.79	13	8
4		Logan Staggs	UCLA	14.03	17	2			David Mitchell	Army	12.38	11	9
5		Maxime Cressy	UCLA	14.00	10	3			Myles Conlin	Army	12.57	11	6
6		Austin Rapp	UCLA	13.60	10	7			Nikita Perverzin	Army	11.74	8	10
Bench Players
7		Joseph DiGiulio	UCLA	14.14	3	2			Mike Sienko	Army	11.76	3	6
8		Ben Goldberg	UCLA	13.11	2	0			Anant Mundra	Army	11.64	7	3

#27 Ole Miss [2] vs. #37 UC Santa Barbara [3] – Friday 1 p.m. ET – Ole Miss started off the season kind of slow but a road win over Mississippi State in late March turned things around and wins over Arkansas, Vanderbilt, and Kentucky put the Rebels in the field with ease. UCSB won the Big West for the third year in a row and will be making its 12th appearance in the NCAAs. This will be the second all-time meeting with Ole Miss winning the first back in the 1997 Sweet 16 after the Gauchos defeated Washington and Pepperdine in the first two rounds. Both Gustav Hansson and Zvonimir Babic were left off the travel roster for the SEC Tournament (unknown reasons) though the team rallied to beat Auburn in the first round before Florida caught them in the next round. Last year UCSB lost to Georgia Tech in the first round 4-1 and the year prior they lost to Texas Tech 4-2 so this could be the year they bust their way into the second round. I’m going to take UCSB in doubles and I’ll go with Simon Freund, Cody Rakela, and Chase Masciorini in singles to send the Gauchos back to the second round for the first time since 1998. Prediction: UCSB 4-3

Overall Record: Ole Miss 16-9, UCSB 19-5

Doubles Record: Ole Miss 15-7; UCSB 17-7

UTR Power 6: Ole Miss 82, UCSB 82

Pos	ITA Rnk	Player	Team	UTR	DM			ITA Rnk	Player	Team	UTR	DM
Pos	ITA Rnk	Player	Team	UTR	W	L		ITA Rnk	Player	Team	UTR	W	L
1	23	Gustav Hansson	Ole Miss	14.46	12	7	vs.		Morgan Mays	UCSB	13.89	13	10
2		Ricardo Jorge	Ole Miss	13.51	9	9			Nicolas Moreno	UCSB	13.68	13	9
3		Tim Sandkaulen	Ole Miss	13.68	9	10			Simon Freund	UCSB	14.01	18	6
4		Fabian Fallert	Ole Miss	13.98	18	3			Anders Holm	UCSB	13.62	20	4
5		Filip Kraljevic	Ole Miss	13.31	8	9			Cody Rakela	UCSB	13.40	19	4
6		Grey Hamilton	Ole Miss	13.12	8	4			Chase Masciorini	UCSB	13.13	14	8
Bench Players
7		Zvonimir Babic	Ole Miss	13.17	6	6			Teague Hamilton	UCSB	12.42	1	0
8		Robert Mounger	Ole Miss	11.47	3	2			Kristian Prior	UCSB	11.90	0	0

Regional Final: UCLA won the regular season meeting over UCSB 5-2 in a match that came down to two third sets at 1 and 2 (UCLA won both). UCSB won the doubles point in that first meeting and I think they’ll do it again this time however UCLA will turn up the heat in singles and get wins from Gage Brymer, Logan Staggs, and Austin Rapp. Prediction: UCLA 4-1

Texas A&M Regional

#13 Texas A&M [1] vs. #95 Buffalo [4] – Friday 3 p.m. ET – Buffalo is back in the NCAAs for the second time in the last three years after defeating Western Michigan 4-3 while a 13-match mid-season winning streak was the key to Texas A&M earning a top 16 seed. Buffalo went 0-2 on the year against ranked opponents with both Columbia and Cornell topping them 6-1. Buffalo’s Ethan Nittolo has one of the four best winning percentages of all the guys playing at No. 6 in the NCAAs so he’s probably the Bulls best chance to steal a court. Prediction: Texas A&M 4-0

Overall Record: Texas A&M 19-6; Buffalo 11-8

Doubles Record: Texas A&M 12-13; Buffalo 12-7

UTR Power 6: Texas A&M 85, Buffalo 79

Pos	ITA Rnk	Player	Team	UTR	DM			ITA Rnk	Player	Team	UTR	DM
Pos	ITA Rnk	Player	Team	UTR	W	L		ITA Rnk	Player	Team	UTR	W	L
1	6	Arthur Rinderknech	aTm	14.88	15	5	vs.		Hao Sheng Koay	Buffalo	13.15	10	9
2	48	Jordi Arconada	aTm	14.31	18	2			Vidit Vaghela	Buffalo	13.00	9	10
3		AJ Catanzariti	aTm	14.15	9	13			Filip Grbic	Buffalo	12.92	11	7
4		Valentine Vacherot	aTm	14.03	19	3			Vilhelm Fridell	Buffalo	13.19	13	5
5		Hady Habib	aTm	14.21	14	3			Petr Vodak	Buffalo	13.04	12	6
6		Alexsandre Bakshi	aTm	13.67	12	6			Ethan Nittolo	Buffalo	13.20	17	2
Bench Players
7		Maxim Lunkin	aTm	13.64	2	7			Tony Miller	Buffalo	12.11	1	0
8		James Martell	aTm	12.88	2	1			Dino Tsakiris	Buffalo	11.44	0	0

#24 Oregon [2] vs. #34 Memphis [3] – Friday Noon ET – I think this should be one of the best two versus three matchups with both teams pretty evenly matched. Memphis went 3-8 against ranked opponents with the wins coming over SMU (2X) and Cornell while Oregon went 6-6 with wins over Utah State, Rice, UCSB, Tulane, Stanford, and Washington. Oregon is at its best indoors so playing outdoors in the windy confines of the Mitchell Tennis Center could pose some issues. Last year Oregon won its first-ever NCAA Tournament match when it beat Tulsa 4-1 and then it gave Oklahoma a tough match before falling 4-2. Memphis has had some success in the NCAAs over the last five years with a trip to the Sweet 16 in 2013 and another near-trip in 2014. Doubles should be close but I like Oregon and then in singles I’ll take Thomas Laurent, Akihiro Tanaka, and Jayson Amos while Memphis gets wins from Andrew Watson, Jan Pallares, and Felix Rauch. Prediction: Oregon 4-3

Overall Record: Oregon 18-6; Memphis 15-8

Doubles Record: Oregon 16-8; Memphis 16-7

UTR Power 6: Oregon 83; Memphis 82

Pos	ITA Rnk	Player	Team	UTR	DM			ITA Rnk	Player	Team	UTR	DM
Pos	ITA Rnk	Player	Team	UTR	W	L		ITA Rnk	Player	Team	UTR	W	L
1	27	Thomas Laurent	Oregon	14.52	19	3	vs.	82	Ryan Peniston	Memphis	14.09	8	8
2		Simon Stevens	Oregon	14.02	9	8		98	Andrew Watson	Memphis	14.00	11	3
3		Akihiro Tanaka	Oregon	13.76	15	4			Kai Lemke	Memphis	13.80	11	9
4		Jayson Amos	Oregon	13.91	15	7			Chris Patzanovsky	Memphis	13.24	9	8
5		Cormac Clissold	Oregon	13.60	13	7			Jan Pallares	Memphis	13.46	11	5
6		Ty Gentry	Oregon	13.05	6	5			Felix Rauch	Memphis	13.38	9	7
Bench Players
7		Ethan Young-Smith	Oregon	13.07	5	2			Matt Story	Memphis	12.50	2	2
8		Armando Soemarno	Oregon	12.73	0	0			Shakeel Manji	Memphis	12.68	3	0

Regional Final: Last year Texas A&M got stunned by Texas in the second round which marked the second time in the last three years that the Aggies failed to make the Sweet 16 despite hosting a regional. Texas A&M will be the biggest favorites at 2, 4, and 5 singles so if they can find one more point they got it. I’ll take Oregon in doubles and Gentry in singles but A&M gets wins from Arconada, Catanzariti, Vacherot, and Habib with No. 1 going unfinished. Prediction: Texas A&M 4-2

Georgia Regional

#12 Georgia [1] vs. #165 Florida A&M [4] – Friday 2 p.m. ET – FAMU is back in the tournament for the first time since 2000 after upsetting MEAC powerhouse South Carolina State 4-2 in the tournament final. Georgia is in the NCAAs for the 34th year in a row, second longest active streak, after winning the SEC Championship with a win over Mississippi State. The last time Georgia lost in the first round came in 2003 when South Florida knocked off an 8-15 Bulldog squad in the Texas A&M Regional. Call it a hunch but I don’t see #165 Florida A&M getting it done. Prediction: Georgia 4-0

Overall Record: Georgia 18-7; Florida A&M 13-13

Doubles Record: Georgia 18-7; Florida A&M 11-14

UTR Power 6: Georgia 86, Florida A&M 73

Pos	ITA Rank	Player	Team	UTR	DM			ITA Rank	Player	Team	UTR	DM
Pos	ITA Rank	Player	Team	UTR	W	L		ITA Rank	Player	Team	UTR	W	L
1	56	Nathan Ponwith	Georgia	14.36	12	7	vs.		Courage Okungbowa	FAMU	12.74	12	10
2	33	Wayne Montgomery	Georgia	14.40	12	11			Carlos Agust. Waitman	FAMU	11.99	7	11
3	59	Emil Reinberg	Georgia	14.17	11	8			Karlyn Small	FAMU	11.90	7	12
4		Jan Zielinski	Georgia	14.00	13	6			Walner Espinoza	FAMU	12.39	14	8
5		Walker Duncan	Georgia	14.02	17	5			Luis Federico Nani	FAMU	12.21	15	3
6		Paul Oosterbaan	Georgia	14.18	1	4			Illya Skoromnyy	FAMU	11.60	6	10
Bench Players
7		Robert Loeb	Georgia	13.68	10	7			Samer Hasona	FAMU	11.08	3	7
8		Alex Phillips	Georgia	13.48	0	0			Jalen Evans	FAMU	10.89	0	1

#22 South Florida [2] vs. #35 Duke [3] – Friday 11 a.m. ET – USF is in the tournament for the fourth year in a row, 14th all-time, after winning the American Conference with a win over a UCF team that had beaten them in the regular season. Duke is back in the tournament after a one-year absence which is something that I didn’t think would happen after they lost Nicolas Alvarez to a season-ending injury and Vincent Lin quit the team. Duke has been starting three freshmen, two sophomores, and a senior and despite being ranked outside the top 50 for a good chunk of the season a late season charge helped them secure their spot in the field. Duke’s best win was over #33 Florida State while South Florida’s best win was over #18 Mississippi State. I think if South Florida takes the doubles point they’ll take the match because I’m not so sure Duke can win at four spots in the singles lineup. I’m going to take USF in doubles and Sasha Gozun, Alberto Barroso-Campos, and Peter Bertran in singles while Duke gets wins from Catalin Mateas, TJ Pura, and Ryan Dickerson. Prediction: South Florida 4-3

Overall Record: South Florida 17-8; Duke 16-9

Doubles Record: South Florida 16-9; Duke 17-8

UTR Power 6: South Florida 84, Duke 84

Pos	ITA Rank	Player	Team	UTR	DM			ITA Rank	Player	Team	UTR	DM
Pos	ITA Rank	Player	Team	UTR	W	L		ITA Rank	Player	Team	UTR	W	L
1	52	Sasha Gozun	USF	14.21	11	7	vs.	75	Spencer Furman	Duke	14.04	14	11
2		Justin Roberts	USF	13.69	5	7		104	Catalin Mateas	Duke	14.23	13	8
3	108	Alberto Barroso	USF	14.19	14	5			Robert Levine	Duke	13.69	6	10
4	99	Peter Bertran	USF	14.11	15	5			Nick Stachowiak	Duke	14.10	18	7
5		Vadym Kalyuzhnny	USF	13.94	15	4			TJ Pura	Duke	14.19	19	3
6		Jakub Wojcik	USF	13.30	4	2			Ryan Dickerson	Duke	13.98	15	4
Bench Players
7		Pierre Luquet	USF	13.44	3	7			Jason Lapidus	Duke	12.14	2	6
8		Nils Heimer	USF	13.16	1	2

Regional Final: The last time Georgia hosted the NCAAs and didn’t make it to the Sweet 16 was in 2003 when South Florida beat them in the first round though this Georgia team is much better than that one. South Florida will keep this one close but I can’t see the SEC champs going out this early. I like Georgia in doubles and Wayne Montgomery, Walker Duncan, and Paul Oosterbaan/Robert Loeb in singles while former Georgia Bulldog Peter Bertran gets a win at No. 4. Prediction: Georgia 4-1

USC Regional

#4 USC [1] vs. #92 Denver [4] – Friday 4 p.m. ET – Denver makes its fifth straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament after winning the Summit League for a fourth year in a row while USC is in the tournament for the 11th year in a row after winning the Pac-12 Tournament. Denver is the only #4 seed to ever defeat a #1 seed in the first round with the Pioneers stunning Florida back in 2013. The last two years Denver has been a No. 3 seed and lost 4-3 nail-biters but this year’s team isn’t at the same level. Denver has lived and died with the doubles point all season going 13-0 when winning it and 2-10 when losing it. Unfortunately for Denver, USC was a stout 27-3 in doubles so you got to figure that USC will have a 1-0 lead after 30 minutes of play. I don’t see USC dropping a set anywhere and I think that Brandon Holt, Jack Jaede, and Riley Smith will be the first three off the court. Prediction: USC 4-0

Overall Record: USC 25-5, Denver 13-12

Doubles Record: USC 27-3; Denver 15-10

UTR Power 6: USC 85, Denver 79

Pos	ITA Rank	Player	Team	UTR	DM			ITA Rank	Player	Team	UTR	DM
Pos	ITA Rank	Player	Team	UTR	W	L		ITA Rank	Player	Team	UTR	W	L
1	19	Brandon Holt	USC	14.73	16	5	vs.		Yannik James	Denver	13.68	14	7
2		Nick Crystal	USC	14.19	10	8			Diogo Rocha	Denver	13.88	15	3
3	88	Logan Smith	USC	14.11	13	11			Alex Gasson	Denver	13.25	11	10
4		Jack Jaede	USC	14.25	19	3			Jesse Ruder Hook	Denver	12.65	6	9
5		Thibault Forget	USC	13.92	14	7			Pedro Fernandez	Denver	12.75	7	10
6		Riley Smith	USC	13.76	18	2			Sean Huynh	Denver	12.69	7	8
Bench Players
7		Rob Bellamy	USC	13.78	6	1			Wyatt Lovera	Denver	12.55	2	8
8		Laurens Verboven	USC	14.01	3	0			Iggy Castelino	Denver	12.54	4	1

#30 Wisconsin [2] vs. #47 San Diego [3] – Friday 1 p.m. ET – The Badgers are back in the tournament for the first time since 2010 which also happened to be the only time in school history that they advanced to the Sweet 16. The last time San Diego didn’t make the NCAAs was 2010 with the Toreros now in the dance for the seventh year in a row and 14th time in school history. San Diego has won its first round match in five of the last six years but it hasn’t been able to breakthrough to the Sweet 16 largely due to the fact that it’s always in either the USC or UCLA Regional. These teams met in the regular season in San Diego with Wisconsin picking up a tough 5-2 win. Wisconsin will put out the same lineup at 1 through 5 while San Diego will have the same 1 and 2 but the other spots will all be different (San Diego’s two points came at 1 and 2). Wisconsin was one of the better teams in the country in doubles and in fact they didn’t drop the doubles point for the first time until an April 2nd match against Illinois. Last season Wisconsin was in a good shape to make the tournament but a late season slide cost them their bid. On paper this is pretty much a pick-em’ but I think Wisconsin is going to find a way to pull it out. I’m going to take Wisconsin in doubles and Chema Carranza, Chase Colton, and Daniel Soyfer in singles while I’ll go with Filip Vittek, Gui Osorio, and Josh Page for San Diego. Prediction: Wisconsin 4-3

Overall Record: Wisconsin 17-7; San Diego 17-10

Doubles Record: Wisconsin 19-4; San Diego 13-14

UTR Power 6: San Diego 82, Wisconsin 81

Pos	ITA Rank	Player	Team	UTR	DM			ITA Rank	Player	Team	UTR	DM
Pos	ITA Rank	Player	Team	UTR	W	L		ITA Rank	Player	Team	UTR	W	L
1		Lamar Remy	Wisconsin	13.70	13	8	vs.	93	Filip Vittek	USD	14.31	12	6
2		Josef Dodridge	Wisconsin	13.65	12	10			Gui Osorio	USD	13.87	14	8
3		Chema Carranza	Wisconsin	13.78	14	7			Guus Koevermans	USD	13.68	9	10
4		Osgar O’Hoisin	Wisconsin	13.53	15	7			Josh Page	USD	13.40	10	11
5		Chase Colton	Wisconsin	13.42	13	8			Joel Gamerov	USD	13.32	17	5
6		Daniel Soyfer	Wisconsin	13.24	15	5			Alex Araouzos	USD	13.23	13	6
Bench Players
7		John Zordani	Wisconsin	12.94	4	1			Garrett Kurtz	USD	11.18	1	2
8		Darius Mackenzie	Wisconsin	12.17	0	0			Pratt Keerasuntonpong	USD	12.08	0	0

Regional Final: USC won the regular season meeting over San Diego 6-1 and I don’t see this one being much closer. I like the Trojans in doubles and Crystal, Logan Smith, and Thibault Forget in singles. Prediction: USC 4-0

Check back on Wednesday for the next batch of regional previews!

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2 Comments

181 on Thu March 19, 2020 at 5:46 pm

Bobby – D2 has a bizarre way of doing things but they basically decide well in advance which teams will be facing each other in the round of 16 based off a multi-year rotation. For example, if you are in the East region, to begin the year you already know that if you get through your regional you will be playing the winner of the Midwest region. They do not reseed teams once they get to the round of 16. It's unfortunate because there will be some years where you will have a top 5 matchup in the early rounds and blow outs in the semis/finals.
3 on Thu March 19, 2020 at 5:46 pm

Thanks for the info – that's an interesting setup.

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