Pac-12 Men’s Weekend Preview
Friday Schedule
#16 Southern Cal at Arizona – Arizona has had a seemingly cursed season with several close losses. They won’t have to worry about that this weekend as USC should win this match fairly easily. Prediction: USC 4-0
#31 Cal at #4 Stanford – Stanford won the first meeting between these two rivals back in February 4-1. Cal has improved since the last meeting and Stanford’s elite aura has been somewhat diminished since February. The Bears will give the Cardinal a closer match this time around. Prediction: Stanford 4-3
Washington at #35 Utah – Utah needs to defend the home court against unranked Washington to keep its march toward the NCAA tournament on the correct route. Washington is desperate for wins to keep its slim tournament hopes alive. This will be a tight match and so far this season, Utah has been clutch in the tight moments while Washington has succumbed in most of the close matches. I expect Utah to get the job done in the end. Prediction: Utah 4-2
#2 UCLA at #33 Arizona State – UCLA has hit its stride and is looking like a legitimate national contender. Arizona State has proved this season that winning in Tempe is not easy and they will certainly have a big crowd on hand to support their Sun Devils. Prediction: UCLA 4-2
ACC Friday Men’s Preview
Big weekend coming up in the ACC. Today I will preview the Friday matches (Saturday/Sunday preview to come early on Saturday).
There is actually one Thursday match but it is Florida State at Boston College and we all know how the BC ACC matches go.
#1 Wake Forest at #39 Louisville – Louisville got a very much needed win last weekend at Duke. It kept their ranking from sinking below 40 and stopped the string of three straight ACC losses. Wake Forest did not look extremely impressive vs Clemson and Georgia Tech last weekend but they were able to get two wins despite some players missing for Davis Cup. This match will be closer than people may expect with it being at Louisville and Wake hitting a slight lull in form recently. But in the end the Deacs are just too talented to lose this match . Prediction: Wake Forest 5-2
#23 NC State at #49 Virginia – The importance of this match cannot be stressed enough. Virginia absolutely must defend home courts and win this match if they wish to make the NCAA tournament this season. Following the heartbreaking loss to Duke, Virginia has gone on to lose three more in a row after that to complete a four match losing streak. Gianni Ross did not play vs Florida State. UVA will need him in the lineup if they are to upset NC State, who is on a four match win streak of their own. With their backs against the wall, I think Virginia will come together behind their fans and find a way to defeat NC State. Prediction: Virginia 4-3
SEC Preview 4/12-15: WOW! What a Week!
WOW! What a week! The SEC could not have planned this any better. We are down to the final weekend of the regular season and both the men’s and women’s titles are up for grabs and the teams involved are playing each other. For the men it’s Mississippi State at Texas A&M Friday night in what amounts to a winner-take-all match as it would be a complete shock if either team lost to LSU or Auburn Sunday after winning this match. On the women’s side you have Florida, South Carolina and Vanderbilt in a three-way tie and we get Vanderbilt at South Carolina and Vanderbilt at Florida. Assuming that Florida and South Carolina take care of Kentucky in their other match (they both play Kentucky) the conference title comes down to who doesn’t lose in the three-way battle. Vanderbilt gets the tougher path as they have to win two big matches as Florida and South Carolina just have the one (in addition to Kentucky).
This week’s focus is all about the SEC regular season titles as well as positioning for the SEC and NCAA Tournament’s so the preview will be similarly focused.
Women’s Conference Races – Bubble Watch
Last week I took a look at the men’s conference races so now it’s time for the women. There will be 30 women’s conference tournaments this year with each winner earning an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament. The only conference that does not have a tournament is the Ivy League which awards its automatic berth to the regular season champion. The only school that won’t be able to defend its conference title will be Wichita State which moved from Missouri Valley to the American after winning nine straight MVC titles. There will be 33 at-large bids into the NCAA Tournament with the at-large ranking cutoff expected to be 41 or 42.
Below is a look at the conference races with the contenders listed for all of my projected 1-bid leagues. For the Power 5, AAC, and CUSA I’ll list who I think is probably in along with teams that will be on the bubble. Teams in the bigger conferences have enough matches left against ranked teams to make a move while teams in the one-bid leagues will not.
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Big XII Men’s Recap and Preview
TCU, Oklahoma, and Oklahoma State started off Big XII play undefeated.
Oklahoma State really had themselves a weekend. They moved up 3 spots in the rankings to #11 after beating #29 Texas Tech 4-0 and #19 Baylor 4-3. The Cowboys started off on Friday by sweeping the Red Raiders, winning the doubles point and all three singles in straight sets. The win was their first in a Big 12 opener since 2007, and was also the first sweep of a Big 12 team since 2007. OSU then had a dramatic win on Sunday against Baylor. OSU won the doubles point, but then found themselves down after 2 straight set wins by Baylor at #2 and #3 singles. The match was back and forth, with it all coming down to #6 singles with Leftherios Theodorou (OKST) defeating Akos Kotorman (BU) 4-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7-2).
ACC Women’s Weekend Preview – Big Matches Coming Up For NC State and Virginia
This will be a BIG weekend for the 38th ranked NC State Wolfpack as they play four matches, two of them against very good conference opponents. They host Wake Forest and NC Central on Friday and Virginia and Winthrop on Sunday.
Syracuse is hoping to bounce back from a rough weekend, losing to Florida State and Miami, but its a tall order against the Duke Blue Devils. Gabriela Knutson continues to have a fantastic spring for the Orange as she became the first Syracuse player to crack the top 5 in ITA singles rankings.
I know Pitt would love to play spoiler and get that first conference win, unfortunately it is not looking good for them this weekend as they play host to two of the best in the conference, the Ga Tech Yellow Jackets and the Duke Blue Devils.
Miami is up to 16 in the latest polls and Estella Perez-Somarriba continues her phenomenal play, earning player of the week for the fourth time this season. They have a relatively easy week, playing host to the Hokies of Va Tech.
The Virginia Cavaliers have arguable the biggest weekend ahead, as they hit the road for two huge matchups. First, they go to Chapel Hill for a match against the Tar Heels before heading over to Raleigh for a match against the very in form Wolfpack of NC State. I am sure they would be happy to go 1-1, but it is very important to salvage at least one of these 2 matches.
It is also an important weekend for Wake to turn things around after losing back-to-back matches against William and Mary and Georgia Tech. They travel to NC State Friday before hosting Louisville on Sunday. If they could manage to win both of these it would be huge, but it is imperative that they at least win at home on Sunday.
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