ACC Women’s Weekend Recap
The little bit of separation that was starting to show between the top two teams in the conference, and everyone else, was slammed shut with Georgia Tech stunning the Duke Blue Devils. Florida State notched two impressive wins against two teams that were coming in on a roll (Syracuse and Boston College).
With three to four matches remaining in conference play it’s time to separate the wheat from the chaff and get down to it. We will see who belongs in that top tier with UNC and Duke. Clearly, Georgia Tech is right there with them this year and it will be fun to see what they can do in the postseason. Florida State is an intriguing squad that can play with anyone when they are at their best, as can Miami. Virginia does not appear to be quite up to that level this year, but with a matchup looming against #1 UNC next weekend, they can certainly change that perception. North Carolina State is playing very well at the moment. This past weekend they handled Louisville with extreme ease and seem to be moving up in the conference, as is Miami. Wake Forest is still an extremely good team capable of putting a run together. That leaves Virginia Tech, Louisville, Notre Dame, Boston College, and Pitt to play the role of spoiler.
With four to go, anything can still happen and judging from the way conference play has gone so far, it very well might!
SEC Roundup 4/5-8
The Mississippi State and Texas A&M Men made it through the second to last weekend of SEC regular season play unbeaten to bring us to what will undoubtedly be a winner take all showdown Friday in College Station. The two teams finish the regular season Sunday against the two teams in the cellar that you have to expect them to win. While the Bulldogs and Aggies were taking care of their end of the business one team that was not was Georgia. The reeling Bulldogs went into Tuscaloosa without Emil Reinberg or Walker Duncan, but did manage to have Robert Loeb back in the lineup. Unfortunately it wasn’t enough and while it’s hard to say it was a stunning loss it was yet another blow to a Georgia squad that now finds themselves in a pickle just trying to qualify for the NCAAs. It was also a good weekend for the last place team in the conference, Auburn, as they picked up their first conference win Sunday over Arkansas and went down to the wire losing 4-3 Friday to Ole Miss.
The big match for the Women this week was Florida at South Carolina in a battle between conference leaders. South Carolina entered unbeaten in the SEC while Florida only had one loss and a chance to pull even with the Gamecocks. The weather wreaked havoc with the match before it ever got started moving the match time up to 8 a.m. Saturday and playing singles first trying to beat the rain. Even with the modified schedule the rain intervened and forced a long delay with the match tied 2-2. When play resumed Florida took 7 of the 8 games played and closed out the two remaining matches to upset the Gamecocks and post a 4-2 win and pull into a tie for the conference lead.
Weekend’s Winners & Losers
Now that April is here each and every weekend will shape what the postseason will look like and this past weekend was no exception. There were some men’s teams that were ranked in the 50s or lower that really stepped it up while there were some teams in the 30s and 40s that really fell flat. With the at-large cutoff into the NCAAs expected to be in the lower 40s that means some teams found hope while others found despair.
Two of the biggest winners on the men’s side were Virginia Tech and Indiana.
Virginia Tech entered the weekend with a 12-6 record and a ranking of No. 53 but after upsetting No. 12 Florida State 4-3 and then blowing out No. 43 Miami 7-0 the Hokies are expected to jump all the way up to around No. 40. Virginia Tech has three regular season matches remaining against No. 69 VCU, No. 40 Louisville, and No. 42 Virginia and all three are at home. A sweep of the three would put Virginia Tech into the NCAAs with ease which is something that I didn’t foresee prior to this past week.
2018 Women’s Conference Tournament Central
How is seeding done at most conferences?
There are some conferences that play a round robin format during the regular season and some that do not. The ones that do not play a full round robin format usually seed the conference tournament based off the most recent ITA rankings. The next thing you’re probably wondering is what if there aren’t any teams ranked in the ITA top 50 – then what? The conferences and schools are able to see the unpublished rankings so that way they can seed accordingly.
| W-Conference | Dates | Location | Host School | 2017 Champion |
| AAC | 4/18 – 4/21 | Dallas | SMU | South Florida |
| ACC | 4/25 – 4/29 | Cary, NC | North Carolina | |
| Atlantic 10 | 4/26 – 4/29 | Lake Nona, FL | UMass | |
| Atlantic Sun | 4/20 – 4/22 | Jacksonville | North Florida | North Florida |
| Big 12 | 4/26 – 4/29 | Austin, TX | Texas | Texas Tech |
| Big East | 4/26 – 4/29 | Cayce, SC | DePaul | |
| Big Sky | 4/26 – 4/28 | Phoenix | Idaho | |
| Big South | 4/18 – 4/21 | Rock Hill, SC | Winthrop | Winthrop |
| Big Ten | 4/26 – 4/29 | Minneapolis | Minnesota | Ohio State |
| Big West | 4/26 – 4/29 | Indian Wells | UC Santa Barbara | |
| Colonial | 4/19 – 4/22 | Elon, NC | Elon | William & Mary |
| Conference USA | 4/19 – 4/22 | Norfolk | Old Dominion | Rice |
| Horizon | 4/27 – 4/29 | West Lafayette, IN | Youngstown State | |
| MAAC | 4/28 – 4/29 | West Windsor, NJ | Quinnipiac | |
| MEAC | 4/26 – 4/28 | Norfolk | Norfolk State | South Carolina State |
| Mid-American | 4/27 – 4/29 | Muncie, IN | Ball State | Buffalo |
| Missouri Valley | 4/27 – 4/29 | Springfield, MO | Missouri State | Wichita State |
| Mountain West | 4/26 – 4/29 | Boise | Boise State | San Jose State |
| Northeast | 4/20 – 4/22 | West Windsor, NJ | LIU Brooklyn | |
| Ohio Valley | 4/20 – 4/22 | Nashville, TN | Belmont/Tenn State | SIU Edwardsville |
| Pac-12 | 4/25 – 4/29 | Ojai, CA | Stanford | |
| Patriot | 4/19 – 4/22 | West Point, NY | Army | Boston U |
| SEC | 4/18 – 4/22 | Knoxville | Tennessee | Vanderbilt |
| Southern | 4/20 – 4/22 | Chattanooga, TN | Chattanooga | Furman |
| Southland | 4/27 – 4/29 | Beaumont, TX | Lamar | Texas A&M Corpus |
| Summit | 4/27 – 4/28 | Denver | Denver | Denver |
| Sun Belt | 4/19 – 4/22 | Peachtree City, GA | Georgia State | Louisiana Monroe |
| SWAC | 4/13 – 4/15 | New Orleans | Alabama State | |
| WAC | 4/27 – 4/29 | Phoenix | Grand Canyon | UMKC |
| WCC | 4/26 – 4/28 | Claremont, CA | Pepperdine |
Pac-12 Conference – Ojai, Ca – April 25-28
#8 Washington def. #9 Colorado 4-1
#1 Stanford def. #8 Washington 4-0
#1 Stanford def. #5 Washington State 4-0
Thursday (First Round)
#9 Maryland def. #8 Minnesota 4-2
#7 Michigan State def. #10 Indiana 4-2
Friday (Quarterfinals)
#4 Ohio State def. #5 Purdue 4-1
#1 Northwestern def. #9 Maryland 4-0
#2 Michigan def. #7 Michigan State 4-0
#3 Illinois def. #6 Nebraska 4-0
#7 Oklahoma def. #10 Iowa State 4-0
#8 TCU def. #9 West Virginia 5-1
Sunday (Finals)
#4 Duquesne def. #13 LaSalle 4-0
#7 Creighton def. #10 Providence 4-0
#2 DePaul def. #7 Creighton 4-1
#3 Marquette def. #6 Villanova 4-0
#4 Xavier def. #5 Seton Hall 4-1
Thursday (Quarterfinals)
#1 UC Santa Barbara def. #9 UC Riverside 4-0
#4 Hawai’i def. #5 Long Beach State 4-1
#3 Cal State Fullerton def. #6 CSUN 4-0
#7 Cal Poly def. #2 UC Davis 4-3
Friday (Quarterfinals)
#4 Wright State def. #5 Oakland 4-0
#2 Youngstown State def. #1 UIC 4-0 – Horizon Twitter/ESPN+
Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) – West Windsor, NJ – April 28-29
Saturday (Semifinals)
#1 Quinnipiac def. #4 Niagara 4-0
#2 Marist def. #3 Siena 4-0
Mid Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) – Norfolk, VA – April 26-28
S1 Florida A&M def. N4 Norfolk State 4-1
S2 Bethune-Cookman def. N3 Howard 4-3
N2 Morgan State def. S3 South Carolina State 4-1
N2 Morgan State def. S1 Florida A&M 4-2
Mid-American Conference (MAC) – Muncie, IN – April 27-29
#4 Bowling Green def. #5 Eastern Michigan 4-2
#1 Buffalo def. #4 Bowling Green 4-1
Mountain West Conference – Boise, ID – April 26-29
Friday (Quarterfinals)
Southland Conference – Beaumont, TX – April 27-29
#2 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi def. #7 New Orleans 4-1
#1 McNeese def. #8 Incarnate Word 4-0
#4 Sam Houston State def. #5 Central Arkansas 4-2
Friday (Semifinals)
Saturday (Finals)
#1 Denver def. #3 South Dakota 4-0 – Live Scoring/Video
West Coast Conference – Claremont, CA – April 26-28
Saturday (Semifinals)
Week of April 9th-15th
#4 Jackson State def. #6 Grambling State 4-0
#1 Alabama State vs. #4 Jackson State 4-1
Week of April 16th-22nd
#11 Arkansas def. #14 Missouri 4-1
Big South – Rock Hill, SC – April 18-21
Wednesday (First Round)
Thursday (Quarterfinals)
Saturday (Finals)
#2 Tulsa def. #5 SMU 4-0 – Live Scoring/Broadcast
Atlantic Sun – Jacksonville, FL – April 20 – 22
#4 Stetson def. #5 Kennesaw State 4-0
#4 Stetson def. #1 Florida Gulf Coast 4-3
Conference USA – Norfolk, VA – April 19 – 22
#7 Western Kentucky def. #10 LA Tech 4-0
#4 Florida Atlantic def #13 Marshall 4-0
#3 Old Dominion def. #14 UTEP 4-0
#5 Middle Tennessee def. #12 UTSA 4-0
#6 North Texas def. #11 UAB 4-2
Colonial Athletic Association – Elon, NC – April 19 – 22
Friday (Quarterfinals)
#4 Elon def. #5 Drexel 4-0 – Live Scoring
#2 James Madison def. #7 UNCW 4-0 – Live Scoring
#6 Charleston def. #3 Delaware 4-1 – Live Scoring
#2 James Madison def. #6 Charleston 4-1 – Live Scoring
Northeast Conference – West Windsor, NJ – April 20-22
#1 LIU Brooklyn def. #8 St. Francis Brooklyn 4-0
Ohio Valley – Nashville, TN – April 20-22
#3 Austin Peay def. #6 UT Martin 4-1
#5 Eastern Illinois def. #4 Jacksonville State 4-2
#3 Austin Peay def. #2 Murray State 4-1
#4 Lehigh def. #5 Bucknell 4-0
#3 Boston University def. #6 Loyola Maryland 4-0
#2 Army West Point def. #7 Lafayette 4-0
No. 4 Chattanooga def. No. 5 Mercer 4-0 – Live Scoring
No. 2 ETSU def. No. 7 Wofford 4-0 – Live Scoring
No. 3 Samford def. No. 6 Western Carolina 4-2 – Live Scoring
Sun Belt – Peachtree City, GA – April 19-22
#2 Georgia State vs. #6 Louisiana-Monroe 4-3 – Live Scoring/ESPN3
Men’s Conference Races – Bubble Watch
It’s hard to believe but the first conference tournament gets started in two weeks with the bulk then coming the following two weeks after that. There will be 29 men’s conference tournaments this year (down from 30 after the Missouri Valley went away) 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 Valparaiso which won the Horizon League last year but is now in the Summit League. There will be 34 at-large bids for the NCAA Tournament with the at-large ranking cutoff expected to be 43 or 44.
Below is a look at the conference races with the contenders listed for all of my projected 1-bid leagues – of course that doesn’t mean a darkhorse can’t rise to the occasion and pull off an upset. For the Power 5, AAC, CUSA, and Ivy League 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. So for those teams from the mid-major to lower-major conferences that are already ranked below 50 it’ll be tough for them to make up the ground needed to get higher than the at-large cutoff.
Big XII Men’s Weekend Preview
The Big XII conference matches finally get underway this weekend. With only six mens teams in the conference, it will be a fast and furious finish to the season. All the teams are ranked in the top 30, and we will see several impressive matches this weekend.
The hottest team in the conference remains TCU after their 7-0 win Tuesday against UT Arlington. They were dominant, playing their full lineup, except for resting Alex Rybakov at #1 doubles and at #1 singles. They travel to Austin to take on the Longhorns in the only Big XII match on Saturday (2:00). Last years TCU-Texas match was a top-ten match-up to close out the regular season. TCU won 4-1. This year is sure to be another big time showdown.
Texas will look to rebound after its loss to #31 Tulane last Thursday, with a surprising score line of 4-0. Last year, Texas saved match points against Tulane in the second round of the NCAA tournament but this time was unable to win those big points and get on the scoreboard.
SEC Preview 4/5-8
As we enter the final two weekends of the season we are finally going to get to see the conference leaders battle each other on both the men’s and women’s sides. The marquee match this week for the men will be #9 Florida (7-2 SEC) at #5 Texas A&M (8-0 SEC) on Friday. Florida is all but out of the running for the regular season title after last weekend’s loss at South Carolina, but stranger things have happened. Meanwhile Texas A&M will be looking to stay perfect in the SEC and keep pace with Mississippi State who has two matches that on paper they ought to win this weekend. However one of those matches for the Bulldogs is on the road at Ole Miss which is always a competitive rivalry match no matter what shape either of the teams is in, but I am hearing that Gustav Hansson might be back in the lineup for Ole Miss.
For the women the marquee match will be #12 Florida (9-1 SEC) at #5 South Carolina (10-0 SEC) on Saturday. The Gators have an opportunity to pull even with South Carolina if they can pull off the upset on the road. If not, South Carolina doesn’t have things sewn up just yet as they still have a match with #2 Vanderbilt ahead of them.
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