The NCAA men’s college tennis season has been a little chaotic, with teams constantly rising and falling and upsets across the board. The upcoming NCAA Tournament is where it’ll all come to a head, but before the action gets started its time to break down the bracket. We also have a preview for the women’s tournament.
Quarter 1: Wake Forest, Back and Better Than Ever
The entire top half of this bracket is No. 1 seed Wake Forest’s to lose.
The Demon Deacons are the defending champions, and they just won the ACC Tournament in dominant fashion. They started off the season inconsistent and suffering some upset losses, but they’ve rounded into form right when they needed to, and with this draw they should be able to get right back to where they were last year, or at least get close.
On the other end of the quarter is No. 8 seed Arizona. The Wildcats had a strong season, but they’re coming into the tournament on a sour note as they were completely dismantled by TCU in the Big 12 Tournament final. And neither of the other seeds in this quarter, No. 9 seed Oklahoma and No. 16 seed UCF, look to be able to take down Wake Forest.
Quarter 2: Ohio State Vulnerable, TCU With Something to Prove
At the start of the season, No. 3 seed Ohio State was far and away the best team in the country. And although the Buckeyes have maintained their high ranking, an inability to sweep the Big Ten has left them with some questions. Coming off a brutal loss to Michigan State in the Big Ten Tournament final, Ohio State will need to bounce back. A potential match against No. 14 seed Illinois–who very nearly beat Ohio State in the Big Ten semifinals–could be a tricky match that could even turn into an upset.
And No. 6 seed TCU has been on a roll and shown no signs of slowing down. A somewhat mixed bag of a regular season turned into a dominant Big 12 Tournament win, but TCU fell from No. 2 in the rankings to the No. 6 seed. The difference between the ranking and the seeding will give the Horned Frogs extra motivation, and that combined with their current form could get them very far.
Quarter 3: Questions Around Virginia and Mississippi State, Michigan State’s Potential
No.4 seed Virginia is, certainly, a great team when at its best. But lately, Virginia’s wins have been harder-fought than they should be. The Cavaliers just barely made it past California in the ACC Tournament–a California team that itself just barely made the NCAA Tournament. Virginia lost to Wake Forest in the final, continuing a trend of the Cavaliers not showing up in the biggest moments this season. The bottom of Virginia’s lineup has become extremely inconsistent, and the No. 1 singles player in college tennis, Dylan Dietrich, can’t propel the whole team to a win on his own.
And Virginia has been saddled with a brutal draw, as a controversially unseeded Michigan State team lurks in their section. The Spartans are coming off of a Big Ten Tournament win, with an epic final against Ohio State. They only lost one match in conference play, and they’re undoubtedly playing some of the best tennis in the country. They’re untested against top nonconference opposition, but on the flip side that means they have nothing to lose. That could spell doom for Virginia.
The other side of the quarter isn’t stable, either. No. 5 seed Mississippi State has been missing one of its best players, Petar Jovanovic, for the last few weeks. Still, Mississippi State managed to make the SEC Tournament final without Jovanovic and has been exceeding expectations all season long. Their draw is decent, with only No. 12 seed Georgia as a real potential threat, but whoever comes out of the other side of the quarter will be a challenge for the Bulldogs if they’re hampered.
Quarter 4: Tournament-Dominating Texas
No. 2 seed Texas could have protested Wake Forest getting the No. 1 seed over them, and they would have had a great case. The Longhorns won Indoors, won the SEC regular season title, and won the SEC Tournament. In a season where Texas has had some lineup issues and questionable matches, they’ve still consistently showed up in the biggest moments, and now the biggest moment of them all has arrived.
Many of the teams in Texas’ section are top-heavy, such as SMU, Princeton, and No. 15 seed San Diego, but the Longhorns have the depth that those teams are missing. While Texas’ path isn’t quite as sure a thing as Wake Forest’s on the other side of the bracket, the Longhorns should feel fairly comfortable here.
The other side of this quarter features No. 7 seed LSU and No. 10 seed Baylor, and either team could make a deep run. Neither LSU nor Baylor has been able to take down the top teams in their respective conferences, but against each other both teams are capable of the win. But Texas has been the dominant tournament team this year, and any team in this quarter will have to play its absolute best tennis and then some to get past them.
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