News & Features

by Bobby Knight, 30 March 2016

Special from College Tennis Today

This has been a season where upsets have been the norm rather than the exception - with at least one Top 10 team going down just about every week.

Just this past weekend we saw No. 5 Oklahoma State, No. 7 Texas A&M, No. 8 USC, No. 9 Texas Tech and No. 10 Illinois all lose - with all but Illinois losing to teams at least 30 spots lower in the rankings. It seems that no-ad scoring has not only made the game more exciting, but it's also made it completely unpredictable.

Below is a list of the biggest upsets this season with the rankings at the time of the match:

• #51 Florida State def. #1 North Carolina 4-3
• #36 SMU def. #5 Oklahoma State 4-0
• #49 Vanderbilt def. #7 Texas A&M 4-3
• #39 Washington def. #8 USC 4-3
• #40 Rice def. #9 Texas Tech 4-3
• #44 Mississippi State def. #12 Kentucky 4-0
• #68 Vanderbilt def. #17 Kentucky 4-3
• Auburn def. #22 Ole Miss 4-3
• UNC Wilmington def. #25 N.C. State 4-3
• Pepperdine def. #26 Memphis 4-2

A few weeks back I looked at a group of teams that I thought were serious national title contenders as well as teams that were in the next wave and just off the cuff. In this article I'll give you an update on those teams and whether or not anybody has elevated itself or dropped down to the next tier. My list of national contenders has stayed the same, but the next two groups have seen some movement.

The Men's Contenders

North Carolina - the Tar Heels are still No. 1 - although they did lose their top spot for a week after suffering an upset loss to then No. 51 Florida State. In my last post I mentioned that staying healthy and improving in doubles would be the biggest keys for UNC. UNC is 10-1 in doubles since going 1-3 at the National Indoors, but that one loss of the doubles point came against Florida State. Both Brayden Schnur and Anu Kodali have missed some time since the NTIs with Schnur missing seven of eleven matches while Kodali missed four matches including the one against Florida State. North Carolina needs everyone as close to 100 percent as possible because without Schnur in the lineup it'll have a tough time against teams like Virginia and Wake Forest. It just so happens they play both of those teams next weekend - but at least they get them at home.

Virginia - the Cavaliers have been almost flawless since its loss to Illinois by outscoring its last eight opponents by a combined score of 50-6. UVA rolled over the likes of Oklahoma, Florida State, Tulsa, and Virginia Tech in that eight-match span, but it has a highly challenging schedule down the stretch. In the next week UVA will play at North Carolina and at Florida and then it hosts Wake Forest in the final week of the regular season on April 15.

TCU - the Horned Frogs have been rolling since mid-February - with their winning streak at ten - plus they have shored up their problem areas at doubles and No. 6 singles. TCU has taken the doubles point in six of its last eight matches and has won at No. 6 singles in nine of its last ten matches. The schedule down the stretch is tough, but TCU gets both Oklahoma and Oklahoma State at home while it closes out the regular season in Lubbock against Texas Tech. TCU is coming off a huge win at Texas A&M, and - barring anything crazy happening - I think they'll likely be a top 3 seed in the NCAAs.