The dual-match doors have been unlocked and they are open for business – there will be 17 dual-matches this week between ranked teams plus I wouldn’t be surprised to see an unranked team upset a ranked opponent.
The most intriguing matches in my opinion are #12 Texas at #62 Washington, #21 Cal at #29 Tulsa, Kentucky at #13 Duke, and #16 Virginia Tech at #65 Alabama. I’ll be interested to see what lineups Texas puts out on Tuesday against some lighter foes in preparation for its trip to Seattle to face both UC Santa Barbara and Washington. Even though Kentucky is unranked I’d make their match against #13 Duke a toss-up. Duke has a lot of new faces that will be called upon to start in this one and Kentucky is coming off a strong showing against LSU, Memphis, and Florida Gulf Coast.
Alabama bulked up its roster in the off-season bringing in Mazen Osama (Fr), Grayson Goldin (FSU transfer), Matthew Rossouw (Tyler JUCO transfer), and Spencer Richey (Fr) so I think they’ll be much improved this season. Virginia Tech better bring its A-game or it’ll be a long trip back to Blacksburg.
Also make sure you keep an eye on the Sherwood Cup and MLK Invitational. Oklahoma, Georgia, Ole Miss, and Georgia Tech will lock horns using a hidden-dual format while USC, UCLA, Stanford, and Baylor will be sending their best to Thousand Oaks for the Sherwood Cup.
Weekly Schedule:
Tuesday – January 12th:
Abilene Christian at #12 Texas – 1pm est/12pm cst – Live Scoring – Texas won 7-0
Lamar at #12 Texas – 7pm est/6pm cst – Live Scoring – Texas won 6-1
Wednesday – January 13th:
East Tennessee State at #43 Georgia Tech – 2:30pm est – Live Scoring – Georgia Tech won 4-3
Presbyterian at #43 Georgia Tech – 7:30pm est – Live Scoring – Georgia Tech won 6-1
Friday – January 15th:
Oral Roberts at #29 Tulsa – 11am est/10am cst – Live Scoring & Streaming
#63 Troy at #36 Louisville – 12pm est – Live Scoring
Pacific at #17 Texas Tech – 12pm est/11am cst – Live Scoring
Arizona vs. #41 New Mexico (Lubbock) – 12pm est/11am cst – Zona Twitter & Lobo Twitter
Northern Kentucky at Kentucky – 12pm est
Citadel at #61 Auburn – 12pm est/11am cst – Live Scoring
Arizona at #17 Texas Tech – 4pm est/3pm cst – Live Scoring
Eastern Kentucky at Kentucky – 4pm est
Elon at #13 Duke – 6pm est – Live Scoring & Streaming
Citadel at #61 Auburn – 6pm est/5pm cst – Live Scoring
Dayton at #36 Louisville – 7pm est – Live Scoring
#21 Cal at #29 Tulsa – 7pm est/6pm cst – Live Scoring & Streaming
#54 UC Santa Barbara at #62 Washington – 8pm est/5pm pst – Live Scoring & Streaming
Saturday – January 16th:
Presbyterian at #50 South Carolina – 10am est – Live Scoring
Southern Illinois at #44 Tennessee – 10am est – Live Scoring & Live Blog
#75 North Florida at #11 Wake Forest – 10am est – Live Scoring & Live Blog
Georgetown at #9 North Carolina – 10am est – Live Scoring
#73 South Alabama at #31 Florida State – 10am est – Live Scoring
Michigan State at #37 Notre Dame – 12pm est – Live Scoring & Streaming
Seattle at #49 Oregon – 12pm est/9am pst – Live Scoring
DePaul at #23 Minnesota – 12pm est/11am cst – Live Scoring
#41 New Mexico at #17 Texas Tech – 12pm est/11am cst – Live Scoring
IUPUI at Purdue – 12pm est – Live Scoring
Mercer vs. Clemson (Charlotte) – 1pm est – Clemson Twitter
William & Mary at #32 Harvard – 1pm est – Harvard Twitter
#16 Virginia Tech at #65 Alabama – 2pm est/1pm cst – Live Scoring
#68 UC Irvine at #22 San Diego – 2pm est/11am pst – Live Scoring or USD Twitter
Furman at #25 Vanderbilt – 2pm est/1pm cst – Live Scoring
Eastern Kentucky at #44 Tennessee – 2pm est – Live Scoring & Live Blog
North Carolina A&T at #9 North Carolina – 2pm est
St. Johns at Miami – 2pm est – Live Scoring
Winthrop at #50 South Carolina – 3pm est – Live Scoring
Alabama A&M at #31 Florida State – 3pm est – Live Scoring
Seattle at #49 Oregon – 4pm est/1pm pst – Live Scoring
Pacific at #17 Texas Tech – 4pm est/3pm cst – Live Scoring
South Dakota State at #23 Minnesota – 5pm est/4pm cst – Live Scoring
#70 Utah State at #35 Drake – 5pm est/4pm cst – Live Scoring
#70 Utah State at #35 Drake – 5pm est/4pm cst – Live Scoring
Lipscomb at #25 Vanderbilt – 5pm est/4pm cst – Live Scoring
#54 UC Santa Barbara vs. #12 Texas (Seattle) – 5pm est/2pm pst
Boston College at #32 Harvard – 5pm est – Harvard Twitter
Mercer vs. Clemson (Charlotte) – 5pm est – Clemson Twitter
Detroit at #37 Notre Dame – 5:30pm est – Live Scoring & Streaming
Georgia State at #65 Alabama – 6pm est/5pm cst – Live Scoring
Toledo at Purdue – 6pm est – Live Scoring
East Tennessee State at #11 Wake Forest – 6pm est – Live Scoring & Live Blog
Sunday – January 17th:
#26 Northwestern at #36 Louisville – 10:30am est
#66 UTSA at #5 Texas A&M – 1pm est/12pm cst
#12 Texas at #62 Washington – 2pm est/11am pst – Live Scoring & Streaming
Florida Atlantic at Miami – 2pm est – Live Scoring
Stetson at #24 Florida – 2:30pm est
Lamar at #5 Texas A&M – 5pm est/4pm cst
Lamar at #5 Texas A&M – 5pm est/4pm cst
Morehead State at #36 Louisville – 5pm est
Monday – January 18th:
#75 North Florida at #44 Tennessee – 10am est – Live Scoring
Florida Gulf Coast at #31 Florida State – 10am est – Live Scoring
Arizona at #17 Texas Tech – 10am est/9am cst
Pacific vs. #41 New Mexico (Lubbock) – 10am est/9am cst
#70 Utah State at #71 Iowa – 12pm est/11am cst
#70 Utah State at #71 Iowa – 12pm est/11am cst
#28 Oklahoma State at #45 Memphis – 1pm est/12pm cst
#54 UC Santa Barbara at #49 Oregon – 2pm est/11am pst
UAB at #65 Alabama – 2pm est/1pm cst – Live Scoring
Mercer at #44 Tennessee – 2pm est – Live Scoring
#41 New Mexico at #17 Texas Tech – 2pm est/1pm cst
Arizona vs. Pacific (Lubbock) – 2pm est/1pm cst
Florida A&M at #31 Florida State – 3pm est – Live Scoring
#25 Vanderbilt at Middle Tennessee State – 3pm est/2pm cst – Live Scoring
Samford at #65 Alabama – 6pm est/5pm cst – Live Scoring
Tournaments:
Three Oaks Shootout – Ft. Myers, Fl (hidden-dual format):
Friday 10am – #6 Illinois vs. #27 Mississippi State – Miss St Twitter & Illinois Twitter
Friday 1pm – #3 TCU vs. #15 South Florida – TCU Twitter & USF Twitter
Saturday 10am – #3 TCU vs. #27 Mississippi State – TCU Twitter & Miss St Twitter
Saturday 1pm – #6 Illinois vs. #15 South Florida – USF Twitter & Illinois Twitter
Sunday 10am – #3 TCU vs. #6 Illinois – TCU Twitter & Illinois Twitter
Sunday 1pm – #15 South Florida vs. #27 Mississippi State – Miss St Twitter & USF Twitter
Friday 10am – #6 Illinois vs. #27 Mississippi State – Miss St Twitter & Illinois Twitter
Friday 1pm – #3 TCU vs. #15 South Florida – TCU Twitter & USF Twitter
Saturday 10am – #3 TCU vs. #27 Mississippi State – TCU Twitter & Miss St Twitter
Saturday 1pm – #6 Illinois vs. #15 South Florida – USF Twitter & Illinois Twitter
Sunday 10am – #3 TCU vs. #6 Illinois – TCU Twitter & Illinois Twitter
Sunday 1pm – #15 South Florida vs. #27 Mississippi State – Miss St Twitter & USF Twitter
MLK Invitational – Atlanta, Ga (hidden-dual format):
Friday 4pm – #43 Georgia Tech vs. #19 Ole Miss – Live Scoring
Sat 10am – #19 Ole Miss vs. #7 Georgia – Live Scoring
Sat 2pm – #43 Georgia Tech vs. #2 Oklahoma – Live Scoring
Sun 10am – #19 Ole Miss vs. #2 Oklahoma – Live Scoring
Sun 2pm – #43 Georgia Tech vs. #7 Georgia – Live Scoring
Mon 10am – #7 Georgia vs. #2 Oklahoma – Live Scoring
Hidden-dual formats are not counted as actual dual-matches but each team is supposed to match up similar level players – i.e #1 singles vs. #1 singles
Sherwood Cup – Thousand Oaks, Ca
USC, UCLA, Stanford, and Baylor are sending players
Singles Seeds:
1. Julian Lenz (BU)
2. Nick Crystal (USC)
3. Martin Redlicki (UCLA)
4. David Wilczynski (ST)
5. Max Tchoutakian (BU)
6. Logan Smith (USC)
7. Michael Genender (ST)
8. Max de Vroome (USC)
I agree should be a good one – for Memphis to win they'll need to take care of business at 1-3 – Okie State may be too strong down low.
Memphis hosts Okie State on MLK in what could be close match
Troy probably has the toughest with Louisville, Florida, Ole Miss, Florida State, Auburn, Alabama, NC State, South Florida, Penn State, maybe Oklahoma in the Kickoff Weekend, and even Georgia Gwinnett (NAIA Heavyweight)<br /><br />North Florida has to be up there with Wake Forest, Tennessee, Alabama, Cornell, Columbia, Miami & LSU <br /><br />UNC Wilmington plays Miami, Alabama, Mississippi State, NC State, South Florida, Penn State<br /><br />I didn't count South Florida, Tulsa, Memphis, San Diego, Pepperdine and other schools that are only mid major due to conference affiliation. <br />
Which mid tier teams do you think have the most challenging schedules? I see several midtier teams-most 1st or 2nd place in their conference-are playing 2 ranked teams the first week of play.