There’s a lot of quality matches on the schedule this weekend with eight top 25 matchups taking place plus there’s another half dozen or so that will be very intriguing.
Below I’ve listed the ones that I’ll especially be keeping a close eye on because while most of the higher ranked teams should win there are a couple of 4-3 ones in the bunch.
#13 South Florida leaves the state for the first time this season as it goes to #23 Minnesota to play indoors then heads to College Station on Sunday to play #3 Texas A&M outdoors. South Florida is a good bit better than Minnesota but the Bulls don’t play indoors often so it’ll be interesting to see if the Gophers can put the home court advantage to work. Tennis Atlantic’s Jeff McMillan will be on site so keep an eye on his twitter account for the occasional video clip.
#9 UCLA is coming off an awe-inspiring performance against Georgia but before it makes its way east to Charlottesville it’ll have to face #16 San Diego. UCLA is 25-0 all-time against San Diego but this may be San Diego’s best team ever so Billy’s boys better not overlook them.
#26 Texas welcomes in #2 TCU, #18 Stanford, and #24 Cal for what should be an entertaining weekend of tennis in Austin. Since Cal couldn’t make it Durham for the Kick-Off Weekend this will be its big chance to pick up a couple of quality ranked wins. It’s also a chance for TCU to potentially move up to #1 if it can beat both Stanford and Cal. Unfortunately for Texas it’ll probably be a long weekend as it plays its fourth and fifth matches against top 25 opponents.
#4 Baylor will try to put its loss to Texas A&M in the rear view mirror when it welcomes in #20 Ole Miss on Saturday night. It’s a big opportunity for Ole Miss to pick up a win over a top 5 program that isn’t quite at its best at the moment.
#5 Oklahoma is going to face a big challenge from an ACC foe for the second weekend in a row – last week they went down at home to Wake Forest – this weekend they go to Chapel Hill to face #7 North Carolina. Andrew Harris is very unlikely to play so Oklahoma is going to have to find a way to take at least 3 if not 4 singles courts without him.
#8 Ohio State faces its stiffest test this season when it hosts #19 Virginia Tech in Cbus. Virginia Tech has the strength up top to match Ohio State so if the Hokies take the doubles point things could really get interesting.
#17 Oklahoma State is riding high after a trio of home wins over Wake Forest, Minnesota, and NC State but they hit the road on Sunday to face an Arkansas team that is a lot better than its current ranking of #64.
Friday
#16 San Diego at #9 UCLA – 6pm est/3pm pst – Live Scoring
#13 South Florida at #23 Minnesota – 7pm est/6pm cst – Live Scoring/Video
#36 Notre Dame at #12 Illinois 7pm est/6pm cst – Live Scoring & Video
#28 Florida State at #3 Texas A&M 7pm est/6pm cst Live Scoring/Video
Saturday:
#18 Stanford vs. #2 TCU (Austin) – 12pm est/11am cst – Live Scoring
#24 California at #26 Texas – 3pm est/2pm cst – Live Scoring
#44 Georgia Tech at #11 Georgia – 3pm est – Live Scoring/Blog
#20 Ole Miss at #4 Baylor 7pm est/6pm cst Live Scoring/Live Blog/Live Video
Sunday:
#24 California vs. #2 TCU (Austin) – 11am est/10am cst – Live Scoring
#19 Virginia Tech at #8 Ohio State – 12pm est – Live Scoring/Video
#5 Oklahoma at #7 North Carolina – 1pm est – Live Scoring & Video
#13 South Florida at #3 Texas A&M 1pm est/12pm cst Live Scoring/Video
#18 Stanford at #26 Texas – 2pm est/1pm cst – Live Scoring
#17 Oklahoma State at #64 Arkansas – 2pm est/1pm cst – Live Scoring
MEN’S SCHEDULE
Friday – February 5th
Stony Brook at St. John’s (USTA NTC) – 9am – Streaming Video
Cleveland State at #54 Michigan – 10am est – Live Scoring/Video
St. Bonaventure at #19 Virginia Tech – 10am est – Live Scoring/Video
SIU Edwardsville at Iowa – 11am est/10am cst – Live Scoring & Video
Ball State at #53 Indiana – 12pm est – Live Scoring
Fairleigh Dickinson at St. John’s (USTA NTC) – 9am – Streaming Video
Texas Rio Grande Valley at #3 Texas A&M 1pm est/12pm cst Live Scoring/Video
UMBC at Yale – 2pm est – Live Scoring/Video
Furman at Liberty – 2pm est – Live Scoring
Richmond at #19 Virginia Tech – 2pm est – Live Scoring/Video
Northern Arizona at #42 Oregon – 2pm est/11am pst – Live Scoring/Video
Florida Southern at Stetson – 2:30pm est – Live Scoring/Video
Troy at #56 Auburn – 3pm est/2pm cst – Live Scoring
#50 Rice at #60 Cornell – 3pm est – Cornell Twitter
#43 Pepperdine at Loyola Marymount – 4pm est/1pm pst – Live Scoring
#34 Dartmouth at #32 NC State – 4pm est – Live Scoring & Video
Detroit at #54 Michigan – 4pm est – Live Scoring/Video
Seattle at Portland – 5pm est/2pm pst – Live Scoring/Video
#55 South Carolina at #10 Wake Forest 5pm est Live Scoring/Video/Blog
#32 Harvard vs. #37 Memphis (Nashville) – 6pm est/5pm cst – Live Scoring & HMT Twitter
#25 Duke at #40 Tennessee – 6pm est – Live Scoring/Blog
#41 Washington at #53 Indiana – 6pm est – Live Scoring
#5 Oklahoma at #63 Alabama – 6pm est/5pm cst – Live Scoring
#16 San Diego at #9 UCLA – 6pm est/3pm pst – Live Scoring
Western Michigan at Iowa – 7pm est/6pm cst – Live Scoring & Video
#13 South Florida at #23 Minnesota – 7pm est/6pm cst – Live Scoring/Video
#36 Notre Dame at #12 Illinois 7pm est/6pm cst – Live Scoring & Video
#67 Wichita State at #52 Denver – 7pm est/5pm mst – Live Scoring
#28 Florida State at #3 Texas A&M 7pm est/6pm cst Live Scoring/Video
Saturday – February 6th
Radford at VCU – 9am est – Live Scoring
Navy at #45 Princeton – 10am est – Pton Twitter
#21 Northwestern vs. #50 Rice (Ithaca) – 10am est – NU/Rice Twitter
#18 Stanford vs. #2 TCU (Austin) – 12pm est/11am cst – Live Scoring
Elon at #1 Virginia – 12pm est – Live Scoring/Video
Murray State at #49 Kentucky – 12pm est – Live Scoring
Cleveland State at Michigan State – 12pm est – Live Scoring
Samford at #29 Mississippi State – 12pm est/11am cst – Live Scoring
Appalachian State at East Tennessee State – 12pm est – ETSU Twitter
Norfolk State at UNC Wilmington – 1pm est – Live Scoring
#67 Wichita State at Air Force – 1pm est/11am mst – Live Scoring/Video
Grand Canyon at #6 USC – 1pm est/10am pst – USC Twitter
Penn at #61 Old Dominion – 1pm est – ODU Twitter
Belmont at Chattanooga – 1pm est – Live Scoring
Idaho at Portland – 2pm est/11am pst – Live Scoring/Video
Montana at Utah – 2pm est/12pm mst – Live Scoring
#68 Purdue at DePaul – 2:15pm est – Purdue Twitter
#24 California at #26 Texas – 3pm est/2pm cst – Live Scoring
#44 Georgia Tech at #11 Georgia – 3pm est – Live Scoring/Blog
#72 San Francisco at #57 UC Davis – 3pm est/12pm pst – UCD Twitter
Georgetown at #45 Princeton – 3pm est – Pton Twitter
Alabama State at #29 Mississippi State – 4pm est/3pm cst – Live Scoring
Dayton at #49 Kentucky – 4pm est – Live Scoring
Abilene Christian at #14 Texas Tech – 4:30pm est/3:30pm cst – Live Scoring
Furman at #1 Virginia – 5pm est – Live Scoring/Video
Loyola Marymount at #6 USC – 5pm est/4pm pst – USC Twitter
Lipscomb at Georgia State – 5pm est – Live Scoring
Metro State (D2) at Air Force – 5pm est/3pm mst – Live Scoring/Video
BYU at #52 Denver – 6pm est/4pm mst – Live Scoring
Morehead State at Michigan State – 6pm est – Live Scoring
Montana State at Utah – 7pm est/5pm mst – Live Scoring
#20 Ole Miss at #4 Baylor 7pm est/6pm cst Live Scoring/Live Blog/Live Video
#68 Purdue at Chicago State – 8pm est – Chicago State/Purdue Twitter
Sunday – February 7th
#34 Dartmouth at #61 Old Dominion – 10am est – ODU/Dartmouth Twitter
Wofford at Clemson – 10am est – Live Scoring
NJIT at #45 Princeton – 10am est – Pton Twitter
#24 California vs. #2 TCU (Austin) – 11am est/10am cst – Live Scoring
#21 Northwestern at #60 Cornell – 11am est – Cornell Twitter
UMBC at VCU – 11am est – Live Scoring
#19 Virginia Tech at #8 Ohio State – 12pm est – Live Scoring/Video
#25 Duke at #54 Michigan – 12pm est – Live Scoring/Video
#53 Indiana at #36 Notre Dame – 12pm est – Live Scoring & Video
Gardner-Webb at UNC Wilmington – 1pm est – Live Scoring
Western Michigan at #39 Drake – 12pm est/11am cst – Live Scoring
#55 South Carolina at #32 NC State – 12:30pm est – Live Scoring & Video
#5 Oklahoma at #7 North Carolina – 1pm est – Live Scoring & Video
#13 South Florida at #3 Texas A&M 1pm est/12pm cst Live Scoring/Video
#10 Wake Forest at #40 Tennessee – 1pm est – Live Scoring/Blog
#32 Harvard at #27 Vanderbilt – 1pm est/12pm cst – Live Scoring
Elon at Liberty – 1pm est – Live Scoring
Navy at #15 Columbia – 1pm est – Navy Twitter
Troy at #63 Alabama – 2pm est/1pm cst – Live Scoring
#18 Stanford at #26 Texas – 2pm est/1pm cst – Live Scoring
#17 Oklahoma State at #64 Arkansas – 2pm est/1pm cst – Live Scoring
#46 Louisville at #42 Oregon – 2pm est/11am pst – Live Scoring/Video
Santa Clara at #59 Boise State – 2pm est/12pm mst – Live Scoring
Buffalo at #45 Princeton – 3pm est – Pton Twitter & Buffalo Twitter
Wofford at Clemson (2nd Match) – 3pm est – Live Scoring
Wisconsin Green Bay at #39 Drake – 4pm est/3pm cst – Live Scoring
#48 UC Santa Barbara at #43 Pepperdine – 4pm est/1pm pst – Live Scoring
UMKC at Nebraska – 4pm est/3pm cst – Live Scoring
Bryant at #32 NC State – 4pm est – Live Scoring & Video
#74 Wisconsin at #23 Minnesota – 5pm est/4pm cst – Live Scoring/Video
Ball State at #36 Notre Dame – 5:30pm est – Live Scoring & Video
St. Edwards at #3 Texas A&M 5:30pm est/4:30pm cst Live Scoring/Video
Lipscomb at #63 Alabama – 6pm est/5pm cst – Live Scoring
Oral Roberts at #64 Arkansas – 7pm est/6pm cst – Live Scoring
Probably was a stretch – should have said impressive and left it at that.
To call the UCLA win over UGA at UCLA awe-inspiring is a bit deceptive. Rankings at this point in the season mean little. UCLA was playing at home. Most importantly, UGA was playing without two of it's top six players due to injury. A great win for UCLA but to call it awe-inspiring is a huge reach.