The featured match of the day on Friday takes place in Palo Alto between last season’s Pac-12 co-champions #29 Stanford and #13 USC. This is a non-conference match, with the official conference match coming on April 2 in LA, though it’s a match both teams want and a match that Stanford really needs. Stanford has dropped the doubles point three matches in a row and if they lose it again today I think it’s looking at a fourth straight loss. If Stanford takes the doubles point I think it picks up its first win since beating Santa Clara back on February 2nd.
There are two matches on Friday between top 25 teams. #3 Ohio State hosts #21 Penn State while #25 NC State hosts #6 Texas Tech. I didn’t highlight either in bold because I’m not really expecting the higher ranked team to be seriously challenged. NC State may have got caught looking ahead to today because it got tripped up yesterday by unranked UNC Wilmington. It’s possible NC State may play a little looser today but Texas Tech should win it 4-0 or 4-1. While Penn State is improving I’d be surprised if Ohio State didn’t post it 11th shutout in 14 matches.
A couple of programs on the rise meet in Ann Arbor as #28 Michigan, who was unranked in the preseason, hosts #31 Washington. Michigan is 5-0 at home with notable wins over Duke and Alabama while Washington will be playing just its second road match of the season with its first a loss to Indiana. I look for Michigan to make it 6-0 at home with its bottom of the lineup leading the way.
The two biggest matches on Saturday take place in Champaign-Urbana and Palo Alto. Stanford hosts #4 UCLA, in a non-conference match, just one day after playing USC. I’d be surprised if UCLA didn’t take this one because the Bruins have been more consistent throughout its lineup plus I think Brymer, Redlicki, and Sell will be decent-sized favorites at #2, #3, and #4. The match at #1 between Mackenzie McDonald and Tom Fawcett should be worth the price of admission (yes I know it’s free). Fawcett is 8-0 in dual-match play with 6 wins over ranked competition while McDonald is 5-1 with all his matches coming against guys ranked in the top 55. McDonald won both collegiate meetings last season in addition to winning in the quarterfinals of the Claremont USA F26 Futures.
#11 Illinois hosts defending NCAA Champion #2 Virginia in a Saturday night tilt. I’ll be on hand for this one to see if Illinois can bounce back from its loss to Texas A&M or whether Virginia will be really fired up after not playing for over two weeks. It’s going to be an uphill climb for Illinois but you can’t rule out a team that has Aleks Vukic and Jared Hiltzik playing at #1 and #2. I’ll have a preview of this one on Saturday morning before I make the drive over to Champaign.
I think one of the more intriguing matches on Saturday will take place in Waco between #34 Baylor and #17 Memphis. Baylor is reeling after dropping four of its last five while Memphis is soaring after winning its last six. I think this match is close to a pick’em with Baylor probably the slightest of favorites since it’ll be playing at home.
Possibly the two most under-ranked teams in the country meet on Saturday in Gainesville as #41 Florida hosts #35 Florida State. FSU is ranked lower because it doesn’t have any top 40 wins but both of its losses came on the road in 4-3 nail-biters to #7 Texas A&M and #14 South Florida. All three of Florida’s losses have been 4-3 matches with the Gators losing at #3 Ohio State, to #6 Texas Tech in Austin, and to #13 USC at the LA Tennis Center. So we’ve got two teams that have lost five matches by a 4-3 score so I’d be crazy not to expect another 4-3 match in this one. I’m leaning towards Florida to win at home but I wouldn’t be surprised if Florida State won.
The weekend closes out on Sunday with Illinois playing another top 10 team, #8 TCU, while #5 Wake Forest hosts #6 Texas Tech. I’ll have a preview of these matches on Sunday.
Below are all your live scoring links so pick which ones you want to follow and enjoy the weekend.
Friday, February 26th:
DePaul at New Mexico – 12pm est/10am mst – New Mexico Twitter
IUPUI at #43 Iowa – 12pm est/11am cst – Live Scoring & Video
#9 Oklahoma State vs. Alabama (Blue Gray) – 1:30pm est/12:30pm cst – Live Scoring
Arizona at #33 Tulane – 2pm est/1pm cst – Tulane Twitter
Murray State at #45 Vanderbilt – 2pm est/1pm cst – Live Scoring
George Mason at VCU – 2pm est – Live Scoring
Brown at Elon – 2pm est – Live Scoring
East Tennessee State at #63 Georgia State – 3pm est – Live Scoring
#52 Princeton vs. #48 Auburn (Blue Gray) – 4pm est/3pm cst – Live Scoring
#14 South Florida #67 Boise State (Blue Gray) – 4pm est/3pm cst – Live Scoring
#74 South Alabama at #19 Ole Miss – 4pm est/3pm cst – Live Scoring & Blog
#31 Washington at #28 Michigan – 4pm est – Live Scoring/Video
#6 Texas Tech at #25 NC State – 4pm est – Live Scoring & Video
St. John’s at #32 Harvard – 4pm est – Harvard Twitter & Video $
#64 Indiana at #18 Kentucky – 5pm est – Live Scoring
Belmont at #45 Vanderbilt – 5pm est/4pm cst – Live Scoring
#13 USC at #29 Stanford – 6pm est/3pm pst – Live Scoring/Video
#21 Penn State at #3 Ohio State – 6pm est – Live Scoring/Video
#75 North Florida at #37 LSU – 6pm est/5pm cst – Live Scoring
#39 Purdue at #44 Drake – 6pm est/5pm cst – Live Scoring
#53 Utah at New Mexico – 7pm est/5pm mst – New Mexico Twitter
#40 Denver at #43 Iowa – 7pm est/6pm cst – Live Scoring & Video
#72 Portland at #58 BYU – 7:30pm est/5:30pm mst – Live Scoring & Video
#8 TCU at #36 Wisconsin – 8pm est/7pm cst – Live Scoring
Saturday, February 27th:
Coastal Carolina at #54 Duke – 10am est – Live Scoring/Video
Army at Minnesota – 11am est/10am cst – Live Scoring & Video
Winthrop at #63 Georgia State – 11am est – Live Scoring
#61 South Carolina at Clemson – 11am est – Live Scoring
St. John’s at #38 Dartmouth – 12pm est – Dartmouth Twitter
#69 Western Michigan at Michigan State – 12pm est – Live Scoring
#40 Denver at #44 Drake – 1pm est/12pm cst – Live Scoring
#26 Texas at #5 Wake Forest – 1pm est – Live Scoring/Video & Blog
UAB at #30 Rice – 1pm est/12pm cst – Live Scoring/Video
#57 Georgia Tech at #56 Tennessee – 1pm est – Live Scoring/Blog
#35 Florida State at #41 Florida – 1pm est – Live Scoring & Video
Eastern Washington at #60 SMU – 1:30pm est/12:30pm cst – Live Scoring
#23 Columbia at #50 Middle Tennessee State – 2pm est/1pm cst – Live Scoring
#70 Pacific at #27 UC Santa Barbara – 3pm est/12pm pst – UCSB Twitter
Furman at #54 Duke – 3pm est – Live Scoring/Video
Fresno State at Cal Poly – 3pm est/12pm pst – CP Twitter
#17 Memphis at #34 Baylor 3pm est/2pm cst Live Scoring/Live Blog/Live Video
Gonzaga at #58 BYU – 4pm est/2pm mst – Live Scoring & Video
#4 UCLA at #29 Stanford – 4pm est/1pm pst – Live Scoring/Video
Pepperdine at #12 California – 4pm est/1pm pst – Video & Cal Twitter
#22 Tulsa vs. #31 Washington (Ann Arbor) – 4pm est – Live Scoring/Video
Sacred Heart at #38 Dartmouth – 5pm est – Dartmouth Twitter
South Carolina State at Clemson – 5pm est – Live Scoring
Tennessee Tech at #56 Tennessee – 5pm est – Live Scoring/Blog
Illinois State at Minnesota – 6pm est/5pm cst – Live Scoring & Video
Illinois-Chicago at Michigan State – 6pm est – Live Scoring
Southern Mississippi at #30 Rice – 6pm est/5pm cst – Live Scoring/Video
#2 Virginia at #11 Illinois – 7pm est/6pm cst – Live Scoring/Video
George Washington at #60 SMU – 7pm est/6pm cst – Live Scoring
Creighton at Nebraska – 7pm est/6pm cst – Live Scoring
Tennessee State at #50 Middle Tennessee State – 7pm est/6pm cst – Live Scoring
Marquette at #36 Wisconsin – 7pm est/6pm cst – Live Scoring
Blue Gray Classic (Montgomery, AL) – Live Scoring
#9 Oklahoma State vs. #14 South Florida – 1:30pm est/12:30pm cst
#52 Princeton vs. Alabama – 1:30pm est/12:30pm cst
#67 Boise State vs. #48 Auburn – 4pm est/3pm cst
Championship Match – 6pm est/5pm cst
Sunday, February 28th:
#6 Texas Tech at #5 Wake Forest – 11am est – Live Scoring/Video & Blog
#15 Northwestern at #32 Harvard – 12pm est – Harvard Twitter & Video $
#3 Ohio State at #47 Notre Dame – 12pm est – Live Scoring & Video
#22 Tulsa at #28 Michigan – 12pm est – Live Scoring/Video
#32 Harvard at #15 Northwestern – 12pm est/11am cst – Live Scoring & Video $
#21 Penn State at #59 Penn – 12pm est – Penn Twitter/Penn State Twitter
Brown at UNC Wilmington – 12pm est – Live Scoring
Stetson at #37 LSU – 1pm est/12pm cst – Live Scoring
VCU at Elon – 1pm est – Live Scoring
#55 Old Dominion at #25 NC State – 1pm est – Live Scoring/Video
#23 Columbia at #45 Vanderbilt – 1pm est/12pm cst – Live Scoring
#8 TCU at #11 Illinois – 2pm est/1pm cst – Live Scoring/Video
#51 Arkansas at #10 Oklahoma – 2pm est/1pm cst – Live Scoring (TBD)
East Tennessee State at #16 Georgia – 2pm est – Live Scoring, Video, Blog
Central Florida at #33 Tulane – 2pm est/1pm cst – Tulane Twitter
#66 Abilene Christian at #34 Baylor 2pm est/1pm cst Live Scoring/Live Blog/Live Video
#70 Pacific at Cal Poly – 3pm est/12pm pst – CP Twitter
Fresno State at #27 UC Santa Barbara – 4pm est/1pm pst – UCSB Twitter
Bryant at #32 Harvard – 4pm est – Harvard Twitter & Video $
UTSA at #30 Rice – 4pm est/3pm cst – Live Scoring/Video
UNC Greensboro at #25 NC State – 4:30pm est – Live Scoring & Video
Sewanee at #45 Vanderbilt – 5pm est/4pm cst – Live Scoring
Norfolk State at #5 Wake Forest – 5pm est – Live Scoring/Video & Blog
Lamar at #37 LSU – 6pm est/5pm cst – Live Scoring
Monday, February 29th:
#17 Memphis at #10 Oklahoma – 3pm est/2pm cst – Live Scoring (TBD)
Campbell at #1 North Carolina – 3pm est – Live Scoring/Video
NC Central at #1 North Carolina – 7pm est – Live Scoring/Video
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