Weekend Preview (3/25-3/28)

There are two top 25 matchups on Friday with No. 24 Mississippi State hosting No. 16 Florida while No. 23 Michigan welcomes in No. 25 Penn State.

In my opinion the biggest match of the day in the Big Ten isn’t the Michigan/Penn State match but rather the one between Iowa and Wisconsin. Neither team is going to win the conference this year so to get into the NCAAs as an at-large these guys will need to be ranked in the low 40s and if you want to stay in the low 40s or better you have to win these types of matches. I do like Wisconsin to get the win in its own backyard.

The ACC doesn’t have a ton of attractive matches today but one I’d keep an eye on is that Wake Forest/Miami match. Miami has played much better at home than on the road although Wake has found its form and won its last five matches by 7-0 scores. Wake will win but it could be as close as 5-2 if guys like Christian Langmo, who is 7-1 at No. 2, can pull through for the Canes.

Christian Langmo (Hurricane Sports)

There really aren’t any high profile matches on Saturday but there are several that should be competitive. A few to keep an eye on are No. 29 Columbia at No. 55 Cornell, No. 44 Drake at No. 40 Rice, and No. 27 Tulsa at No. 19 Texas.

Things get cranked up a few notches on Sunday with No. 23 Michigan going to No. 4 Ohio State while No. 18 Kentucky goes to No. 11 Georgia. This is Michigan’s best team in a while though winning in Columbus would take a herculean effort – I like Ohio State but I’d be surprised if Michigan didn’t take a couple of courts in singles. Kentucky is coming off a monster win at home over Illinois but it’ll need to be at full strength to have a chance in Athens. I think Kentucky has a chance to take two of the top three, if everyone is healthy, but I like Georgia down low and in doubles.

Joao Monteiro (Hokie Sports)

I keep waiting for Virginia Tech to have that breakout performance so we’ll see what they can do in Chapel Hill against No. 1 North Carolina. I’m not calling for the upset but I wouldn’t be surprised to see a 4-3 match especially if Virginia Tech can find a way to take the doubles point and get a win from Joao Monteiro and either Amerigo Contini or Andreas Bjerrehus up top.

Florida State is undefeated at home, which includes a win over No. 1 North Carolina, but it’ll need to rally the troops when No. 13 Wake Forest comes knocking on the door. If Wake wins two of the top three singles matches and Seraphim wins at No. 6 then Wake wins the match. If FSU takes at least two up top then I think they win.

Gustav Hansson (Ole Miss Sports)

Arkansas and Ole Miss are two teams going in opposite directions. The Razorbacks are coming off a historic win at Texas and have won five of six while the Rebels have lost three straight and four of five. Gustav Hansson has mainly played at No. 2 or No. 3 since arriving at Ole Miss last year but he’ll make his debut at No. 1 in this match. Ole Miss may be the underdogs but I think we’ll see an inspired effort from them in what could be a season defining match.

Who does everyone think should be on upset alert this weekend?

Follow everything at the below live scoring/update links – enjoy!!

Friday, March 25th