Second-ranked TCU, fresh off its first win over Oklahoma since 2008, welcomes in No. 12 Oklahoma State. This will actually be the second meeting of the season with TCU edging Oklahoma State 4-3 during the ITA Kick-Off Weekend back in January. Oklahoma State started out the year with a 15-1 record but the Cowboys have lost three of their last four and have fell from a season high ranking of No. 5 down to No. 12. Oklahoma State got shutout on Friday by Texas although the Cowboys were ahead on two of the unfinished courts. If both teams use the same lineups they used on Friday there will be just two rematches from the first meeting (Rybakov/Kadhe & Nava/Meraut) due to Ismailov leaving while TCU has Trevor Johnson back in the lineup. I definitely am not expecting another 4-3 thriller but if TCU isn’t as motivated after its big win over OU it could be much closer. If TCU takes the doubles point I think they’ll win the match 4-1; If TCU loses the doubles point then I’ll say 4-2.
2. #16 Alex Rybakov (TCU) vs. #121 Arjun Kadhe (OSU)
3. #61 Guillermo Nunez (TCU) vs. Lucas Gerch (OSU)
4. Eduardo Nava (TCU) vs. Tristan Meraut (OSU)
5. Jerry Lopez (TCU) vs. Lukas Finzelberg (OSU)
6. Trevor Johnson (TCU) vs. Jurence Mendoza (OSU)
The Red River Rivalry heats up on Sunday in Austin as No. 17 Texas hosts No. 9 Oklahoma. The Sooners welcomed Andrew Harris back to the singles lineup on Friday and they nearly upset No. 2 TCU before falling 4-3. The Longhorns avenged a mid-week loss to Baylor by blanking No. 12 Oklahoma State. Oklahoma was expected to a top 5 team this year, and may still get there, but they’ve struggled for most of the year without Harris. Texas was expected to be maybe a top 35 team after losing five starters from last year’s team but in my opinion they’ve really overachieved with Goldhoff stepping up at No. 1 while the freshman (Scott, Ortiz, Banzer) have all held their own in pressure situations. Now that Harris is back I look for the Sooner Schooner to shed those wooden wheels for a nice set of Goodyear’s and I think OU get it done today on the road. Texas may take the doubles point but I like Alvarez, Harris, Papa, and Ghilea for Oklahoma – Sooners win it 4-2.
2. Andrew Harris (OU) vs. Harrison Scott (UT)
3. #59 Spencer Papa (OU) vs. Adrian Ortiz (UT)
4. #51 Alex Ghilea (OU) vs. Rodrigo Banzer (UT)
5. Florin Bragusi (OU) vs. Michael Riechmann (UT)
6. Maxime Mora (OU) vs. John Mee (UT)
When I looked at the schedule a few weeks ago I was expecting this matchup in New Orleans between No. 22 South Florida and No. 27 Tulane to be a top 20 showdown however each suffered a recent loss and fell a few spots. The Green Wave are coming off a 4-3 loss at home to Tulsa while South Florida is coming off a 4-0 win over Central Florida but the night before that win they were upset by SMU in a match that was moved indoors due to rain. I don’t think you’ll see a better individual matchup anywhere else today than what you’ll see at No. 1 singles. The ITA No. 1 Dominik Koepfer is riding a 21-match winning streak while the ITA No. 5 Roberto Cid has won 17 of his last 19 matches. I think Koepfer wins the match but South Florida will win the war. I like the Bulls in doubles and Gozun, Cotrone, and Bertran in singles – Bulls 4-2.
2. #115 Constantin Schmitz (TUL) vs. Sasha Gozun (USF)
3. Sebastian Rey (TUL) vs. #42 Dominic Cotrone (USF)
4. Chi-Shan Jao (TUL) vs. Peter Bertran (USF)
5. Alex Van Cott (TUL) vs. Ignacio Gonzalez-Muniz (USF)
6. Tyler Schick (TUL) vs. Vadym Kalyuzhnny
A few others to keep an eye on are Virginia Tech/Georgia Tech, Michigan/Wisconsin, SMU/Rice, UNC Wilmington/ODU, Ole Miss/Vandy, and Bama/Miss State.
It’s hard to believe but conference tournaments get started next week with both the Atlantic 10 and SWAC getting things fired up. I added a tab at the top of my site that will let you know everything there is to know about each of the men’s tournaments. I’ll keep updating it over the next few weeks as draws get announced. I’ll be staying in town next week but I’ll be on the road the following two with the AAC in Memphis and MVC in Wichita my landing spots.
Follow all of today’s matches at the below live scoring links.
Sunday, April 10
#3 Virginia at Clemson – 11am ET – Live Scoring
#33 Penn State at Indiana – 11am ET – Live Scoring
#8 USC at Arizona – 12pm ET/10am MT – Live Scoring
#40 Virginia Tech at #31 Georgia Tech – 12pm ET – Live Scoring/Video $
Louisville at #75 Miami FL – 12pm ET – Live Scoring/ESPN3
#41 NC State at #23 Florida State – 12pm ET – Live Scoring
#10 Texas A&M at Tennessee – 12pm ET – Live Scoring/Blog
#14 Florida at #62 South Carolina – 12pm ET – Live Scoring
#5 Ohio State at #57 Purdue – 12pm ET – Live Scoring
#13 Northwestern at #63 Iowa – 1pm ET/12pm CT – Live Scoring/Video
#15 Illinois at Nebraska – 1pm ET/12pm CT – Live Scoring
Michigan State at Minnesota – 1pm ET/12pm CT – Live Scoring/Video
#21 Michigan at #44 Wisconsin – 1pm ET/12pm CT – Live Scoring
#1 North Carolina at Boston College – 1pm ET – UNC Twitter
#39 LSU at #20 Kentucky – 1pm ET – Live Scoring
#59 Auburn at #7 Georgia – 1pm ET – Live Scoring/Video/Blog
#25 SMU at #28 Rice – 1pm ET/12pm CT – Live Scoring/Video
Air Force at San Diego State – 1pm ET/10am PT – AFA Twitter
#54 Cornell at Yale – 1pm ET – Live Scoring/Video
#37 Princeton at #50 Harvard – 1pm ET – Harvard Twitter & Video $
Penn at #38 Dartmouth – 1pm ET – Dartmouth Twitter
#26 Columbia at Brown – 1pm ET – Columbia Twitter
Furman at Elon – 1pm ET – Live Scoring
Mercer at #52 East Tennessee State – 1:30pm ET – ETSU Twitter
#18 Tulsa at New Mexico – 2pm ET/12pm MT – Lobo Twitter
#35 Ole Miss at #43 Vanderbilt – 2pm ET/1pm CT – Live Scoring
#32 Alabama at #24 Mississippi State – 2pm ET/1pm CT – Live Scoring
#4 UCLA at #72 Utah – 2pm ET/12pm MT – Live Scoring
#69 UNC Wilmington at #48 Old Dominion – 2pm ET – UNCW Twitter/ODU Twitter
#12 Oklahoma State at #2 TCU – 2:30pm ET/1:30pm CT – Live Scoring
#9 Oklahoma at #17 Texas – 2pm ET/1pm CT – Live Scoring
#47 UC Santa Barbara at UC Riverside – 3pm ET/12pm PT – UCSB Twitter
#36 Oregon at #19 Cal – 3pm ET/12pm PT – Video & Cal Twitter
Portland at #53 Pepperdine – 3pm ET/12pm PT – Live Scoring
#22 South Florida at #27 Tulane – 3pm ET/2pm CT – Tulane Twitter
Nevada at #64 Boise State – 4pm ET/2pm MT – Live Scoring
#73 Cal Poly at UC Irvine – 4pm ET/1pm PT – UCI Twitter/CP Twitter
Fresno State at #56 Utah State – 4pm ET/2pm MT – Live Scoring/Video
Butler at Indiana – 5pm ET – Live Scoring
South Carolina State at #62 South Carolina – 5pm ET – Live Scoring
Bethune-Cookman at #23 Florida State – 5pm ET – Live Scoring
Presbyterian at Clemson – 5pm ET – Live Scoring
Okie State looked promising early but losing a top player clearly can hurt.
I never heard why he left – I'll probably find out at the NCAAs
Let's face it Okie State has completely become undone. With so little of the season left there is no hope for recovery.
Oklahoma drops Texas 4-0.
What is the story behind Ismailov leaving OSU mid-season?