Georgia has already clinched a share of the SEC regular season crown and can win it outright with either a win over Arkansas or Ole Miss or a Florida loss to Kentucky and Tennessee.

Michigan has a chance to make a move in the Big Ten standings but it won’t be easy with road matches at Northwestern and Illinois. Ohio State is still the favorite to win the conference but the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament will probably be decided this weekend.

The No. 1 seed in the AAC conference tournament will probably be decided tonight when No. 24 Tulsa hosts No. 19 South Florida. The team with the highest ITA ranking gets the top seed so I think whoever wins this match gets that spot.

It’s interesting what a difference a year makes – last year we were salivating over the opportunity to see Oklahoma and Baylor play but this year not so much. Oklahoma appears to be back after the return of the great Andrew Harris while Baylor has, quite frankly, overachieved after losing a ton of starters from last year’s NCAA semifinals. Baylor had to pull Tyler Stayer off the club team due to depth issues though he’s been an asset in doubles (nice story on Stayer).

Oklahoma State, ranked No. 14, has gone from being a national title contender to a team that’s fighting to stay in the top 16. The Cowboys won four top-20 matches before Temur Ismailov left and Julian Cash and Lukas Finzelberg got hurt so if they can win one more match down the stretch they should stay ranked inside the top 16. Oklahoma State welcomes in Texas Tech this evening but if Cash and Finzelberg still can’t go then Tech should roll.

Friday matches involving bubble teams (teams ranked mid 30s-low 40s):

Miami (FL) at #40 Virginia Tech – Virginia Tech can greatly enhance its position with a win at home in its regular season finale. Virginia Tech should be seeded No. 6 in the conference tournament which means it would get Boston College in the first round and then would probably be looking at a crucial match against Georgia Tech or Florida State in the second round.

#46 Princeton at #25 Columbia – Princeton lost a pair of dog fights last week against Harvard and Dartmouth and its NCAA Tournament hopes may hinge on the outcome of this match. Columbia is sitting atop the standings in the Ivy League (only conference without a tournament) with a two game lead on the field and would like nothing better to finish the regular season with an undefeated conference record.

#39 Penn State at #47 Wisconsin – Penn State was ranked in the high 30s until it got rocked by Indiana last weekend while Wisconsin was also ranked in the high 30s until the rankings took into account everyone’s seventh, eighth, and ninth best wins. Wisconsin currently has just three ranked wins so to bolster its chances it really needs to add a fourth and maybe a fifth. Both teams desperately need this one and neither can afford to lose it – should make for some great drama.

Predicted Scores:

#7 Wake Forest 4, #1 Virginia 3 – Wake nearly got UVA at the National Team Indoors and I think today’s the day they put the exclamation mark on the season and win the ACC. I like Wake in doubles and Chrysochos, Bogaerts, and Uspensky at 2, 4, and 6.

#12 Arkansas 4, #6 Georgia 3 – This has been a historic season for Arkansas with landmark wins over Oklahoma, Texas A&M, and Texas. Georgia has already clinched a share of the SEC regular season title but it’ll have to wait until Sunday to win it outright. I think Georgia may be due for an off-day and Arkansas will be ready to take advantage of the situation. I’m going to take Arkansas in doubles and Redlicki, Salazar, and Micolani in singles.

#40 Virginia Tech 6, Miami 1
#13 Florida 5, #20 Kentucky 2
#23 Mississippi State 5, #45 Vanderbilt 2
#15 Northwestern 4, #21 Michigan 1
#47 Wisconsin 4, #39 Penn State 3
#25 Columbia 5, #46 Princeton 2
#8 Oklahoma 4, #37 Baylor 0
#10 Texas Tech 4, #14 Oklahoma State 2

Follow each of the matches at the below live scoring links to see what happens.