The ITA’s first team rankings of the season should be out shortly so here is my top 20 along with a few questions for each team. I’m thinking that both Oklahoma and Baylor will have some January roster additions and Wake Forest should have their guys added in a few days. It seems like there are more teams counting on freshman this year than I can remember in the past. I can’t see anyway that Virginia isn’t the preseason #1 because they’ve got it all. Here is my top 20 – if you’ve done one yourself add yours to the comment section below – I’m sure we’ll all have many differences and opinions.
1. Virginia – how well will they do without Mitchell Frank?
2. Oklahoma – top 5 is strong but who is going to play #6 – waiting to see January admits?
3. TCU – how well do Alex Rybakov and Eduardo Nava adjust to the college game?
4. Ohio State – can Herkko Pollanen play in the spring like he did the fall and can Martin Joyce hold his own?
5. Georgia – can Paul Oosterbaan be a force at 3 or 4 and how does Walker Duncan perform?
6. Texas A&M – which Harry Adams do we see this season and does Arconada move up higher?
7. North Carolina – can this team stay healthy and can Kodali hold down the #6 spot?
8. Wake Forest – can the January admits, Petros Chrysochos/Dennis Uspensky, jump right in without missing a beat and can Bogaerts bounce back from a rough fall?
9. Stanford – can Maciek Romanowicz be solid in the middle of the lineup and how well do the freshmen (Genender/Kumar) compete against USC, UCLA, and Cal among others.
10. UCLA – if Brymer is back to form the Bruins would have a rugged top 3 but can they win enough down low at 5 and 6?
11. Illinois – we know the top half of the lineup is solid but what about the bottom half?
12. USC – can Max de Vroome and Nick Crystal perform as well up top as they did down low and which of the freshman (L Smith/DeVine/Boyd/Jaede) will have breakout seasons?
13. South Florida – can Gozun and Kalyuzhnyy bounce back from sub-par falls and can Cid and Cotrone help carry this team to the Sweet Sixteen and beyond?
14. Baylor – can Rios and Schneider play higher up and are there any January admits because the roster looks pretty thin after losing Lupieri, Galeano, and Zsiga?
15. Virginia Tech – is Monteiro ready to play at #1 (his fall results say yes) and can Corbett and Gomez hold down #5 and #6?
16. Cal – can Florian Lakat firm up the top half of the lineup and can Billy Griffith keep up his strong play to help anchor the bottom 3?
17. Texas Tech – can the January admits, Bjorn Thomson/Augusto Stodart, help firm up the lower half of the lineup and can Tech win enough in the top 2 spots?
18. Florida – can Maxx Lipman get back on track and how do the freshmen (Perez/Kessler) perform?
19. San Diego – solid top 4 Petronijevic, Vittek, Angus, and Kalaydjian but can USD count on Josh Page and Alexandros Araouzos to bring in enough wins at 5 and 6?
20. Duke – we know Alvarez is great but who can handle the load at 2 through 6 after losing Tahir, Semenzato, Hemmeler, and Mengel?
I think Monteiro can win more matches at #1 than anyone else which should let Bjerrehus and Contini play 2 and 3. I knew Mitch was supposed to be coming in the fall but there was some eligibility issues that were preventing it. If the NCAA approved him and he is able to play he would be a solid candidate at 6.
I think Monteiro can win more matches at #1 than anyone else which should let Bjerrehus and Contini play 2 and 3. I knew Mitch was supposed to be coming in the fall but there was some eligibility issues that were preventing it. If the NCAA approved him and he is able to play he would be a solid candidate at 6.
VT is going to be solid this year but do you think Monteiro should be one or bjherrus or even contini or tessaro they are so good this year did you know Harper was coming in January
Looks like Banzer's name has popped back up on the roster so maybe he'll play this spring after all.
and Rodrigo Banzer and Nick Naumann too – that's why I didn't rank them in my top 20. It's going to be an uphill climb for UT this year. I don't see anyway they beat Florida during the Kick-Off weekend and they'll probably lose at Washington the week before.
Freshman, Liam Caruana, has left the Texas Men's Program.
Not sure why but I think Oklahoma will take a step back. I think Alvarez and Harris are a great 1 & 2 but not sold on the rest. Webb may have struggled at 3 but it allowed the lower players to contribute while he 'took one for the team.'
I had Columbia just outside the top 20 but I think they are a top 25 team. They lost Lin, Schnur, Narayana, and Vancura but I like both Pham's and Hadavi and Rubin. Ignat didn't play much in the fall.
think Columbia is right there around #16-20 range, they lost Lin at the top but they are solid #1-6 and Hadavi has played well into Fall and the winter break.