The men will fire things up on Monday morning at 10:00 am ET with play expected to go well into the night. The only rematch from a regular season meeting will be the All-SEC affair between Texas A&M and Mississippi State. This will be the first time Arizona has made a Round of 16 appearance and it’ll also be the first time that a Round of 16 has been contested without UCLA whose 43-year streak came to an end after an opening round loss to Northwestern.
The winners of Monday’s matches will advance to the quarterfinals which will be held on Thursday.
For a full recap of how each team earned its spot in the Sweet 16 you can read my opening round recap at this link.
[3] Tennessee vs. #18 Arizona (10:00 am ET)
Road to the Super Regionals
#3 Tennessee def. Alabama State 5-0 in R1; def. #38 Memphis 4-0 in R2
#18 Arizona def. #46 Michigan 4-3 in R1; def. #14 Kentucky 4-2 in R2
All-Time Series: Arizona 1-0
Most Recent Meeting: 1973 – Arizona won season opener 8-1
NCAA H2H: First Meeting
Match Notes:
- This is Arizona’s first-ever trip to the Round of 16
- The last time Tennessee advanced past the Round of 16 was in 2013
- Doubles edge to Tennessee: Vols have won the doubles point in 24 of 29 matches/Wildcats in 19 of 28 matches
- Winning streaks for Tennessee: Hussey (8), Monday (5 straight 13 of last 14), Prata (4)
- Arizona’s longest individual streak is Hassey with 3 straight
- Tennessee’s Andrew Rogers is listed at 7 in the master lineup but he played at 6 in both the first and second round
- Arizona’s Herman Hoeyeraal missed 3 months with an injury but has won 4 of 5 since returning
Prediction: Arizona is playing with house money at this point so they’ll go into this one with nothing to lose. Tennessee has the edge in doubles and at 2 and 4 singles but everything else is up for grabs. Despite the 7am PT start time, which is the same time Arizona played last week against Kentucky, I think the Cats will be wide awake for first serve. I think Arizona will give Tennessee all it wants but the SEC Tournament Champions will get to 4 points first – Tennessee 4-2
[6] North Carolina vs. [11] Georgia (10:00 am ET)
Road to the Super Regionals
#6 North Carolina def. Presbyterian 4-0 in R1; def. #19 Oklahoma State 4-0 in R2
#11 Georgia def. East Tennessee State 4-0 in R1; def. #25 Texas Tech 4-0 in R2
All-Time Series: Georgia 13-10
Most Recent Meeting: 2019 NCAA Round 2: UNC 4-1
NCAA H2H: UNC 3-2 (UNC has won 3 of the last 4 meetings)
Match Notes
- North Carolina is into the Round of 16 for the seventh straight season
- Georgia is into the Round of 16 for the first time since 2017
- Doubles edge to UNC: Tar Heels have won the doubles point in 19 of 24 matches; Georgia in 14 of 22 matches
- UGA’s Blake Croyder has won 5 straight matches
- UNC’s Brian Cernoch has won 6 of his last 7
Prediction: North Carolina has ended Georgia’s season in 2 of the last 3 seasons (excluding COVID shortened 2020) and barring an upset it’ll be 3 of the last 4. UNC has been more consistent in doubles and if everyone is completely healthy (Blumberg/Hijikata missed ACC finals but played in R1/R2) the Heels will be favored in at least 4 of 6 singles matches – North Carolina 4-1
[2] #1 Baylor vs. [15] #14 Ole Miss (1:00 pm ET)
Road to the Super Regionals
#1 Baylor def. Texas A&M Corpus Christi 4-0 in R1; def. #37 Oregon 4-0 in R2
#14 Ole Miss def. Belmont 4-0 in R1; def. #22 Tulane 4-0 in R2
All-Time Series: Ole Miss 5-3
Most Recent Meeting: 2018: Ole Miss 4-3
NCAA H2H: First Meeting
Match Notes
- Ole Miss hasn’t advanced past the Round of 16 since 2009
- Baylor into the Round of 16 for the third time in the last four seasons (advanced to quarters in 2019)
- BU’s Spencer Furman has won 11 straight matches
- BU’s Adrian Boitan has won 5 straight and 11 of his last 12
- BU’s Charlie Broom has won 4 straight and 9 of his last 10
- Ole Miss’s John Hallquist Lithen has won 7 of his last 9
Prediction: Ole Miss will need to get the doubles point to have a realistic chance in this one because it’ll be extremely difficult to find 4 wins in singles against this deep Baylor lineup. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Ole Miss take two of the top three in singles but I think Baylor will take care of business down low and finish the match off before most of the top three reach a conclusion – Baylor 4-0
[7] TCU vs. #35 Ohio State (1:00 pm ET)
Road to the Super Regionals
#7 TCU def. #43 Arkansas 4-0 in R1; def. #20 Arizona State 4-1 in R2
#35 Ohio State def. #36 VCU 4-1 in R1; def. #10 Wake Forest 4-1 in R2
All-Time Series: Tied 1-1
Most Recent Meeting: 2017 NCAA Quarterfinals: Ohio State 4-3
NCAA H2H: Ohio State 1-0
Match Notes
- TCU is into the Round of 16 for the sixth consecutive season
- Ohio State has advanced to at least the quarterfinals in each of the previous four seasons
- OSU’s Cannon Kingsley is undefeated this year (both in dual-match play and individual)
- OSU’s James Trotter has won 15 straight matches
- OSU’s JJ Tracy only dropped 6 sets this year while going 23-1
- TCU’s Jake Fearnley has won 6 of his last 7 matches and Luc Fomba has won 5 of his last 6
Prediction: Ohio State has won the doubles point in 20 of 25 matches and if they can pick it up in this one I think they’ll find the 3 singles wins they need – Ohio State 4-2
[4] Texas vs. [13] South Carolina (4:00 pm ET)
Road to the Super Regionals
#4 Texas def. Northern Arizona 4-0 in R1; def. #67 Northwestern 4-0 in R2
#13 South Carolina def. UNC Wilmington 4-0 in R1; def. #24 NC State 4-0 in R2
All-Time Series: Texas 6-1 (S Carolina’s only win was in 1978)
Most Recent Meeting: 2013: Texas 4-2
NCAA H2H: First Meeting
Match Notes
- South Carolina is into the Round of 16 for the first time since 2005 (last quarterfinal was 1989)
- Texas is into the Round of 16 for the seventh straight season
- SC’s Daniel Rodrigues has won 6 straight matches
- SC’s Toby Samuel has won 18 of his last 20 matches
- UT’s Cleeve Harper has won 7 of his last 8 matches
- UT’s Eliot Spizzirri has won 5 of his last 6 matches
- UT’s Sieb Woldeab has won 5 straight and 7 of his last 8 matches
- SC has won the doubles point in 5 of its last 6 matches and 10 of its last 12
Prediction: If you look at the UTRs this match is toss-up and I think it has the makings of a 4-3 match if all the courts were to get played out. I like South Carolina in doubles and Rodrigues in singles but Texas takes 4 of the 5 to pull it out – Texas 4-3
[5] Virginia vs. [12] USC (4:00 pm ET)
Road to the Super Regionals
#5 Virginia def. Fairleigh Dickinson 4-0 in R1; def. #21 Stanford 4-2 in R2
#12 USC def. Grand Canyon 4-0 in R1; def. #28 Pepperdine 4-2 in R2
All-Time Series: USC 6-4
Most Recent Meeting: 2019 National Indoor Consolation: Virginia 4-0
NCAA H2H: USC 6-1 (USC won last NCAA meeting 5-1 @ 2014 Semifinals)
Match Notes
- Virginia is into the Round of 16 for the 15th time in the last 16 seasons (made quarters in 14 of those years)
- USC is into the Round of 16 for the 14th straight year (made to the quarterfinals in 10 of those years)
- USC’s Stefan Dostanic has won 8 straight matches and Daniel Cukierman has won 5 straight
- Virginia’s Gianni Ross has won 9 straight matches, Carl Soderlund and Ryan Goetz have won 5 straight, and Inaki Montes has won 4 straight.
Prediction: Two of the top programs over the last 15 years will meet in the NCAA Tournament for the 8th time and despite the difference in ranking these two conference champions are very evenly matched. I think whoever wins the doubles point in this match will take it because I see singles split 3-3 – Virginia 4-3
[8] Texas A&M vs. #16 Mississippi State (7:00 pm ET)
Road to the Super Regionals
#8 Texas A&M def. New Mexico 4-1 in R1; def. #27 Oklahoma 4-1 in R2
#16 Mississippi State def. #39 Miami FL 4-1 in R1; def. #9 UCF 4-2 in R2
All-Time Series: Texas A&M 9-6
Most Recent Meeting: 2021: Texas A&M won 6-1 in Starkville
NCAA H2H: First Meeting
Match Notes
- Mississippi State is into the Round of 16 for the fourth time in the last five seasons
- Texas A&M is into the Round of 16 for the third time in the last five seasons
- The individual matchups at 3, 4, and 5 will be rematches from the regular season meeting – Aguilar won in straights, Schachter won 7-6 in the third, and Hernandez won in straights
- MSU has Davide Tortora listed at 6 in the master lineups but Gregor Ramskogler played at 6 in both the first and second rounds and won both matches
- MSU is the only team left in the draw that has lost the doubles point more times than its won it
- A&M has Pranav Kumar and Noah Schachter listed at No. 3 doubles in the master lineups however after losing in R1 Schachter was paired with Hady Habib in R2 and they were trailing 4-2 when the point was clinched
Prediction: Texas A&M will be expected to sweep the top three spots in the singles lineup and if they can do it they should be able to find a fourth point elsewhere – Texas A&M 4-2
[1] #2 Florida vs. [16] #17 Illinois (7:00 pm ET)
Road to the Super Regionals
#2 Florida def. South Alabama 4-0 in R1; def. #31 South Florida 4-1 in R2
#17 Illinois def. DePaul 4-1 in R1; def. #34 Notre Dame 4-0 in R2
All-Time Series: Illinois 11-10
Most Recent Meeting: 2020: Florida 7-0 @ Illinois
NCAA H2H: First Meeting
Match Notes
- Florida has advanced to at least the quarterfinals in 3 of the last 4 seasons
- Illinois last advanced to the quarterfinals in 2018
- Florida’s Blaise Bicknell, who is a perfect 20-0 in dual-match play, did not play in either of the opening round matches – reason unknown.
- Illinois’s Noe Khlif has won 16 straight matches and Hunter Heck has won 9 straight. Zeke Clark is 17-1 this season with his only loss coming against Michigan in the Big Ten Tournament.
- Florida’s Josh Goodger is undefeated in dual-match play and has only dropped 3 sets
Prediction: This is the type of matchup that you wouldn’t expect to see until the quarterfinals because even though Illinois is the No. 16 seed the Big Ten Tournament Champions are a legitimate top 10 team. Illinois feels they’ve got a chance to win on every court and while it’s possible I think Florida still has enough to get there even if they drop the doubles point – Florida 4-2
I’m expecting 4-2 and 4-3 scorelines to be the norm for the Round of 16 and I think we’ll see at least 1 team from the Big Ten advancing to the quarterfinals. For more discussion on Monday’s matches listen to the Cracked Racquets Great Shot Podcast with Alex Gruskin, Matt Stachowiak and Chris Halioris. You can follow all the matches with live scoring and streaming video is available on the TennisOne app. If you want to view the spreadsheet with each of the matches on one page you can view it here.
Who do you think will move on to Thursday’s quarterfinals? How many lower seeds will pull off upsets?
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