Picture courtesy off Clemson t
By Bobby Knight - Saturday wasn’t a bad day to be a lower ranked team as Michigan, Michigan State, and Vanderbilt all pulled off impressive wins. Vanderbilt beat its 2nd Top 10 team this year as the Commodores upset #8 Kentucky 4-2 with the Dores dropping the doubles point but coming back to pick up 4 singles wins with Marc van der Merwe providing the clincher at 5. Michigan State handled Northwestern 5-2 with the Spartans picking up 3 straight set wins with Gijs Linders clinching it at 5. Michigan dropped the doubles point to Illinois then stepped it up by winning 5 singles matches with Alex Buzzi sealing the win at 6. Oregon did something for the 1st time in school history on Saturday– it beat Stanford with the Ducks getting singles wins from Jeff Mullen, Daan Maasland, Alex Rovello, and Aaron Clissold. In other Pac 12 action Cal kept it together and finished the weekend 2-0 with a 5-2 win over Washington and both USC and UCLA won easily at home.
So the question is will the crazy upsets continue on Sunday? I don’t think they’ll be as many but I do see Virginia Tech and South Carolina providing 2 of them.
Follow along at the provided links to see how it all shakes out.
Sunday:
North Carolina at #19
Clemson – 11am est – Live
Scoring @ North Carolina is coming off a win over Georgia Tech while Clemson was beaten soundly by Duke. I think the Tigers will rebound with wins at 1, 2, 3, and 6. Prediction: Clemson 5-2
#9
Duke at
Georgia Tech – Noon est – Live Scoring @ http://www.ramblinwreck.com/livestats/m-tennis/xlive.htm - Duke steamrolled Clemson on Friday while North Carolina edged Georgia Tech. I don’t look for this one to be close at all. Prediction: Duke 7-0
#37
Minnesota at #5
Ohio State – Noon est – Live Scoring @ http://www.ohiostatebuckeyes.com/livestats/m-tennis/xlive.htm - Minnesota has won 4 straight all by a 4-3 score but Ohio State hasn’t lost at home in over a decade. The Gophers won’t be the one to snap the streak and it’ll be Ohio State getting it done in impressive fashion. Prediction: Ohio State 7-0
#13
Mississippi State at #17
Florida – Noon est – Live Scoring @ http://www.gatorzone.com/tennis/live/?sport=tennm&live_match=10951 – Florida upset one Mississippi school on Friday and will be looking to make it a clean sweep while Mississippi State is looking to win 2 in a row for the 1st time in over a month. I look for Florida to take the doubles point and to pick up a singles win from Bob van Overbeek while I like Romain Bogaerts, Malte Stropp, Jordan Angus, and Pedro Dumont to win at 1, 2, 4, and 6 for State. Prediction: Mississippi State 4-2
#46
Memphis at #24
VCU – Noon est – Live Scoring @ http://www.vcuathletics.com/sports/mten/index - VCU is coming off a 4-2 loss to Louisville while Memphis is coming off a 4-0 win over Louisville. It’d be easy to say well if Memphis beat a team that VCU just lost to then surely they’ll beat them but it doesn’t always work that way. I think VCU rebounds and gets the win by taking the doubles point and getting wins at 1, 2, and 5. Prediction: VCU 4-1
http://www.wakeforestsports.com/livestats/m-tennis/xlive.htm - Virginia Tech is riding high after going into Raleigh and upsetting NC State while Wake went down to #1 Virginia on Saturday though they kept it close in a few spots. Virginia Tech has been solid in doubles this year and if they can take that point I think they’ll pull off the upset. I’ll go with the Hokies at 1, 2, and 6 along with the doubles point. Upset Special: Virginia Tech 4-3
#28
Illinois at #49
Michigan State – Noon est – Live Scoring @ http://www.msuspartans.com/livestats/m-tennis/xlive.htm - Illinois was beaten by Michigan on Saturday while Michigan State upset Northwestern. I see the Illini returning to the winning column by picking up the doubles point and collecting wins at 1, 2, 3, and 5. Prediction: Illinois 5-2
#29
Northwestern at #34
Michigan – Noon est – Live Scoring @ http://www.mgoblue.com/livestats/m-tennis/index-m.html - Michigan took it to Illinois on Saturday winning 5-2 while Northwestern was upset in East Lansing by Michigan State by the same 5-2 score. Michigan’s Barrett Franks is riding an 8 match winning streak and has moved up from 6 to 3 in the singles lineup. I see Michigan picking up the doubles point and getting singles wins at 1, 3, 4, and 5. Prediction: Michigan 5-2
#1
Virginia at #36
NC State – 1pm est – Live Scoring @ http://www.gopack.com/livestats/m-tennis/xlive.htm - Virginia handled Wake Forest on Saturday while NC State is coming off an upset loss to Virginia Tech. Virginia shouldn’t have too much trouble and will win rather easily. Prediction: Virginia 6-1
#15
Baylor at #38
Texas Tech – 2pm est/1pm cst – Live Scoring @ http://www.texastech.com/livestats/m-tennis/xlive.htm - Baylor has won 4 in a row while Texas Tech saw its 3 match winning streak come to a halt after Tulsa came back from 3-0 down to beat Tech 4-3. This will be Baylor’s conference opener and I see the Bears coming out of Lubbock with the win. Tech’s one point will come at 6. Prediction: Baylor 6-1
#20
South Carolina at #7
Ole Miss – 2pm est/1pm cst – Live Scoring @ http://www.olemisssports.com/livestats/m-tennis/xlive.htm & Ole Miss Blog @ http://www.olemisssports.com/sports/m-tennis/spec-rel/040713aaa.html - Ole Miss was upset on Friday by Florida but was playing without its #1 Nik Scholtz while South Carolina came up just short in a loss to Mississippi State. It will be mighty tough for Ole Miss to win this one without Scholtz because they are not a deep team and the bottom of their lineup has struggled throughout the year. I think Scholtz will not play and therefore as a result I see South Carolina taking the doubles point and picking up singles wins at 4, 5, and 6. Upset Special #2: South Carolina 4-2
#4
Georgia at #53
Arkansas – 2pm est/1pm cst – Live Scoring @ http://www.arkansasrazorbacks.com/fls/6100/live/mten/xlive.htm?SPID=2429&DB_OEM_ID=6100 – <p>Arkansas <a href="http://www.arkansasrazorbacks.com/SportSelect.dbml?DB_LANG=C&&DB_OEM_ID=6100&SPID=2429&SPSID=30827" target="_blank">Blog</a>.</p> - Georgia will clinch a share of the SEC regular season title with a win and I don’t see any way they don’t get it. Dawgs roll in about 2 ½ hours. Prediction: Georgia 4-0
#12
Texas A&M at #35
Alabama – 2pm est/1pm cst – Live Scoring @ http://www.rolltide.com/livestats/m-tennis/xlive.htm - Texas A&M was upset by Auburn on Friday while Alabama plays for the first time this week. I look for A&M to grab the doubles point and to pick up wins at 1, 4, and 5 though I think Bama will be right there on all the other courts. Prediction: Texas A&M 4-1
#6
Tennessee at #32
LSU – 1:30 pm est/12:30 pm cst – Live Scoring @ http://www.lsusports.net/fls/5200/assets/docs/mt/livestats/xlive.htm?SPSID=27804&SPID=2162&DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=5200 & UT Blog @ http://www.utsports.com/sports/m-tennis/tenn-m-tennis-body.html - Tennessee took care of Arkansas on Friday while LSU was beaten soundly by Georgia. I look for the Vols to take the doubles point and pick up wins from Mikelis Libietis, Hunter Reese, and Ed Jones while LSU gets a win from Olivier Borsos. I think LSU will be up at 4 and UT will be up at 6 when the match is halted. Prediction: Tennessee 4-1
#33
TCU at #11
Oklahoma – 2pm est/1pm cst – Live Scoring @ http://www.soonersports.com/sports/m-tennis/archive/040713aaa.html - Both teams won their conference openers with TCU shutting out Oklahoma State and Oklahoma rolling over Texas. OU has struggled at 5 and 6 going just 15-17 so those 2 spots have to be a concern. I like OU in doubles and at 1, 3, 4 and 5 but I think TCU has good chances at 2 and 6. I don’t think OU will lose but I do see them getting tested. Prediction: Oklahoma 5-2
#16
Texas at
Oklahoma State – 2pm est/1pm cst – No Live Scoring – Both teams are coming off losses in their conference openers as Texas fell 5-2 to Oklahoma and Okie State fell 7-0 to TCU. The Horns will hook em without much resistance. Prediction: Texas 6-1
