Texas senior Daniel Whitehead clinches match after winning third-set tiebre...
The match of the day took place in Fort Worth as over 1200 fans packed into the Bayard H Friedman Tennis Center to see TCU and Texas go toe to toe. TCU jumped out to a 3-1 lead by claiming the doubles point and picking up straight set wins at 4 and 5 but Texas was able to turn the tide by grabbing 3-set wins at 2, 3, and 6 with Daniel Whitehead providing the clincher at 3 with a 7-6 (5) 2-6 7-6 (9) win over TCU’s Orlando Superlano. In other action on Saturday it was USC, UCLA, Cal, and Stanford picking up wins while Notre Dame claimed the regular season Big East title by knocking off Louisville 5-2. In Malibu, Pepperdine took out conference foe San Diego 5-2 with all 4 of Pepperdine’s singles wins coming in straight sets.
The most competitive matches on Sunday will be down south in the SEC as South Carolina, Florida, and Texas A&M will each be trying to pull off their 2nd consecutive upset. It wouldn’t surprise me if all 3 won but the only one I’m picking to pull the upset is Texas A&M. Follow along at the live scoring links to see which teams gets upset and which teams do not.
Sunday:
#24 Michigan at Iowa – Noon est/11am cst – Live Scoring - Michigan is coming off a 5-2 win over Nebraska in a match that was very tight while Iowa lost a close one to Michigan State 5-2. Iowa is improved this year but won’t have enough to get past Michigan. Prediction: Michigan 6-1
#53 Miami at #9 Duke – Noon est – Live Scoring – Miami fell to North Carolina on Friday by a 5-2 score while Duke is back in action for the first time in a week. Duke will roll in this one without too much trouble. Prediction: Duke 7-0
#26 Wake Forest at Boston College – Noon est- No Live Scoring – Wake Forest won a 4-3 thriller over Florida State in a match that came down to 3rd sets at 1 and 2 while Boston College was shutout by NC State. Wake will cruise. Prediction: Wake Forest 7-0
#25 Clemson at #52 Virginia Tech – 1pm est – Live Scoring - Virginia Tech rolled up Georgia Tech 6-1 while Clemson fought hard but didn’t have the results to show as they lost to Virginia 7-0. I think the Tigers will rebound this week just as they did after getting shutout by Duke last weekend. Prediction: Clemson 5-2
#27 Florida State at #69 North Carolina – 1pm est – Live Scoring – North Carolina beat Miami 5-2 while Florida State dropped a 4-3 decision to Wake Forest. I think this one has upset potential as North Carolina looks to run its conference record to 3-5. I like the Tarheels at 3, 4, 5 and think they can take the doubles point as well. Upset Special: North Carolina 4-3
#5 Ohio State at #34 Northwestern – 1pm est/Noon cst – Live Scoring - Ohio State got a scare in Champaign but managed to get out with a 4-3 win while Northwestern knocked off Penn State 5-2. I think Northwestern will keep it fairly close but Ohio State will pull away. Prediction: Ohio State 6-1
#58 Purdue at #40 Minnesota – 1pm est/Noon cst – Live Scoring - Minnesota picked up an impressive 6-1 win at home over Indiana while Purdue let a 3-0 lead slip away in a 4-3 loss at Wisconsin. The Gophers should pick up the win here but the Boilers will make them work for it. Prediction: Minnesota 5-2
Penn State at #29 Illinois – 1pm est/Noon cst – Live Scoring - Illinois lost a close 4-3 decision to Ohio State while Penn State fell in Evanston to Northwestern 5-2. The Illini will rebound from the tough loss with a nice win at home. Prediction: Illinois 5-2
#33 Alabama at #3 Georgia – 1pm est - Live Scoring/Video/Blog - Georgia shutout Auburn 4-0 while Alabama fell to Tennessee 4-1. Georgia looks to finish with an undefeated record at home and the Dawgs will do just that as they’ll take care of Alabama. Prediction: Georgia 4-0
#8 Kentucky at #22 South Carolina – 1pm est – Live Scoring/Video - The Gamecocks finally pulled the upset I was looking for as they manhandled Vanderbilt 4-0 while Kentucky lost a heartbreaker to Florida 4-3 in a match that was decided in a 3 hour 34 minute marathon at 3 singles. It will be interesting to see what Charles Minc has left in the tank after that defeat and he has a tough foe in Thiago Pinheiro that will be awaiting him on the other side of the net. I like South Carolina at 3, 4, and 5 but I think Kentucky takes 1, 2, and 6. The doubles point will loom large in this one. Prediction: Kentucky 4-3
#13 Vanderbilt at #17 Florida – 1pm est – Live Scoring – Florida pulled off a 4-3 upset over Kentucky while Vanderbilt had a poor showing in Columbia in its shutout loss to South Carolina. If Vandy plays to its potential it’ll win this match but if they play anything like they did yesterday it won’t be pretty. I’m going to say Coach Duvenhage rallies his guys and they’ll perform much better and pick up wins at 1, 4, 5, and 6. Prediction: Vanderbilt 4-2
#18 Auburn at #10 Tennessee – 1pm est – Live Scoring/Video/Blog - Tennessee is coming off a 4-1 win over Alabama while Auburn was shutout by Georgia 4-0. With a win Tennessee would be guaranteed to be no worse than the 3 seed in next week’s SEC Tournament and could move up to a 2 seed if Ole Miss were to lose. I think the Vols take care of business but I think Auburn will make it interesting. Prediction: Tennessee 4-2
#6 Ole Miss at #14 Texas A&M – 2pm est/1pm cst – Live Scoring/Video – Texas A&M hammered Mississippi State on Friday in dominating fashion and they’ll look to make it a clean sweep of the Mississippi schools. Ole Miss was off on Friday and with a win will clinch the #2 seed in next week’s SEC Tournament. The Aggies are 4-1 at home in conference while Ole Miss Is 4-1 on the road. Ole Miss’s #1 Nik Scholtz wasn’t able to contribute last week and it’s yet to be seen if he can go on Sunday. More than likely even if he does play he won’t be 100%. I think not having a healthy Scholtz will be too much to overcome and Texas A&M will take the doubles point along with 1, 4, and 6 singles. Prediction: Scholtz doesn’t play = Texas A&M 4-1; Scholtz does play = Texas A&M 4-3.
#12 Oklahoma at #44 Texas Tech – 2pm est/1pm cst – Live Scoring - Oklahoma dropped a 6-1 decision to Baylor on Friday while Texas Tech knocked off Oklahoma State 6-1 although 4 of the matches went the distance. I look for OU to rebound and leave West Texas with a W. Prediction: Oklahoma 6-1
Oklahoma State at #15 Baylor – 2pm est/1pm cst – Live Video/Scoring/Blog - Baylor pulled off the mild upset as they took out Oklahoma 6-1 while Oklahoma State put up a good fight against Texas Tech but came up short losing 6-1. Baylor will make it a weekend sweep and take care of the Pokes. Prediction: Baylor 7-0
Check back on Wednesday for a preview of the SEC Tournament which gets underway Wednesday afternoon in Oxford, Mississippi with Alabama and Arkansas meeting in the play-in match.
Previous Week's Preview's & Predictions
4/13 | 4/11 | 4/6 | 4/5 | 3/31 | 3/29 | 3/24 | 3/17 | 3/15 | 3/12 | 3/5 | 3/3 | 3/1 | 2/24 | 2/22 | 2/19 | 2/17 | 2/16
