The February 18th CTO/MDTA Division 1 Men’s Coaches Poll has been released and we have a NEW #1 in Ohio State.  The Buckeyes (13-0) wrapped up a historic weekend in Houston by knocking off two Top 5 teams (Virginia/USC) as well as Texas in route to winning the program’s 1st ever National Team Indoor (NTI) Title. Next up for Ohio State is a Saturday trip to South Bend to face Notre Dame and then a visit to Bloomington to face Indiana on Monday in the Buckeye's Big 10 opener.

COACHES POLL |  ITA RANKINGS
  

USC (7-1) comes in at #2 after finishing as the runner-up at the NTIs.  USC knocked off Tennessee, Baylor, and cross-town rival UCLA before falling 4-1 to Ohio State in the finals.   USC returns to action this Friday with a visit from UC Santa Barbara and UC Davis and then a week from today they’ll make the trip to Westwood to face UCLA again. 
 

Virginia (6-1) comes in at #3 after knocking off Notre Dame and California at the NTIs before falling 4-3 in a 3rd set tiebreaker to Ohio State.   Virginia will be off for the next week and a half until they welcome Baylor and Notre Dame in to Charlottesville on March 1st and 2nd. 
 

UCLA (7-1) takes the #4 spot after defeating Pepperdine and Oklahoma at the NTI’s before falling 4-3 to USC.  The Bruins will have a chance to avenge the loss to USC when the two face each other next Tuesday in Westwood.  UCLA also welcomes in Pepperdine this Saturday. 
 

Oklahoma (8-1) enters the top 5 for the first time this year coming off a weekend that saw the Sooners go 2-1 in Houston with 4-3 wins over Illinois and Baylor and a 4-2 loss to UCLA.  Oklahoma returns to the court this weekend with Kentucky and Texas A&M visiting Norman on Friday and Sunday respectively. 
 

Baylor (7-2), Texas (9-2), Texas A&M (8-3), Notre Dame (9-2), and Cal (6-2) come in at 6-10. 

Illinois (6-4), Mississippi State (9-2), Georgia (3-5), Tennessee (10-3), and Duke (5-3) are 11-15. 

North Carolina (9-1), Florida (4-4), Kentucky (7-3), Oklahoma State (9-0), and Vanderbilt (7-1) are 16-20.

Pepperdine (4-4), Wake Forest (6-2), Clemson (10-1), Columbia (8-1), and North Carolina State (8-1) are 21-25.

 

North Carolina State makes it’s first appearance in the Top 25 as the Wolfpack have started off the year with an 8-1 record.  Clemson also re-enters the poll at 23rd after dropping out in late January.

 

The biggest risers since the last poll release were Illinois (22nd to 11th), Ohio State (5th to 1st), Notre Dame (13th to 9th), and Texas (11th to 7th).
 

The only schools to move down more than 3 spots since the last poll release were Georgia (4th to 13th) and Pepperdine (17th to 21st).

Also receiving votes but not garnering enough to make this week’s Top 25 were Memphis, Auburn, South Carolina, Harvard, and Michigan. 

The MDTA (Men’s Division 1 Tennis Association) was formed last year to provide a forum for Men’s D1 Coaches to discuss issues that are unique and special to Division 1 Men’s Tennis; for more information about the MDTA you can visit their website at www.mensdivisiononetennis.org .  All Division I Men’s Head Coaches and Assistant Coaches are eligible to vote in the poll though they cannot vote for their respective team.  The next coaches poll will be released on March 4th.