Courtesy of Bobby Knight - Friday brought us 3 upsets, all in the SEC, as Ole Miss, Mississippi State, and Texas A&M went down to Kentucky, Vanderbilt, and LSU.   This has been a year of great parity in the SEC with just about any team capable of upsetting another on any given day.  I’m going to put Tennessee on upset alert because I see them getting a real challenge from a Florida team that hasn’t quite been able to put it all together this year but has plenty of talent.   

 

Both Florida State and Clemson have exceeded expectations thus far with each picking up some quality wins.  The winner will be viewed as the 3rd best in the conference behind Virginia and Duke though the loser won’t be far behind.  

 

Follow along at the provided links – below are my thoughts on what I think will happen.  

 

 

#25 Clemson at #28 Florida State – Noon est – Live Scoring @ http://www.seminoles.com/livestats/m-tennis/031713/xlive.htm – Both teams were pushed harder than expected on Friday as Florida State defeated Georgia Tech 4-3 and Clemson needed to win a 3rd set tiebreak at #5 singles to defeat a fired up Miami team 4-3.  The home courts will provide the difference and I think Florida State will take the doubles point and pick up wins at 2, 3, and 6 to come away with the win.  Prediction:  Florida State 4-3 

 

#1 Virginia at #15 Illinois – 1pm est/Noon cst – Live Scoring @ http://www.fightingillini.com/sports/m-tennis/livestats.html – Virginia knocked off Texas on Friday by a 5-2 score and will look to finish off this 4-match road trip with a perfect record.  Illinois has already beaten 2 top 10 teams at home this year and would love to make it 3 but I don’t see the upset happening.  Prediction:  Virginia 6-1

 

#35 Florida  at #6 Tennessee – 1pm est – UT Live Blog & Live Video @ http://www.utsports.com/sports/m-tennis/spec-rel/031613aaa.html - & Live Scoring @ http://www.utsports.com/livestats/m-tennis/xlive.htm – Tennessee knocked off South Carolina on Friday 4-1 while Florida was shut out by Georgia 4-0.  Both of those matches were closer than the final score indicated and based off the projected singles matchups I give Florida a really good shot at pulling the upset.  I like Bob van Overbeek, Stephane Piro, and Billy Federhofer in singles for the Gators while I think the Vols will get wins from Mikelis Libietis, Jarryd Chaplin, and John Collins.   The doubles point will be big as always and I like Florida to win a tight one.  Prediction:  Florida 4-3

 

#32 South Carolina at #7 Georgia – 1pm est  – UGA Live Blog @ http://www.georgiadogs.com/sports/m-tennis/spec-rel/031613aaa.html & Live Scoring & Video @  http://www.georgiadogs.com/sports/m-tennis/tennis-live-stats-m.html – South Carolina is better this year but doesn’t have the strength to challenge Georgia.  The Gamecocks best chance at securing a singles win will come from at Kyle Koch at #5 singles.  Prediction:  Georgia 4-0

 

#8 Duke at #57 North Carolina – 1pm est – Live Scoring @ http://www.goheels.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=3350&ATCLID=206004361 – Last year North Carolina stunned Duke 4-3 but the Heels have struggled this year and come into this one on a 5-match losing streak.  Duke hammered Wake Forest on Friday shutting the Deacs out 7-0 and will likely do the same to UNC.  I don’t see any spots where the Tar Heels are favored and a win on any court would be an upset.  Prediction:  Duke 7-0  

 

#10 Kentucky at #13 Mississippi State – 2pm est/1pm cst - Live Scoring @ http://www.hailstate.com//fls/16800/livestats/mt/index.htm?SPID=11002&DB_OEM_ID=16800 – Kentucky went into Oxford on Friday and knocked off Ole Miss with good play in doubles and a great effort from Tom Jomby and the bottom of the lineup.  Mississippi State has dropped 3 straight after getting upset on Friday by Vanderbilt despite winning 3 singles matches in straight sets.   I think State is looking at a 4th straight loss because I see Kentucky getting wins from Anthony Rossi, Tom Jomby, and Kevin Lai to pull it out.  Prediction:  Kentucky 4-2

 

#23 Vanderbilt at #4 Ole Miss – 2pm est/1pm cst – Ole Miss Live Blog @ http://www.olemisssports.com/sports/m-tennis/spec-rel/031713aaa.html & Live Scoring @ http://www.olemisssports.com/livestats/m-tennis/xlive.htm – Vandy comes into this one riding the high of an upset win over Mississippi State while Ole Miss saw its 8-match winning streak get halted by a tough Kentucky squad.  I look for Ole Miss to take the doubles point and pick up singles wins from Jonas Lutjen, Stefan Lindmark, and William Kallberg in route to a rebound win.  Prediction:  Ole Miss 4-1

 

#46 Arkansas at #11 Texas A&M – 2pm est/1pm cst – Live Scoring @ http://www.aggieathletics.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=27300&ATCLID=205386297 – Texas A&M was stunned on Friday losing 4-3 to LSU in a match that came down to a 3rd set tiebreak at #6 singles.  The Aggies had a couple of starters out of the lineup and it came back to haunt them.  Arkansas has lost 4 straight and I look for that streak to go to 5 as Texas A&M will rebound and pick up the win.  Prediction:  Texas A&M 4-1

 

#24 Wake Forest at 44 NC State – 2pm est – Live Scoring @ http://www.gopack.com/livestats/m-tennis/xlive.htm – NC State picked up an upset win on Friday by knocking off rival North Carolina 4-3 while Wake was on the wrong end of a 7-0 shutout versus Duke.  This one has 4-3 potential with Wake stronger at the bottom of the lineup and NC State a little stronger in the middle.   I’ll call for the upset and take the Pack in a squeaker.  Prediction:  NC State 4-3  

 

#40 Michigan at #68 LSU – 3:30pm est/2:30 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 – Michigan stopped its slide by beating rival Michigan State 4-3 while LSU stunned Texas A&M by the same 4-3 score.  I look for Michigan to win its 2nd straight and get wins from Evan King, Michael Zhu, Barrett Franks, and Alex Buzzi.  Prediction:  Michigan 5-2

 

March 12th - 16th Predictions:  12-7 – those SEC matches have been pretty unpredictable.