By Bobby Knight - It looks like warmer temperatures are here to stay in many parts of the country and if you’ve got some free time this weekend get out to your local college/university and watch some great college tennis action.  There are several good matchups this weekend as you have a resurgent Clemson team hosting Duke, LSU tries to pull off an upset for the 4th consecutive week as they host Georgia, NC State hosts Virginia Tech as the Pack tries to move up in the ACC Standings, Washington hosts Stanford in a Pac 12 dual, Ole Miss hosts Florida in a SEC matchup between two teams trying to get into the top 4 in the conference, Mississippi State hosts South Carolina in a SEC dual that will put the winner in the upper half of the conference, and you have rivals Oklahoma and Texas meeting up in Norman as the Big 12 conference schedule gets underway. 

 

If you can’t make it out then follow along at the live scoring and video links or participate in one of the many blogs that schools put on.  We all know someone in the top 20 is going to go down today so the question is who?  I like South Carolina and Stanford as underdogs and think if the wind is blowing right that Clemson, LSU, Texas Tech, and Texas could also make things very interesting for their higher ranked opponents.   

 

Friday:

#10 Pepperdine at Gonzaga – 2pm est/11am pst  - No Live Scoring - The Waves will come crashing down on the Zags and it’ll be a Pepperdine shutout.  Prediction:  Pepperdine 7-0

 

#6 Tennessee at #53 Arkansas – 2pm est/1pm cst – Live Scoring @ UT Blog @  Arkansas is still looking for its first conference win while Tennessee is in contention for a top 4 seed in the upcoming SEC Tournament.   Vols will roll in this one with Arky’s best chance at stealing a point coming at #6 singles.  Prediction:  Tennessee 6-1

 

#9 Duke at #19 Clemson – 2:30pm est – Live Scoring @ Clemson has over achieved this year led by the strong play of Yannick Maden, Hunter Harrington, Zachary Rigsby, and Austin Ansari who have a combined dual match record of 49-7 but Duke will be one of the toughest teams they’ve faced all season.  The Tigers must take the doubles point to have any shot at the upset because there isn’t a weak spot in Duke’s starting 6.  I think Clemson will give Duke all they want and will keep it close but Duke will be just too strong at 1, 3, and 4 and will also pull away in doubles.  Prediction:  Duke 4-3

 

#20 South Carolina at #13 Mississippi State – 3pm est/2pm cst – Live Scoring @ This should be a very interesting matchup in Starkville that will show if South Carolina is ready for the big time.  After winning just twice in conference last year the Gamecocks have already won 5 this year and are looking for more.   I like Romain Bogaerts, James Chaudry, and Pedro Dumont for State and Andrew Adams, Thiago Pinheiro, and Kyle Koch for Carolina which means the winner of the doubles point will be in the driver’s seat.  Upset Special:  South Carolina 4-3 

 

#50 Louisville at #24 VCU – 3pm est – Live Scoring @ Louisville is coming off a 7-0 loss at home to Texas Tech while VCU has won 10 of its last 11.  I think VCU will win but it won’t be as easy as expected.   Prediction:  VCU 5-2

 

#55 Virginia Tech at #36 NC State – 4pm est – Live Scoring @ The Wolfpack have won 5 straight and 7 of 8 while the Hokies have dropped 3 in a row.   NC State keeps finding ways to win and I think they’ll make it 6 straight with a razor thin win.    Prediction:  NC State 4-3

 

#4 Georgia at #32 LSU – 4pm est/3pm cst – Live Scoring @ LSU has knocked off a higher ranked team on each of the last 3 Fridays (Texas A&M, Ole Miss, Florida) and they’ve played Georgia extremely tough at home over the last several years as well.  Last year in Baton Rouge, LSU lost a tough one 4-3 in a match where they swept the top 3 singles spots.  I think Manny Diaz will make sure the freshmen understand what awaits them at the Dub and the Dogs will dig deep and pull it out.  I like Stefan Szacinski and Olivier Borsos at 2 and 3 for LSU but KU Singh, Austin Wood, Hernus Pieters, and either Garrett Brasseaux or Marco Nunuz will pull through at 1, 4, 5, and 6 for Georgia.  Prediction:  Georgia 4-3 

 

#65 SMU at #31 Notre Dame – 4pm est – Live Scoring @ SMU has won 4 straight but is just 2-6 against ranked opponents.  Notre Dame has won 6 of its last 8 with a win over Illinois the big highlight.  The Irish shouldn’t have too much trouble in this one.  Prediction:  Notre Dame 6-1

 

#21 Cal at #44 Oregon – 4pm est/1pm pst – No Live Scoring - After starting the year 13-1, Oregon has dropped 2 of its last 3 and they welcome in a Cal team that will be the highest ranked team to come to Eugene this year.  Cal has dropped 2 straight though those 2 loses were to Baylor and UCLA.  The Bears are the better team and will show it on the court.  Prediction:  Cal 6-1 

 

#71 Arizona at #3 USC – 4:30pm est/1:30pm pst – Live Scoring @ Arizona has lost 5 of its last 6 while USC has won 6 straight.  This will be no contest as USC rolls winning all matches in straight sets.   Prediction:  USC 7-0

 

#75 Utah at #2 UCLA – 4:30pm est/1:30pm pst – Live Scoring @ The Bruins has won 8 straight while Utah is coming off a tough 4-3 loss to Washington.  I think Utah will hang tough in a few spots but UCLA will still win handily.  Prediction:  UCLA 6-1

 

#47 Stanford at #30 Washington – 4:30pm est/1:30pm pst – Live Scoring @ & Live Video of Court 1 @ The Huskies have won 6 straight though the last 2 were a pair of 4-3 wins over Utah and Arizona.  Stanford was swept by USC and UCLA last weekend though they won the doubles point in both matches before fading in singles play.  Neither team has had the kind of season that they had hoped for but a 3rd place finish in the conference is still possible for the winner.  I like Nolan Paige, Robert Stineman, and Trey Strobel in singles for the Cardinal and Kyle McMorrow, Max Manthou, and Viktor Farkas for the Huskies.   Upset Special 2:  Stanford 4-3

 

Wisconsin at #5 Ohio State – 5pm est – Live Scoring @ Ohio State is coming off an impressive 6-1 win over Kentucky while Wisconsin has dropped 5 straight.  I don’t see this one being much of a contest as Ohio State rolls to another Big 10 victory.  Prediction:  Ohio State 7-0

 

#17 Florida at #7 Ole Miss – 5pm est/4pm cst – Live Scoring @ & Ole Miss Blog @ Ole Miss is coming off a win over state rival Mississippi State while Florida rebounded from a loss to LSU by shutting out Arkansas.  I look for Ole Miss to pick up the doubles point and get wins from Nik Scholtz, Jonas Lutjen, and William Kallberg.  Florida has the talent to make this one interesting but if Bob van Overbeek isn’t in the singles lineup again I can’t see any chance of an upset.  Prediction:  Ole Miss 4-2 

 

#12 Texas A&M at #27 Auburn – 6pm est/5pm cst – Live Scoring @ The Aggies have dropped 3 straight and 5 of its last 6 while Auburn has been up and down with a 4-5 conference record.  I think A&M matches up well with Auburn and I see them taking at least 4 singles matches and maybe 5.  Prediction:  Texas A&M 5-2

 

#16 Texas at #11 Oklahoma – 6:30pm est/5:30pm cst – Live Scoring @ This will be the conference opener for each with Texas coming in having won 6 of its last 7 while OU is 4-3 in its last 7.  I look for OU to take the doubles point and win 3 of the top 4 to win it in front of the home crowd.  Prediction:  Oklahoma 4-3

 

#22 Tulsa at #38 Texas Tech – 7pm est/6pm cst – Live Scoring @ Tech has won 11 of its last 13 while Tulsa has won 11 of its last 14.  Tulsa has played the tougher competition and has a more experienced team and will get it done on the road in Lubbock.  Prediction:  Tulsa 5-2

 

Check back tomorrow for a preview of the Saturday lineup which includes Vanderbilt hosting Kentucky, Washington hosting Cal, and Michigan hosting Illinois.

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