Pictured: Pepperdine's Alex Sarkissian
Home was the place to be on Friday as Baylor, Texas A&M, Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina all won at home against top 20 opponents. Baylor knocked off #12 Oklahoma 6-1 with the Bears winning in straight sets at 3, 4, 5, and 6 in addition to picking up a 3rd set win at 2. In the wild and crazy SEC it was Texas A&M hammering #11 Mississippi State 4-0. The Aggies won 5 1st sets and quickly finished off 3 of those matches to claim the shutout. Florida pulled off the surprise of the day by knocking off #8 Kentucky 4-3 with Bob van Overbeek outlasting Charles Minc in a 3 hour and 34 minute marathon 7-6 6-7 6-4. Minc led 4-2 in the 3rd before Bob won 4 straight games to close it out. South Carolina blew #13 Vanderbilt off the court in posting a 4-0 shutout. Tsvetan Mihov, Andrew Adams, and Thiago Pinheiro only dropped 9 games in their straight set wins at 1, 2, and 3 singles. Georgia dismissed #18 Auburn 4-0 while both USC and UCLA cruised to 7-0 shutout wins.
Saturday will be a lighter day with no top 20 matchups though there a few matches below that should be entertaining. Follow along at the provided links to see if TCU, Louisville, San Diego, or Utah can pull off an upset.
Saturday:
Georgia Tech at #1 Virginia – Noon est – Live Scoring @ - Virginia shutout Clemson on Friday while Georgia Tech fell to Virginia Tech 6-1. Cavs will cruise in this Senior Day matchup. Prediction: Virginia 7-0
#54 Arkansas at #20 LSU – 1pm est/Noon 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 – LSU is coming off a 4-1 loss to Mississippi State on Wednesday while Arkansas limps in with a 0-11 conference record. Arkansas will play again on Wednesday in the 1st round of the SEC Tournament against Alabama so they’ve got 2 more chances to get that 1st conference win though I don’t see them beating LSU. Prediction: LSU 6-1
#62 Tulane at #21 Tulsa – 1pm est/Noon cst – Live Scoring @ http://www.tulsahurricane.com/sports/m-tennis/spec-rel/m-tennis-livestats-outdoor.html - Tulsa has won 4 straight and 7 of 8 while Tulane is coming off a 4-3 win over Rice. The Golden Hurricanes are a good bit better than the Green Waves and will get to the finish line first. Prediction: Tulsa 6-1
#23 Texas at #35 TCU – 2pm est/1pm cst – Live Scoring @ http://gofrogs.cstv.com/livestats/m-tennis/xlive.htm - Both teams had similar results last weekend with each beating Oklahoma State but coming up short against Oklahoma. TCU leads the nation in attendance and is expecting another huge crowd on Saturday and I think TCU is going to be fired up by the big crowd and is going to find a way to pull off the upset which would be the Horned Frogs 1st win over Texas since 1996. Upset Special: TCU 4-3
#32 Notre Dame at #47 Louisville – 2pm est – Live Scoring @ http://www.gocards.com/livestats/m-tennis/xlive.htm - Notre Dame has won 5 straight and 6 of 7 while Louisville upset VCU last weekend but then fell to Memphis the following day. Regardless of the outcome of this one these 2 will likely meet again next weekend in South Bend in the finals of the Big East Tournament. I think Louisville is going to find a way to get it done at home and they’ll come away with the upset. Upset Special 2: Louisville 5-2
#43 Oregon at #2 UCLA – 4pm est/1pm pst – Live Scoring @ http://www.uclabruins.com/livestats/tennis/xlive.htm - UCLA shutout Washington on Friday while Oregon was shutout by USC. Ducks won’t fare much better in this one as UCLA should handle them without too much trouble. Prediction: UCLA 6-1
#31 Washington at #4 USC – 4pm est/1pm pst – Live Scoring @ http://www.usctrojans.com/livestats/tennis/Scoreboard.html - USC thumped Oregon on Friday while Washington was shutout by UCLA. The Trojans will continue to Fight On and will rack up another W. Prediction: USC 6-1
#73 Utah at #41 Stanford – 4pm est/1pm pst – Live Scoring/Video @ http://www.streamingtennis.com/Cardinal/livescoreboard1.html - Stanford took care of Arizona on Friday by a 6-1 margin while Utah fell to Cal 6-1 in a match that was much closer than what the score indicates. This should be the best match of the weekend in the Pac 12 and will go down to the wire. Prediction: Stanford 4-3
Arizona at #16 Cal – 4pm est/1pm pst – Live Video @ http://www.calbears.com/sports/m-tennis/live.html - Cal got past Utah on Friday 6-1 while Arizona was beat by Stanford 6-1. I see another 6-1 result on the horizon as Cal makes it a weekend sweep. Prediction: Cal 6-1
#38 San Diego at #7 Pepperdine – 6pm est/3pm pst – Live Scoring @ http://www.pepperdinesports.com/livestats/m-tennis/xlive.htm - San Diego knocked off Loyola Marymount 5-2 on Friday while Pepperdine got past St. Mary’s. This should be the Waves toughest match in conference play but their top 4 will carry them through. Prediction: Pepperdine 5-2
Check back tomorrow for a preview of the Sunday lineup which includes South Carolina hosting Kentucky, Florida hosting Vanderbilt, and Texas A&M hosting Ole Miss.
Previous Week's Preview's & Predictions
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