The April 1st CTO/MDTA Division 1 Men’s Coaches Poll has been released and we have our 4
th new #1 of the year as Peter Smith’s USC Trojans (20-2) have claimed the top spot. USC has won 11 in a row including 5 in the last 2 weeks with 4 of those being road wins against Alabama, Ole Miss, Oregon, and Washington. Next up for USC is a Friday/Saturday visit from Stanford and Cal.
COACHES POLL |
ITA RANKINGS
UCLA (15-2) jumps up from #4 to #2 as the Bruins are currently on a 4 match winning streak which includes wins over Oregon and Washington. Next up for UCLA is a Friday/Saturday visit from Cal and Stanford.
Virginia (15-2) moves up to #3 after sweeping 3 matches last weekend against Miami, Florida State, and William & Mary. The weekend prior the Cavs shut out North Carolina 7-0 and beat Duke 5-1. Virginia hits the road this coming weekend with a Friday visit to Clemson followed by a Saturday match at Georgia Tech.
Ohio State (21-2) comes in at #4 after winning its last 4 against Michigan, Michigan State, Northwestern, and Illinois. Next up for Ohio State is a 5-match swing that will include 4 on the road. This weekend the Buckeyes travel to Minnesota and Wisconsin then the following week they go to Kentucky and Purdue with a home visit from Tulsa in the middle.
Oklahoma (17-2) comes in a #5 after splitting a pair of matches last weekend. The Sooners dropped a 4-3 decision at Texas before winning a 4-3 thriller on the road over TCU. Next up for Oklahoma is a short trip up the road to Tulsa to face the Golden Hurricanes on Sunday.
Texas (18-3), Baylor (16-4), Texas A&M (17-5), North Carolina (17-3), and Georgia (12-6) come in at 6-10. Illinois (14-6), Duke (12-5), Notre Dame (13-7), Cal (12-3), Kentucky (14-6) are 11-15. Tennessee (13-9), Mississippi State (16-7), Boise State (18-3), Florida (10-7), and Oklahoma State (18-3) fill the 16-20 spots with Boise State and Florida tied for 18th. Rounding out the final 5 spots are Columbia (13-1), Wake Forest (12-7), Clemson (17-4), Vanderbilt (13-7), and Northwestern (12-9).
Also receiving votes but not garnering enough to make this week’s Top 25 were Memphis, Purdue, NC State, Penn State, and South Florida.
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 April 15th.