Wassuppppp wassup wassup. After an exciting weekend of ITAs where it looks like a lot of our viewers came back for some classic blog action, we decided to keep the ball rolling with our Weekly Power Rankings. Now, they won’t be weekly here in the fall season because the blog here is all about efficiency, but for now this will have to do. ITAs brought us some major learnings about some of our up and coming teams. It also brought us learnings about some of our potentially falling teams. As you can see below, we’ve ranked each team in a subjective and totally expert manner. Feel free to throw some shade at some of the new guys, because you know, hazing and stuff.
New Ranking |
School | Previous Rank | D3AS | D3West | D3NE | D3 Central | D3Regional | D3WestTennis |
| 1 | CMS | 2 | CMS | CMS | CMS | CMS | CMS | CMS |
| 2 | Wash U | 5 | Wash U | Trinity TX | Wash U | Trinity TX | Wash U | Trinity TX |
| 3 | Trinity TX | 3 | Emory | Wash U | Trinity TX | Wash U | Amherst | Wash U |
| 4 | Emory | 6 | Trinity TX | Emory | Johns Hopkins | Emory | Emory | Emory |
| 5 | Johns Hopkins | 7 | Johns Hopkins | Amherst | Emory | Johns Hopkins | Trinity TX | Middlebury |
| 6 | Amherst | 1 | Carnegie Mellon | Middlebury | Carnegie Mellon | Amherst | Johns Hopkins | Johns Hopkins |
| 7 | Middlebury | 4 | Middlebury | Johns Hopkins | Middlebury | Middlebury | Carnegie Mellon | Pomona |
| 8 | Carnegie Mellon | 9 | Amherst | Carnegie Mellon | Amherst | Chicago | Case Western | Carnegie Mellon |
| 9 | Pomona | 10 | Pomona | Pomona | Pomona | Carnegie Mellon | Pomona | Amherst |
| 10 | Case Western | 8 | Case Western | Case Western | Case Western | Pomona | Chicago | Chicago |
| 11 | Chicago | 20 | Chicago | Chicago | Chicago | Case Western | Middlebury | Case Western |
| 12 | Williams | 14 | Redlands | Redlands | Gustavus Adolphus | Williams | Williams | Redlands |
| 13 | Redlands | 22 | Bowdoin | Williams | Whitman | Redlands | Wesleyan | Williams |
| 14 | Whitman | 12 | Whitman | Gustavus Adolphus | Williams | Whitman | Whitman | Gustavus Adolphus |
| 15 | Wesleyan | 31 | Kenyon | Bowdoin | Wesleyan | Wesleyan | Kenyon | Kenyon |
| 16 | Gustavus Adolphus | 11 | Williams | Wesleyan | Redlands | Bowdoin | Bowdoin | Wesleyan |
| 17 | Bowdoin | 15 | Wesleyan | Whitman | Bowdoin | Kenyon | Gustavus Adolphus | Whitman |
| 18 | Kenyon | 13 | Gustavus Adolphus | Kenyon | Kenyon | Gustavus Adolphus | Whittier | Bowdoin |
| 19 | Mary Washington | 16 | Mary Washington | Mary Washington | UT-Tyler | Mary Washington | UT-Tyler | UT-Tyler |
| 20 | UT-Tyler | 18 | NC Wesleyan | UT-Tyler | Mary Washington | UT-Tyler | Tufts | Mary Washington |
| 21 | Tufts | 26 | Tufts | Tufts | Tufts | Tufts | Redlands | Tufts |
| 22 | Cal Lutheran | 21 | UT-Tyler | NC Wesleyan | NC Wesleyan | Cal Lutheran | Mary Washington | NC Wesleyan |
| 23 | Bates | 28 | Cal Lutheran | Cal Lutheran | Cal Lutheran | NC Wesleyan | Cal Lutheran | Cal Lutheran |
| 24 | UCSC | 23 | UCSC | UCSC | Bates | UCSC | Bates | Bates |
| 25 | NC Wesleyan | 43 | Bates | Bates | Trinity CT | Bates | UCSC | Trinity CT |
| 26 | Trinity CT | 25 | Trinity CT | Brandeis | UCSC | Trinity CT | Skidmore | UCSC |
| 27 | Whittier | 19 | Sewanee | Trinity CT | Whittier | Sewanee | DePauw | Sewanee |
| 28 | Sewanee | 33 | Depauw | Depauw | Brandeis | Whittier | Brandeis | Brandeis |
| 29 | Brandeis | 24 | Brandeis | Whittier | Washington & Lee | Washington & Lee | Trinity CT | Washington & Lee |
| 30 | Depauw | 29 | UW-Whitewater | Sewanee | Skidmore | Depauw | Colby | Whittier |
| 31 | Washington & Lee | 30 | Washington & Lee | Colby | DePauw | Stevens | Stevens | NYU |
| 32 | Colby | 32 | Whittier | Stevens | Sewanee | Colby | NYU | Colby |
| 33 | Stevens | 41 | Skidmore | Washington & Lee | Colby | Skidmore | UW-Whitewater | Skidmore |
| 34 | Skidmore | 17 | NYU | NYU | Stevens | Colby | Washington & Lee | Lewis and Clark |
| 35 | NYU | 35 | Stevens | Lewis and Clark | RPI | NYU | RPI | Stevens |
Big Movers:
Northeast Teams – Amherst and Middlebury are really not feeling the love in these power rankings. We won’t actually know if we’re spot on with these predictions considering the NE plays the NE for a good amount of time, but the blog just doesn’t feel great about the major graduations that happened up North. You’d think the defending champs and defending 4th place team would get some more love, wouldn’t you?
Chicago – Everyone’s favorite debate this fall shows up in this edition of the power rankings, with Chicago moving up from an end of the season rank of 20 all the way up to #11. The polls currently show that many people think Chicago is a top 10 team. Color me skeptical, because despite a #NewEra, the top 10 is no easy feat. I’m sure the other UAA teams are a bit jealous of all the attention Chicago has been getting. Remember, these freshmen haven’t taken one Chicago class yet. If you think classes are overrated, you probably haven’t seen the ridiculous feat that is the Chicago college application.
Redlands – Wait, both Chicago and Redlands are moving up to the top 15?! What is this, the Twilight Zone?! Redlands follows up a decent ITA with a nice move into the #13 spot, all the way up from #22 last year. Redlands basically did their practicing in the hospital last year with all their injuries, and the return of a healthy Cummins, Lipscomb, and others makes them a team on the rise. Let’s hope they don’t pull a Redlands. By the way, the self-proclaimed ITA winner Tom Suchodolski bowed out in the first round. Way to walk the walk, Tom.
Gustavus Adolphus and Kenyon – Two known Central “powerhouses” took a hit this past weekend. Despite a strong ITA from GAC, they moved down 5 spots from #11 to #16. This is more because they had an inflated ranking after a strong showing against Trinity TX in NCAAs last year. With a few departing seniors, this team is back in the 15-20 range. Kenyon, on the other hand, basically got lost in the woods at ITAs. A very poor performance drops them down to the #18 spot. I personally don’t think they’ll drop from the top 20, but D3Central is making crazy predictions again.
Wesleyan – Up 16 spots to #15 for Wesleyan, as they were another hype team that did well in the ITA tournament. With a chock full o freshmen and sophomores, look for Wesleyan to take the next step. Are they National Contenders like D3NE claimed last year? Absolutely not. But at least they’re in the top 20… for now.
NC Wesleyan – They probably don’t even read the blog, so I’m not going to write about them. They got a few more internationals and are back in the blog’s good graces.
Skidmore – “Forgetting Oliver Loutsenko.”
That’s all folks! Please let us know your comments in the comments section! I’ve worked out a new spam filter now that all of your comments are basically approved upon posting. No more waiting for me to take time out of my real job to approve your crazy banter. Get some. Bloggers, OUT.
I’m curious why two writers have Lewis & Clark in their lists? No offense to the Pioneers, but I’m wondering what they accomplished in 2014 that made them a Top 35 contender. They went 7-11 overall and finished fifth in the Northwest Conference.
First, we like to throw in some funky teams to keep things interesting. Second, it wasn’t so much what they did in 2014, but what they were poised to do in 2015 with a very strong recruiting class. Unfortunately, the crown jewel of that recruiting class left before the season started, and there is basically no chance that they’ll be in the top 35 come May, though I suppose they are still a team to keep an eye on in the future. Fans of the NWC will have to look to Pacific and Fox as the Dark Horses to work their way into the national scene, but I don’t think it’s likely. Looks like the NWC, like the ASC, will remain a one-trick pony.
Don’t sleep on Dughi as a crafty 5 or 6 for Case but that still doesn’t address the issue of a weak bottom half of the line up after CJ, Will, and James.
When’s the women’s rankings coming out? I enjoy following both men’s and women’s D3 tennis and would love to see how they stack up…err…stand.
Hello! We will be holding off on Women’s Power Rankings until the spring, where we have many more data points and will hopefully have better rankings. Thanks for asking!
Is it just me, or does the blog overrate Emory at the start of every season?
Nah, it’s not just you lol. That’s a pretty accurate statement. Although, they’ve only failed the past two years.
I agree that Kenyon will drop to the 15-20 range this year. Having said that, I don’t see how Kenyon will be worse than Case Western; I know Case is good at doubles and Krimbill is a great 1, but where else is Case going to earn wins? Having watched them at the ITA tournament this past weekend and last year at Indoors, I’d say they’ll regress pretty heavily.
I put Case higher than Kenyon because I think they are stronger where the Lords are good. Krimbill is a touch better than Heerboth, Drougas a bit better than Geier, Fojtasek will beat Rosensteel, and 4-6 singles Case will get at least one point. If Case is up after doubles (which is likely), they will be a huge favorite to take down the Lords.
If D3Central is going to clarify, I should as well. I never said Wesleyan was a National Contender last year. I said, “Look out for Wesleyan in 2014 as this is the last year they will be a surprise, but it’ll be 2015 and possibly even 2016 when Coach Fried MIGHT be able to contend for a national championship”. Even that may have been a bit zealous, but D3AS sure knows how to blow something out of proportion…
To clarify, I said Kenyon could drop out of the top 20 NEXT year. They lose Heerboth, Huber, Rosensteel, and Thraikill. I have them 15-20 this season.