ASouth’s NCAA Elite 8 Mish Mosh

A classic D3AtlanticSouth conundrum. Should I make a promise on an article at a certain time, knowing full well that I may not be able to get to it, and have to shift my whole schedule around just to potentially hit it if I go for a herculean effort in the last 43 minutes? The answer is YES. The answer is always YES. It’s the quarterfinals of NCAAs tomorrow so I have to do my duty as a blogger and get an article done for all of your viewing pleasure! While we’ve had all the bloggers do NCAA quarterfinal previews that go match by match, you all know that I like to do things differently with some of my articles. Much like the Indoors Tournament as well as the UAA tournament, I will be writing about all the other things that happen at the Elite 8. The Elite 8 has always a place where players have extraordinary experiences, ones that they literally cannot get anywhere else. Not to mention, the NCAA pays for everything. That’s kind of nice too.

Last year, I called this article a “What to Expects” article. It was filled with “most likelys,” “X-Factors,” things of that nature. I liked that format. I’m going to try and do it again. This is going to be a stream of consciousness article (lol like that isn’t always true), we’ll focus on some Elite 8 stuff especially some individual matches I’m looking forward to, and we’ll focus on some intangibles stuff as well.  Let’s get started. I would like to say congratulations to every team that has made it thus far. There have been many different stories of the NCAA Tournament and the season, and quite honestly I don’t think I could pick a better mix of 8 teams to represent what’s great in DIII right now. Anyways, let’s go with some superlatives to start off.

Program with the Most to Lose

I debated a lot here and I think the answer is really tough, because you have three teams that have long standing histories that might be able to be considered favorites at this time. You also have a defending champion. But, I think the team that has the most pressure on it right now probably is the Emory Eagles. Emory has a history of making the Final 4 – but the fact of the matter is no one on the current team has won a National Championship. It’s been 4+ years since Emory’s last championship, which is like the equivalent of the Yankees doing whatever they are doing right now. Even though the Baby Bombers are sick, they aren’t world champions. Emory has everything going for it right now. They have two seniors in the lineup who are playing their best tennis right now. They have a doubles lineup that is strong top to bottom. They have a top 3 that can play with anyone else. While some may argue for Midd, the fact of the matter is they lost a ton of seniors and Noah Farrell. CMS has been such a roller coaster ride and Bowdoin, well, no one even expected them to win last year. They are playing with house money. No pressure Eagles.

The Most Overlooked Program

It wouldn’t make sense for me to say “this is an easy one to pick” because you’re supposed to be searching for something that people haven’t thought about. That’s hard! The program that for some reason (and it might be my fault) everyone is overlooking is Williams. Don’t forget this – they swept Middlebury back last month and despite getting cooked in singles, the final score was 5-4. Add a bit of NCAA pressure, no home court advantage, an Emory team maybe looking for the Final 4 already… and you might get a ridiculously crazy upset. Williams has the doubles goods to sweep, they have a coach with championship experience, they have Brian Grodecki, and they have momentum right now. This is a team that beat Amherst twice in two weeks. Guess who also beat Amherst? Emory did… 5-4 at home.

Coach with the Most to Prove

This is a really interesting question to me. A lot is made about the players in these tournaments, but not much about coaching. Coaching is a damn tough job. I would know from experience… wait… not experience.  Literally all 8 of these schools have well-recognized coaching and staff, but there is one coach that stands out to me. Coach Roger Follmer is a guy that I’d like to see get his team to step up this year. Follmer’s history speaks for itself – a history of NCAA Final 4s and Elite 8s. But this is a year that seems to be Wash U’s chance to make a statement for themselves. There are a lot of geographical questions about NCAAs and I know that sometimes, it puts them in some really good positions  (and I mean really good) for NCAA Regionals. Someone told me this “the Wash U Elite 8 streak is not that impressive.” While I can’t whole-heartedly agree, I can agree that it really isn’t a big deal. Beating teams like Coa and Kenyon and Whitewater in Regional finals for a top 5 team is not something that Coach Follmer will let affect his team. There is a juicy matchup on the schedule right now, calling for that classic Bears “Told ya so” moment. This starts with the coach. Coach Follmer, hope you’re drawing up a sick hotel lineup right now.

The Loudest Team on Campus

Wow, this is a tough one! I feel like none of these teams are particularly rowdy, and I can name some teams that are probably the exact opposite in this scenario. I think the easy choice here has to be Wesleyan.  Coach Mike Fried has added some sort of “swagu” to this team and it has carried down to his young apprentices. There are teams that are all-business, such as Wash U and CMS, and there are teams on the opposite side of the spectrum. While I don’t think that any of the teams in the field are disrespectful, there are just some teams that thrive on noise. I believe Wesleyan to be one of them, and I’m not really sure Coach Fried can deny it.

Teams that have an #AVZBoost

There are actually a few teams on this list that have the mythical #AVZBoost in their pockets. Those teams are, starting from the beginning… Wesleyan, Emory, Gustavus, and little did you know that our very own AVZ visited CMS this past weekend to see what was up. While he didn’t get an interview with Coach Settles, he did get lunch with him, so that is just that much better. The #AVZBoost is alive and well, and we love getting these coaches on our podcasts to talk more about their teams and experiences. Personally, I’m a big fan of coaches that come on the blog and talk about things – it shows a certain amount of dedication to talk to random bloggers about their teams. Shoutout to you guys, Coach Fried, Browning, Valentini, and Settles.

Best Singles Matches of the Elite 8

Last year I did this section, pointing out matches that I thought were really damn interesting in the Elite 8 at a lot of different positions. Let’s see how I did from last year so I can prove to you that I am someone to believe.

Smolyar vs. Wu – match was ended at 6-6 in the first set, meaning that 3 other matches had finished 2 sets before they were done.

Yeh (CMS) vs. Leung (Chicago) – Leung won 6-3, 6-3, in a match that showed how good Chicago was and brought the Maroons to the Final 4. The match did not necessarily live up to expectations.

Mosetick (EU) vs. Geier (Kenyon) – Mosetick led, 7-6 (13-11), 0-3. Well, this score is self-explanatory. Sick match that unfortunately could not finish.

Morkovine (CMS) vs. Kranz (Chicago) – A match between two juniors who had long histories of playing big time matches, Kranz shocked everyone by easily taking out Morkovine 6-4, 6-2.

I basically went 2 for 4 last year and at least those 2 “duds” clinched Chicago a Final 4. Let’s look at some of the best matchups from this year that you should be watching in the Elite 8.

Gil Roddy (Bowdoin) vs. Jeremy Bush (Wash U), #5 Singles – This is a match I believe can decide the fate of the different ursine mammalian teams. On one hand, you have a volatile senior in Jeremy Bush and on the other side you have the steady hand of Gil Roddy. Neither have lost many matches this year, but only one has played a lot of em. There will be fireworks in this match as there are with every Jeremy Bush match, and this could be one of the clinchers for either team. I’m keeping my eye out on this one.

Niko Parodi (CMS) vs. Steven Chen (Wesleyan), #1 Singles – What do you get when you have two of the hottest players in DIII tennis and two of the best players in DIII tennis squaring off in a quarterfinal that is leading the polls in most interesting match right now? You get a feature in D3ASouth’s paragraphs. Parodi has come a long way since coming back from injury. Chen has to shake off a tough one against Dubin against Hopkins. These two groundstrokers are going to go back and forth and this match better be on a live stream.

Daniel Park (CMS) vs. Cameron Daniels (Wesleyan), #5 Singles – D3AS, stop directing us to random #5 singles matches! This is not that, let me tell ya. A matchup between two talented guys who could end up playing much higher next year. Park is going to get his first taste of what the real NCAA limelight is when he goes up against Daniels, who, by the way, will also be getting his first taste of the NCAA limelight. Two Elite 8 first timers, facing off in probably the biggest match of their careers to date. Sign me up.

Adrien Bouchet (Emory) vs. Sachin Raghavan (Williams), #3 Singles – I was torn between this one and another Emory Williams matchup, and now looking at that Midd/GAC match I may just choose it. Bouchet has long been one of my favorites while Raghavan on the other side has long been one of NE’s favorites. Raghavan has been waiting quite a while for this chance, and he should come out strong against a tough player in Bouchet. The funny thing here is that the younger player has more NCAA Experience (and Indoors experience as well), while this is the first time Raghavan will be in the Elite 8. Raghavan is going to be on point this whole match – let’s hope he is because the talent is there on both sides.

Jonathan Jemison (Emory) vs. Brian Grodecki (Williams), #2 Singles – In the words of D3Northeast, this is the premiere match of the matchup, and it most certainly is. These two players have never gone head to head before in a matchup that I almost have to see. Both these guys are in the top 5 #2 singles players in the country. That’s facts. If Williams is going to win that match, they need a tried and true formula. #GrodeckiFor2

Mohanad Al-Houni (GAC) vs. Lubomir Cuba (Middlebury), #1 Singles – A matchup between two of the best in the country and one that I seriously might pick for the individual finals. Do I get to pick now? Do I get to put in a future bet?! Beware of the player playing with house money along with his unbelievable talent and a lot of good vibes flowing in his direction. Let’s give Cuba the ole DIII welcome to nationals, eh Mohanad?

Doubles – If you’re looking for doubles matches to watch, I have to admit that I am late to posting this article and I want to sleep. There are match by match previews for God sake! How many things do I have to do around here!

HERE’S ASOUTH WITH YOUR WEATHER UPDATE

https://weather.com/weather/hourbyhour/l/USTN0084:1:US

Judging by this weather dot com forecast, it actually seems like we might be able to sneak by with no craziness for at least first two days. After that, it’s every man for themselves! Either way, if it does rain, I hope Coach Settles has played those Stags indoors a little at least. Remember the last time CMS played Indoors at a NCAA Elite 8 match? Yea, that happened. Let’s pray for outside tennis in Chattanooga, TN, where I know no one from except Avery Schober.

Match Start Times

Right now, the NCAA has the match times to be at 2PM and 4:30 PM. That means some late afternoon tennis for all of us while we sit at our mundane jobs and talk about what we saw Kendall Jenner wearing at the Met Gala! Kidding. I hope that we have enough courts for all four Elite 8 quarterfinal matches to go on at all the same time. That would be ridiculously dope, almost like a certain someone’s UAA previews. #RidiculouslyDope

Carry Your Rabbit’s Foot

As the Guru mentioned in his article (seriously you should check it out), there are a few trends historically that show up at the NCAA Elite 8. One of them is this – the defending champion has never made it past the Elite 8 in the last seven years. Also, the #7 seed always seems to have an advantage over the #2 seed. Unfortunately, we don’t have a #7 seed this year, with GAC replacing them. If you believe in historical trends (aka sarcasm to basically all of you), you should have reflected that in  your brackets. I can’t wait for the Guru to be right…. Sigh….

Enjoy the Experience

We have three teams that have not been to the Elite 8 in the four years their seniors have been on the team. You know who they are at this point. You have half the CMS team sitting on the bench first two years because they were behind what might have been the best DIII team ever. Now they are ready. It’s almost like Aaron Rodgers taking over for Brett Favre. What I’m saying is that there are a LOT of men here that do not know what it is like to make it here. Enjoy it, gentlemen. You deserve every last free peanut butter chocolate chip CLIF Bar that you so craved. And on that note, everyone enjoy. We’ll be back tomorrow for coverage of the Elite 8. Good night, Good luck, and Good riddance. ASouth, OUT.

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