D3 Tennis fans are you in for a special treat! Are you tired of hearing about all the top dogs like Wash U, Case, Kenyon, etc? The readers ask and they shall receive. I figured I would do a quick overview of the conference tournaments that are occurring this weekend. These conference tournaments are big as the winner will receive an automatic bid to play in nationals next week. This is a big weekend for the schools looking to make the dance! Most conferences have overwhelming favorites, but a few have some sneaky teams that could burst someone’s bubble. You can argue all you want about whether or not these teams deserve to be in the tournament while other top ranked programs don’t get in. The beauty of college athletics is that everyone has a legitimate shot at winning a national championship by earning a bid into the tournament. Obviously tennis is a bit different as enormous upsets don’t occur because you can’t just score a goal and pack in the defense (soccer) or have a crazy on fire night of scoring (basketball). Either way, I think it is a great way to get conferences representation at nationals and it should/will stay that way. If you want to argue for the other teams, then you can argue for tournament expansion to allowing more teams into the “Big Dance.” I am all for it, but NCAA wouldn’t do it for money reasons. It all comes down to money, but I digress. Here goes nothing!
College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW)
Favorites: Elmhurst Underdog: Wheaton/Carthage
These guys have got to be excited for the conference tournament. It will be the first time in a long time (maybe ever?) that they will receive an AQ into the national tournament as they did not have the minimum number of required teams to get the bid before this year. What’s even better is it looks to be an absolute battle to see who will get it. Elmhurst comes in as the one seed and gets the bye which is huge as they will only have to beat one of the two other potential winners. They have identical 5-4 wins over both Wheaton and Carthage. Carthage beat Wheaton 5-4 so they will be the two seed and Wheaton the three. Wheaton is a dangerous team as they usually get guaranteed wins at 1 singles and 1 doubles with Kreis there, but Elmhurst took them out at the top dubs spot in a tiebreaker which ended up being the difference. Elmhurst is a deeper team anchored by Jung and Harbart at the top pretty much guaranteeing a win at two singles with either one of them. Carthage upset Wheaton this past week which was somewhat surprising. This could be a fun one as I am going to predict that Wheaton avenges both losses in the regular season to take the AQ. Elmhurst should be thrilled they got the 1 seed and will pray for a mentally and physically draining semi final between Wheaton and Carthage. If that happens, then Elmhurst should take the tournament. I am picking the underdog in this one and saying Wheaton.
Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA)
Favorites: Kalamazoo Underdog: Food poisoning
First off I want to apologize for the Albion supporter who asked for this tournament preview. I didn’t mean to come off as I did. However, the reason I responded this way is because the MIAA has been dominated by Kalamazzo for the past 75 years. Yes that means they have won the conference championship for 75 years straight which is absolutely nuts. Just something of note, they had a three way tie last season with Calvin and Hope in the regular season so it was almost broken. Can you imagine being on the team that lost the streak? The good news for the Hornets is that won’t happen this year. Kalamazoo hasn’t had a close match and only surrendered two points total to conference opponents (1 to Alma and 1 to Albion) so I don’t exactly expect there to be any scare happening in the MIAA. I put food poisoning as the under dog because that is probably the only thing keeping them from winning again this season. Metzler has been a pleasant surprise as a freshman and Rothstein is a solid two player so unless both are out with food poisoning (if you look at these guys you can tell they don’t miss a meal so it could happen), Kzoo will take the title.
Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC)
Favorites: Earlham Underdog: Rose Hulman/Transylvania
The story isn’t much different with the HCAC as Earlham is the overwhelming favorite to win. They have won the last three years as a recent move from the Kenyon dominated NCAC to the pitiful HCAC has benefited the Quakers immensely. Transylvania was the consistent winner before Earlham came into the conference so they have to be somewhat of a threat along with Rose Hulman who defeated Transy 5-4 in the regular season. Earlham is just too strong at the top of the lineup to really worry a whole lot. The combination of Bartashevich, Locklear, Levin, and Ventura-Cruess haven’t lost a match in conference this season so those four will be enough to win a fourth straight title.
Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC)
Favorites: Otterbein Underdog: 4 other teams have a shot!
I gave this conference a little love a couple weeks ago saying that the parody is huge. Otterbein won the regular season championship, but they are one of five teams that has a chance to punch their ticket this weekend. Everyone has beaten everyone it seems and that should make for a fun tourney and who knows who is going to end up winning. Otterbein’s only loss in conference play was 5-4 to Baldwin Wallace who is the two seed, but also only has 5-4 wins over Ohio Northern and Capital. ONU and BW are the two teams that normally come out with the bid from this conference so that tourney experience may bode well for them. You throw in John Carroll in there as another potential team that can take it down and you have a crazy weekend of tennis. The 2 (BW), 3 (Capital), and 4 (John Carroll) seeds all have two losses in conference play and ONU has three but they are just as dangerous as anyone. I think Capital and John Carroll aren’t quite ready yet so I doubt they will win the whole thing, but that leaves Otterbein, Baldwin Wallace, and Ohio Northern. My gut is telling me to pick Baldwin Wallace and I think I am going to stick with that choice. Otterbein will have a tougher semi final and that could make it hard to follow it up with a good performance in the final. So Baldwin Wallace is my pick, but who knows!
Minnesota Collegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC)
Favorites: Gustavus Adolphus Underdog:
I am not sure why I put these guys on the list because Gustavus is a bigger favorite than Kzoo is in the MIAA. They will win easily.
Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC)
Favorites: Coe Underdog: Luther
This has always been between Coe and Luther. Coe has had the upper hand for quite some time now and they are definitely the big favorites in the tourney, but Luther can be a pesky team to take down. Luther comes in as the 3 seed because they got caught in a split squad match against Wartburg and lost. Ooooops! I always get a kick out of teams that do that and it ends up biting them in the ass. If your name isn’t Amherst or CMS, then play your full lineup. Anyways, Coe’s doubles have been a little shaky as of late so they will need to fix that problem quickly in order to make this another easy win. Coe beat Luther 7-2 in the regular season, but if the Norse can come up with 2 out of the 3 dubs, things could get close. Coe should be favored at the top 4 singles spots and that would be enough to win even if they are down after dubs. I think Coe is just too talented at the moment for Luther to do much about it and that carries the Kohawks into the National tourney once again.
I am all for giving schools the much deserved love. These conference tournaments should be entertaining (most of them at least) and could change dynamics in bracketology as to who can travel where. I am a fan of good tennis and these shouldn’t disappoint.