NCAA Roundtable: Stream of Consciousness

NCAA STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS ROUNDTABLE!

Happy Monday, boys and girls. We’re left with only eight teams in both the men’s and women’s brackets, so we’re going to do things a little differently before we get to our NCAA Quarterfinal previews. We’ve sounded our conch shell and your mighty DIII blogger heroes have gathered once more to give you their random thoughts about NCAAs. As always, when it comes to random thoughts, D3AS led the charge. If you have any random thoughts/questions of your own, send them our way! 

AS: No team on the Men’s Side looked like they’ll dominate the Elite 8.  This is something that we kind of knew already, but I think this weekend proved it even moreso. Each team had their “struggles” with some of teams in their region, which is nice to see after what was a year of craziness. Bowdoin lost at #1 doubles to RPI, prompting some great tweets from that account, Midd/Hopkins went toe to toe in doubles, Chicago got all they could handle with CMU, and Williams went down to Amherst in doubles. CMS also lost at #1 doubles to TU. All in all, we’re looking at what I think are 6 teams that can win it all. Again, this hasn’t happened in a long time. We are used to 5-0 or 5-1 QFs and we might get one (Midd/Whitman) but I’d doubt the others will be that lopsided. It was a really great weekend, we got our upset, and we got some nail biters. Great stuff.

NE: While Bowdoin and Midd are favorites in their QF matches, the other two men’s Quarterfinals are legitimate toss-ups! It’s so exciting! I wouldn’t be shocked to see a 5-1 result EITHER WAY in the CMS/Chicago or Williams/Emory match. How crazy is that?! Just think about it for a second. All four of the teams play solid doubles, but none of the four teams are so great or so terrible at certain spots that they are big favorites. In singles, we get CMS dynamic duo at the top and Chicago’s depth, but it’s not like Chicago struggles at the top (qualifying two guys for NCAAs), nor does CMS struggle with depth (Gordy/Park/Vemuri are one of the best combos in the country). In the other toss-up, Grodecki and Jemison are both super strong. Lil Barr and Cassone are two of the top #2’s (and freshmen) out there, Williams’ depth has been studly but lack the experience of the senior/senior combo that the Eagles start at #5 and #6. These matches are going to be impossible to predict, and that’s what makes both of them so damn appealing.

D3RegionalNEC: Either UTR is off, or there’s a lot of stacking going on. UTR sent a tweet with the top 10 men and women in D3 in terms of UTR, and I found it interesting, as I tweeted, that 11 of the 20 don’t play #1 singles. It’s extremely rare for a team’s lineup to actually be the top six UTRs in descending order, but a lot of the disparities are not small. This isn’t a dig at UTR, which is an awesome tool we at the Blog really love, but is moreso just a call to attention to the hilarious amount of strategic lineup building that coaches go through. The idea that teams at actually putting together a lineup that is legitimately in order is just not realistic, especially in doubles. I don’t even really mind it because everyone is doing it so it’s not really an advantage, but it’s definitely worth mentioning. Also worth mentioning is that the second highest UTR in D3 women’s tennis (after Eudice) plays #4! And the seventh highest plays #3 for that same team….a team that’s #1 and #2 aren’t even on the list.

newCentral: Austin “Has not lost a singles match in 2018” Diehl was up on fellow season-long superstar Bernardo Neves when their match got cancelled. It’s a shame because if the selections were still being created (or if a wildcard held for postseason play) then their match would’ve (I think that the NCAA conference tournament rule would apply, yes?) been played to completion. If Diehl closed Neves out (Match called at 6-3, 2-3) then it’d be hard to keep a resume like that out of the individual tournament – his 1’s already in. It’s sad that they weren’t able to finish – even without considering individuals  – because I’m sure the match was filled to the brim with high quality tennis throughout.

DIIIWest: Just like at the beginning of the tournament, there are six teams that can win it all this year. Middlebury, Bowdoin, Williams, Chicago, Emory, and CMS are the six teams that will, in my opinion, 100% win the NCAA’s this year. I knew that at the beginning of the tournament and now at the quarter final stage, the scenario is as obvious as ever. Sorry Wash U and Whitman, but those six teams are just a notch above the rest of the field.

D3Unnamed: Any one of the top 4 seeds on the Women’s side could win it all this year. There is no clear favorite, and in a world where Williams and Emory have dominated the tournament for the past decade (the last time someone other than these two teams won was W&L in 2007, and you could argue, the Williams-Emory dominance has been the status quo since 2001), this is really exciting!! CMS is the only team that has played all the other top seeds, so that’s the only “good” benchmark we have. With close 5-4 losses to Emory and Williams, clearly, the top 3 teams are a lot closer than in recent history. And even with a 7-2 thumping of Midd over their spring break, Midd has absolutely stepped it up since March. You could call it boring with the top 4 seeds expected to routinely make the Final 4, but with the teams this close (and the added pressure of NCAAs), it’s unusually hard to call this year’s winner (or even finalist). When all is said and done, though, I really don’t see us breaking from the Williams-Emory dominance of late – so, CMS, Midd, prove me wrong!

AS: I am one Yeshiva win away from a Perfect Bracket. For all of you that hate on my predictions, welcome to the world of D3AS. I sit atop the standings with 74 points, 3 more than the next challenger. You’ll notice that I only have one match called wrong, and that is the Yeshiva/Ramapo match that was actually the first match of the tournament. Since then, I have been PERFECT. Yep, that’s me that you see with Whitman in the Elite 8. Now, I just need the unlikely Williams/CMS final to happen and we’re basically going to make this year the year of D3AS.

NE: I’m expecting total chaos in the individual draw this year. There has not been a truly singles dominant player from any of the four regions (a-la Pottish, Ballou, or Wood). Parodi is the closest thing we have, and he’s been playing very well recently, but I believe there are 20 guys who could come away with the singles crown this year. It makes for an extremely fun tournament, and will almost certainly yield some truly horrific brackets! Think about all the obvious contenders, Levine, Jemison, Alhouni, Wu, Grodecki, Cuba, Urken, Parodi, Kronenberg and Hewlin. But, if you go beyond the surface, you get other studs like Grey, Shephard, Cassone, Fallati, Zalenski, Vithoonien, Wei, Rosen, Tercek, LeDuff, Watanabe and Katzman. All of these guys (and surely a few more I’m forgetting) are more than capable of making a deep run this year!

D3RegionalNEC: I kind of hope that it rains in Claremont next week. From a logistical standpoint I know it would be a nightmare and a huge hassle for the teams and organizers, but the “indoor” backup is Indian Wells Tennis Garden. That would be a sick place for D3 NCAAs to be held.  There wouldn’t be live streaming I presume, but still, that’d be a unique experience for all involved and would add a fun layer for us Bloggers following from home. Not to worry though, not a drop of rain in the forecast at all!

newD3Central: Courtesy be damned. I wish that d3 tennis postseason (maybe all season) followed the Roditi Rule. Some of my favorite tennis memories (though admittedly not at the time) were playing a match with a big, raucous, and at times hostile crowd. If the NESCAC schools can have “unregulated indoors” that create massive home court advantage then I think it’d be fine to allow such an advantage to be created by a loud, intense home crowd. Admittedly, there would be annoyances as a home player as well – noises, positive or not during your points could have an adverse impact on you, maybe even more than the away team – but I think it’s an interesting idea. Part of the argument for the rule is that it could attract more casual tennis fans to d3 tennis matches (perhaps)  but it would definitely give the postseason a new wrinkle of intensity.

DIIIWest: I heard Chase Friedman cramped. Again. Pickle juice (and river rocks) obviously don’t work on this senior. Sure, he was able to pull out the biggest win of his career despite trembling legs, but man, who has to drench Whitman’s water in salt this coming weekend??

D3Unnamed: HUGE shoutout to the MIT upset!!! Ok ok, I know I can’t really call this an upset given how close both the regular season match and this weekend’s matches were BUT I think a lot of people though Tufts was a lock into the Elite 8. Especially going down after dubs, MIT simply kept the grind going, sending 4 of the 6 singles matches into third sets before pulling off the upset. So big ups to the Engineers for making some waves and showing us what post-season excitement is all about. Also, sidenote: shoutout to the second round matches that were nail-biters (looking at you, W&L vs. UMW and WashU vs. Sewanee).

AS: Shout-out to the Tank N’ Tree. Another year of tennis, another year of Hopkins playing their best tennis at the end of the year. Despite a loss to NCW earlier this year and some really close results with teams that were not nearly as good as them (Haverford), Hopkins smoked MIT in the round of 32 despite many believing MIT would finally breakthrough. The Jays weren’t done there, either. There was a point late in doubles where they were dead even with Middlebury, probably one of the best 3 doubles teams in the country. Overall, the program is downtrending, but it was refreshing to see the Jays step it up again. Next year, they lose only a #1 doubles player and a #5 singles/#3 doubles player, and are bringing in what looks like a couple of solid freshmen. If some of these guys can take the next step, we’re looking at what could be a top 15 team. However, if we know Hopkins, which we do, we’re probably looking at a #20-25 team that plays like a #12-15 come May.

NE: I’m curious as to just how much of a home-court advantage CMS will have next week. With the exception of Indoors, CMS has played nearly all of its matches at home, so all of their results against other top teams should include that “home-court advantage.” Now, if they were to do something like, offer pizza or shirts to the first 200 fans, that would certainly change things. CMS does draw pretty decent crowds through the spring, but those are mainly for weekend matches. Let’s remember that CMS will already be finished with its academic year, and the QF matches are being held on a Monday afternoon. While the Stags should certainly be more comfortable staying in their own beds, that also brings along the possibility of going out during the tournament, and/or the “we’re at home so we’re expected to win mentality.” While I think hosting NCAAs is far more a blessing than a curse, there are certainly two sides to it.

D3RegionalNEC: Shoutout to Colby Sawyer for seeming to always have a great battle in the first round. Colby-Sawyer always wins their conference and it seems like they often have great matches in the first round against similar-level teams. This year it was against Wilkes, who topped them 5-3 in the tightest match of the first round. I love these early round battles as much as anything—to these teams, this match is their national championship. At a Grand Slam I’m much more interested in watching John Millman and Vasek Pospisil have a five set battle in the first round than Federer beating Lukas Lacko 6-2, 6-1, 6-3. Same idea applies here.

AS: I’m excited for CMU’s season next year. I tweeted about this, but both CMU and Hopkins are going to be coming back next year with minimal departures. CMU literally loses no one from their starting lineup at NCAAs, and they’ll be adding a couple of recruits that can hopefully shore up the bottom of the lineup. Remember, this team didn’t win a ranked match at #6 singles all year. This is a team that’s a Downing/Boppana step-up and a viable #6 player away from being a bonafide top 8 team (dare I ask for more?) Their performance against Chicago was valiant, and I was particularly impressed by Pinckney taking a set off Charlie Pei on the biggest stage. Remember, CMU was up 6-4 at #1 doubles in a match that basically turned the tide of the overall match. In a world where people love ASouth, CMU takes that match and we are looking at Downing/Chua for the final point of the match. Impressive, but just fell short.

Unnamed: D3 Women’s bloggers stepping it up. While I might be slightly biased on this one, I’ve gotta rep the women’s side of the blog. Between the three of us, we knocked out 4 articles in 2 days for the regional previews and we’re keeping it coming! Lookout for lots more content going forward #GRLPWR

newCentral: Way too Early 2019 Central Singles Qualifiers (in no particular order): Kerrigan, Zalenski, Diehl, Vithoontien (if he gets the schedule), Yuan or Chicago Freshman that wins Fall ITAs, Metzler, Neves, & Whaling/Johnson. The Bubble (in no particular order): Landwehr (if he gets the schedule), Chen or Case 1, WashU 2, Rotnov, and Henry.

AS: Some of the performances from the #2 and #3 seeds were awesome. Great way to end the year. I already talked about Hopkins and CMU and my excitement about their seasons and looking into next year, but I’d also like to give some kudos to a few more teams that really impressed me. Let’s start with my region. NC Wesleyan was a team that no one thought would do anything this year – well, they end the year with wins over Sewanee, Case Western, and Johns Hopkins, all who will probably end the year in the top 20. Hayden Cassone (Emory) was down big to Ionnis Brokkakis (NCW) in the Sweet 16. Not sure what happened here, if this was lack of focus because of a doubles sweep, or something else, but that’s not a good sign for the Emory freshman. Let me chalk this one up to a little case of not being ready to play in singles or something happening that we don’t know about. I expect Cassone and the rest of the Emory team to be ready to go come Monday, May 21st. #FIGHT. With a couple graduations, I’m unsure about NCW’s future (who ever is sure about anything NCW), but this is a team that did some big things. Real recognize real.

Let me also give it up for the boys from Amherst. With rumors always swirling around this young team, they came into Williamstown and got up big at a couple doubles matches. They fought off the Williams doubles comeback and took a 2-1 lead going into doubles. Unfortunately, Williams ended up being way too much for them with their depleted singles lineup, but the Mammoths should be proud of their year. One can only hope that this team can stay in tact and enjoy the recruiting class they are getting next year. They’ll finish the year with a deserved top 10 ranking.

And how about the LORDS (Kenyon)? Kenyon utilized home court advantage and took out Mary Washington (who got a rough draw for a top 20 team). Kenyon started the year super slow, with losses to the very same Mary Wash team and close matches against some others, but they finish the year with a strong ranking and should be in the running for potentially making Indoors next year, depending on who accepts. Right now, Whitman obviously looks to have played their way in, but Kenyon can definitely hope.

All in all, the Round of 32 brought a pretty good set of matches, and each of the big winners.