Welcome to another round of Blogger Hot Takes, boys and girls! In the fall we ran our hot takes series where all the bloggers responded to each other’s hot takes, which included things like D3AS saying Chicago will get 3rd in the UAA and bow out in the NCAA QF or my take that Brandeis will contend for NCAAs this year and make the tournament by 2021. We’re back, and what better way to kick off this batch of spice than by RegionalNE/C totally dismissing D3AS’ fall take! This round of takes includes ALL the bloggers who wish to respond, which means that in addition to us boring folk, you might just be getting D3ASW’s acerbic wit, D3NEW’s sharp prose, D3CentralW’s immense knowledge, and D3WestWoman’s gif replies. Enjoy…
RegNE/C’s HOT TAKE: Chicago is going to win the NCAA Championship this year.
RegNE/C DEFENSE: They just won Indoors, they’ve gone deep in the tournament before, they have a very good coach named Jay Tee, and no one questions for a second whether they’ve got the talent. This is the year they put it all together.
AS: Not a terrible hot take and Chicago has certainly been trending in the right direction over the past couple of years. They are perennial Final 4 participants and have the talent to do so. I think this year, however, is not yet their year. With a lot of new blood in the lineup and not much senior leadership, I don’t think that this Maroon team will win it all this year. Would I be surprised if they did? No I would not. But, I think there are a couple of teams out there that are a bit more likely to win it all (CMS, Emory, Middlebury) that are more likely to go out and win it. But, I have been proven wrong more than once before.
D3ASWomen’s: Sounds good to me. Idk.
NE: We’ll have our first power rankings out later this week, and I’ll be very interested to see where the Maroons stack up with the rest of the championship contenders. For me, they are #2 right now behind Middlebury, and it’s hard not to call them at least a favorite right now. However, predicting Chicago to be the national champions has been something associated with folly and heartbreak over the past ½ decade, and not for lack of trying. My way too early top contenders as of February 27th are Chicago, Emory (yes still), Midd and CMS, but I wholeheartedly believe we will get Bowdoin and/or Amherst in that mix by the end of the year as well. It’s also tough to count Wash U out considering they just went 5-4 with Chicago as well (though I believe the Bears along with the NESCAC 2&3 are Tier 1B at this point). I think the Maroons are too young; but, there is no dominant team this year, which means it’s as good a time as any for this hot take!
AVZ: Let me first off give all the credit for this Chicago team winning indoors. It’s a great accomplishment. I just don’t think they have the talent at the top of the lineup to win the whole thing this year. They lost 4 HUGE seniors from last season. I would easily argue that last year’s team was the better team. Unless these freshman continue to be lights out, I just don’t see it happening. It’s absolutely possible as they are vastly improved in doubles over the last 3 or 4 years which makes things a whole lot easier. I think they should be favored in each and every doubles spot every time they hit the court. So do I see Chicago beating the top team in the country at some point in the season? Absolutely. Do I see them doing it 3 matches in a row on back to back to back days? Sadly I do not.
RegAS: I need a little more hot sauce to add to this one, I don’t think it’s that spicy. With NCAAs being hosted in KZoo, the Elite 8 will be pretty damn close to a home match for the Indoors champs. On top of that, this team is literally stacked with talent from one to however big their roster is. Their doubles has also been impressive this season so far, which has traditionally been an achilles heel for this team. I think this team is motivated and ready to take that next step. I will say that they will lose a match they shouldn’t at some point this year and we will begin to doubt them, however I think this team has a very good chance to come out on top at the end of the season. Then ASouth can @ Coach Tee in May.
NewRegional: I’m a little conflicted as we’ve yet to see the NESCAC play and have only gotten a glimpse of CMS, but I’m on board with this take. Chicago’s doubles looked great, and I love how Guzhva bounced back to beat Kroot and Esses after losing to Stroup in the first round. I think the only sticking points for Chicago this year will be at #1 and #4 singles. Kerrigan and Rodriguez didn’t set the world on fire at Indoors, but still battled with some of the best teams in the country. I think Chicago may stumble at some point this year, but the way things stand right now, I think Chicago is the favorite to win NCAAs.
newCentral: Chicago is the best team in my region, they proved that this past weekend. I don’t think that we can say that they’re going to win it all when the defending champions and finalist haven’t even begun play. This take is pretty hot because I still consider CMS, Bowdoin, and Midd as more likely national champions than the 2019 National Indoors Champions. Chicago’s postseason run will depend on their doubles and despite winning indoors, I still don’t think they play better doubles than their national contending colleagues, all of whom have singles lineups that could split with each other. Chicago is the central’s best team, but it’s been a minute since the natty came to the country’s favorite region – NEC’s take remains pretty hot until we see Midd and Bowdoin play. Chicago is my fourth best team in the country as of 2.27.19.
Hmm. I think it’s a tad early for this kind of stuff. Call this “Ambient Temp Take.” Roll out 2.0 as “Hot Take” in 2 weeks.