TCU Tennis
- Thread starter Jared7
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Jared7
Active Member
The Jackson State match is scheduled for Friday, May 12 at 2:00 p.m. (CDT). If we win, the next match against FSU or Arkansas will be on Saturday, May 13 although the time hasn't as yet been announced.
The (completely unimportant) USTA poll came out today and TCU remains 4th and the Top 10 is Virginia, Wake, Ohio State, TCU, UNC, USC, UCLA, Georgia, Cal and Oklahoma State and OU are tied for 10th. The reason the NCAA dropped us was probably because there were so many upsets in the Big12 tourney and we didn't play the higher ranked teams (OSU, UT, Baylor) while USC and UCLA beat higher ranked teams in the Pac12 tourney. Nonetheless, as the USTA poll reveals, the "experts" and most observers agree that the bottom bracket includes 3 of the 4 best teams (Virginia, Ohio State and TCU). So, TCU got screwed, but so did the Buckeyes and Cavs because all potentially will have an arguably tougher road than Wake in the other bracket. The other "controversy" in yesterday's rankings was Stanford getting the 16th and last hosting slot over Mississippi State and Michigan. So, there appears to be "Pac-12" bias in that their teams arguably benefited in the draw. Moreover, Michigan got sent to Stanford's regional.
One of the unique aspects of the NCAA's in tennis is that coaches must submit their line-ups (1-6 in singles) prior to the tourney and those line-ups must remain the same throughout the tourney (barring injury). Because coaches in the past have occasionally "gamed" the system, these line-ups are subject to challenge by other coaches - the line-ups were submitted yesterday, any challenges must be made today and schools will have until Sunday to respond. For example, if Coach Roditi slotted Norrie at #2 and moved, say, Stalder to #1, TCU would likely lose at #1 but would arguably have a much better chance at all the other slots. The opportunity for challenges to submitted line-ups is supposed to prevent such "gaming." Possible challenges to line-ups include Virginia's move of Altamirano, OU's slotting of Papa at #1 and Harris at #2 and TCU's slotting of Johnson at #6 and Stalder at #5. We'll see whether any of those are made and upheld or overturned.
The (completely unimportant) USTA poll came out today and TCU remains 4th and the Top 10 is Virginia, Wake, Ohio State, TCU, UNC, USC, UCLA, Georgia, Cal and Oklahoma State and OU are tied for 10th. The reason the NCAA dropped us was probably because there were so many upsets in the Big12 tourney and we didn't play the higher ranked teams (OSU, UT, Baylor) while USC and UCLA beat higher ranked teams in the Pac12 tourney. Nonetheless, as the USTA poll reveals, the "experts" and most observers agree that the bottom bracket includes 3 of the 4 best teams (Virginia, Ohio State and TCU). So, TCU got screwed, but so did the Buckeyes and Cavs because all potentially will have an arguably tougher road than Wake in the other bracket. The other "controversy" in yesterday's rankings was Stanford getting the 16th and last hosting slot over Mississippi State and Michigan. So, there appears to be "Pac-12" bias in that their teams arguably benefited in the draw. Moreover, Michigan got sent to Stanford's regional.
One of the unique aspects of the NCAA's in tennis is that coaches must submit their line-ups (1-6 in singles) prior to the tourney and those line-ups must remain the same throughout the tourney (barring injury). Because coaches in the past have occasionally "gamed" the system, these line-ups are subject to challenge by other coaches - the line-ups were submitted yesterday, any challenges must be made today and schools will have until Sunday to respond. For example, if Coach Roditi slotted Norrie at #2 and moved, say, Stalder to #1, TCU would likely lose at #1 but would arguably have a much better chance at all the other slots. The opportunity for challenges to submitted line-ups is supposed to prevent such "gaming." Possible challenges to line-ups include Virginia's move of Altamirano, OU's slotting of Papa at #1 and Harris at #2 and TCU's slotting of Johnson at #6 and Stalder at #5. We'll see whether any of those are made and upheld or overturned.
Purpletoad
Active Member
Looks like a complete screw job but the funny part is Ohio State got screwed the worst. They earned the 3 seed then got a top 4 team put in their bracket.
Pharm Frog
Full Member
55-3
Jared7
Active Member
The NCAA singles and doubles participants were announced last night and Norrie, Rybakov, Johnson and Stalder will all be busy even after the team competition is over. As expected, Cam is the #1 seed in singles and Rybo will be seeded 20th. TCU is one of 13 schools with multiple participants in singles this year. And Trevor and Reese made the doubles field, marking the 33rd such appearance by a TCU doubles team in the history of the NCAA tourney. Rybakov and Nunez just missed making the doubles field as well.
Jared7
Active Member
The final pre-championship ITA rankings were released this morning, and as foreshadowed by the NCAA seedings, which were based on the ITA rankings, TCU fell to 6th in the country, behind USC and UCLA, despite the 14-match winning streak. In singles, Cam Norrie remains #1, Alex Rybakov is 20th, Guillermo Nunez is 83rd and Jerry Lopez re-entered the rankings at 114th. In doubles, Stalder/Lopez moved up to 25th, thereby making the NCAA's, Norrie/Lopez just missed the Top 32 (at 36th); Johnson/Stalder are 48th and Nunez/Rybakov are 57th. There's no real need to list the rankings because, with only minor variances, they track the NCAA seedings. The TCU women are 27th. Seda Arantekin made the NCAA's with a #61 singles ranking; Donika Bashota and Olaya Garrido-Rivas made the doubles field at 19th and Arantekin/Garrido-Rivas are 31st.
If anyone is interested, there's a bracket challenge run by SlamTennis available to contestants - there's a link at collegetennistoday to join. There's really no need to bother joining though, because I'm planning on winning and garnering all the prizes for myself. Although that's going to rely on TCU winning the championship because that's who I'm picking (even though I actually think we're likely to lose in the Elite 8 to Ohio State). Private groups are also available if anyone wants to create a KFC pool.
If anyone is interested, there's a bracket challenge run by SlamTennis available to contestants - there's a link at collegetennistoday to join. There's really no need to bother joining though, because I'm planning on winning and garnering all the prizes for myself. Although that's going to rely on TCU winning the championship because that's who I'm picking (even though I actually think we're likely to lose in the Elite 8 to Ohio State). Private groups are also available if anyone wants to create a KFC pool.
Pharm Frog
Full Member
Winning rarely has much to do with anything when it comes to "selection" in the NCAA. Wasn't there another team recently that crushed its last opponent and in doing so fell to 6th? I seem to recall something like that...
notyalc
Active Member
You sir should have your own show on espn. Excellent content. Thank you for your contribution!
Pharm Frog
Full Member
Not a chance. ESPN lays off its knowledgeable sports reporters that produce quality content.
BearlyAFrog
Active Member
I don't disagree with your assessment in the least, but if we were talking about football (or basketball, or any other sport for that matter) and a different team, people would be lining up to tell you how how NCAA tennis didn't start 2 years ago, and how contemporary success does not an elite program make.
Peacefrog
Degenerate
Seriously, did you eat lead paint as a kid? Did you grow up under power lines?
You are as sports stupid as sports stupid gets. Quit. Trying. [ Arschloch].
BearlyAFrog
Active Member
I see the well reasoned logic in your refutation. Point goes to you sir.
Peacefrog
Degenerate
You want me to refute your stupidity? Why bother?
BearlyAFrog
Active Member
Damn, you Frogs are always a step ahead. You got me this time.
Peacefrog
Degenerate
Good comeback, skippy.
Jared7
Active Member
TCU has been in the elite of college tennis since the 1970's when Tut Bartzen took over as our coach. Until 2002, TCU's all-time record against Baylor was 32-4. TCU has been an annual (virtually) NCAA participant for 40+ years, making 4 semi-finals and TCU players have frequently made semis (and finals) in singles and doubles. By contrast, Baylor was an utter doormat until 1998 when Coach Knoll was hired and the school used unearned BCS monies to improve their facilities. Throughout the entire SWC era, Baylor was terrible at tennis. TCU still leads the all-time record against Baylor 34-20. You've got the histories mixed-up - Baylor is the recent upstart who only arose in the 21st century; TCU's success extends well into last century. Baylor acts like tennis history only just began; TCU has a long storied history in the sport. Why are you not aware of this? I suspect it's because you didn't follow college tennis until the contemporary era. Your point applies to Baylor tennis; not TCU.
Most conferences have named their year-long awards but not the Big12 as yet. I'm projecting Coach Roditi as Coach of the Year and Cam Norrie as Player of the Year (he should also win the national award too). But the all-Tourney teams were announced and Cam was Most Outstanding player and named #1 in singles, Alex Rybakov was #2, Trevor Johnson was #5, Reese Stalder was #6, Nunez/Rybakov were #2 in doubles and Norrie/Johnson were #3. (Sadly, because they washed out in the first round, no Baylor players made the list.)
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GlendarrochFrog
Full Member
BearlyAFrog, don't let facts get in the way of your narrative. Please disregard Jared7's post.
Jared7
Active Member
For the benefit of those who may need a history lesson in college tennis, the team tournament championships started in 1946 (the individual championships started in 1883). Historically, there are three dominant teams: USC, Stanford and UCLA. This is because of their California locations and the fact that, for decades, they were the only schools that really concentrated on building quality teams with great depth. (Think of John Wooden and UCLA basketball - the quality players would all want to go there like John McEnroe (Stanford), Jimmy Connors (UCLA) and Stan Smith (USC), all of whom were individual NCAA champs). USC has 21 championships, Stanford 17, UCLA 16, Georgia 6 (mostly because the NCAA's were held for decades in Athens), Virginia 3 (and they are the current dominant team because those 3 have been in the last 4 years), William & Mary 2, San Francisco 1, Michigan 1, Notre Dame 1, Tulane 1, Trinity 1, Illinois 1, Baylor 1 (2004) and Pepperdine 1.
Based on that, there are really only 3 elite teams. But tennis was transformed in the 1970's because of Open Tennis (i.e., the growth of pro tennis and the Slams allowing pros to compete), the Bobby Riggs-Billie Jean King match, the explosion of money cause by Lamar Hunt's WTC and the Wimbledon boycott of 1973 which led to the creation of the ATP. This not only changed the sport at the pro level, it transformed college tennis. TCU took note of that at the time and hired Tut Bartzen, who is a former U.S. Clay Court champ as well as an inductee in the Texas Sports Hall of Fame, to be our tennis coach. While the rest of TCU's sports were awful, TCU tennis shined - the tennis team for years was the only Top 25 sport on campus. In the SWC, it was almost always TCU or Texas as the best team and we started our NCAA string then. We haven't won a championship yet though - maybe that'll change this year. With the changes, tennis is far more competitive these days - there are more elite teams and many schools have a shot at the championship.
Tut retired in 1998 and our next coach - Michael Center was stolen by Texas two years later (he's still there). And the destruction of the SWC definitely hurt us although we won championships in the WAC, C-USA and the MWC. We were still a very good team but not elite. Meantime, Baylor got good for the first time in their history because they used political connections to join the Big12, received BCS money, finally improved their facilities and began recruiting non-U.S. players (like other schools). They also got a free ride because TCU wasn't in the Big12. But that's changed - the situation has returned to normal now. TCU now has 2 championships in 5 years, which is better percentage-wise than Baylor's 8 championships in 21 years.
Based on that, there are really only 3 elite teams. But tennis was transformed in the 1970's because of Open Tennis (i.e., the growth of pro tennis and the Slams allowing pros to compete), the Bobby Riggs-Billie Jean King match, the explosion of money cause by Lamar Hunt's WTC and the Wimbledon boycott of 1973 which led to the creation of the ATP. This not only changed the sport at the pro level, it transformed college tennis. TCU took note of that at the time and hired Tut Bartzen, who is a former U.S. Clay Court champ as well as an inductee in the Texas Sports Hall of Fame, to be our tennis coach. While the rest of TCU's sports were awful, TCU tennis shined - the tennis team for years was the only Top 25 sport on campus. In the SWC, it was almost always TCU or Texas as the best team and we started our NCAA string then. We haven't won a championship yet though - maybe that'll change this year. With the changes, tennis is far more competitive these days - there are more elite teams and many schools have a shot at the championship.
Tut retired in 1998 and our next coach - Michael Center was stolen by Texas two years later (he's still there). And the destruction of the SWC definitely hurt us although we won championships in the WAC, C-USA and the MWC. We were still a very good team but not elite. Meantime, Baylor got good for the first time in their history because they used political connections to join the Big12, received BCS money, finally improved their facilities and began recruiting non-U.S. players (like other schools). They also got a free ride because TCU wasn't in the Big12. But that's changed - the situation has returned to normal now. TCU now has 2 championships in 5 years, which is better percentage-wise than Baylor's 8 championships in 21 years.
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cdsfrog
Active Member
Pretty sure if you corrected on me on anything tennis related I would just simply agree. Why? 99.99% chance you're right. Thanks for putting bearly in his place in a classy way. He needed it.
