First and second round matches
Sweet 16 notes
The radical format change for the NCAA Tennis Championships that has been talked about for the past four years will finally take effect this year. This year’s tournament consists of 16 four-team regionals to be played at various campus sites. The 16 winners of these regionals will move on to the University of Georgia, where the round of 16, quarterfinals, semifinals and finals will be played.
This year’s tournament is similar in format to the NCAA Basketball Tournament: automatic births were given to conference champions while the rest of the field is comprised of at-large selections. In all, 28 teams won conference championships and 36 teams were selected at-large.
Each regional is hosted by a school participating in that regional. Each of the eight regions that make up the college tennis map must have at least one regional. Some regions, such as Region III, which is made up of southern schools, have multiple regionals. Other regions, such as Region I, which is made up of schools in the Northeast part of the country, only have one.
Before the brackets are filled, the participating teams are ranked 1-64. The top 16 teams are given a numerical seeding of 1, 2, 3, 4 etc. For example, UCLA is considered the top-ranked team in the nation and thus receive the Championships’ No. 1 seed. Arizona State is considered the 14th best team of NCAA qualifiers and are seeded 14th. Teams ranked 17-32 are given a block seeding of 17-32, as are teams ranked 33-48 and 49-64. Each region has one seeded team (ranked 1-16), one 17-32 team, one 33-48 team and one 49-64.
The first and second rounds of the tournament will be contested May 14-16. The action shifts to the Dan Magill Tennis Complex on the campus of the University of Georgia for the round of 16 matches Saturday, May 22. The National Championship match will be played Tuesday, May 25.
AUTOMATIC QUALIFIERS America East…………………..Hofstra (13-0) Atlantic-10……………………Virginia Tech (17-5) Atlantic Coast…………………Duke (22-4) Big XII……………………….Texas (23-4) Big East………………………Notre Dame (17-7) Big Sky……………………….Cal State Sacramento (15-4) Big South……………………..Charleston Southern (17-6) Big Ten……………………….Illinois (25-3) Big West………………………Boise State (15-11) Colonial Athletic………………VCU (21-2) Conference USA…………………South Florida (20-4) Ivy…………………………..Harvard (16-4) Metro Atlantic…………………Marist (18-5) Mid-American…………………..Western Michigan (17-9) Mid-Continent………………….UM-Kansas City (14-4) Mid-Eastern Athletic……………Hampton (19-6) Missouri Valley………………..Indiana State (23-3) Northeast……………………..Farleigh Dickinson (8-9) Ohio Valley……………………Tennessee Tech (14-12) Pac-10………………………..UCLA (21-2) Patriot……………………….Navy (18-7) Southeastern…………………..LSU (16-6) Southern………………………East Tennessee State (18-3) Southwestern Athletic…………..Alcorn State (17-2) Sun Belt………………………South Alabama (10-15) Trans America………………….Georgia State (17-4) West Coast…………………….Pepperdine (22-7) Western Athletic……………….Fresno State (18-8)
TEAM BREAKDOWN BY REGION Region I…………. 6 Region II…………11 Region III………..16 Region IV………… 8 Region V…………. 4 Region VI………… 8 Region VII……….. 5 Region VIII………. 7
TEAM BREAKDOWN BY STATE California……… 7 UCLA, Stanford, San Diego State, Cal State Sacramento, Fresno State, USC, Pepperdine
Texas………….. 6 Texas, Texas Tech, Texas A&M, TCU, Baylor, SMU
Virginia……….. 5 Virginia, VCU, Virginia Tech, Hampton, William and Mary
Indiana………… 4 Indiana, Purdue, Notre Dame, Indiana State
Tennessee………. 4 Tennessee, Tennessee Tech, East Tennessee State, Vanderbilt
Florida………… 3 Florida, South Florida, Miami (Fla.)
Georgia………… 3 Georgia, Georgia Tech, Georgia State
Louisiana………. 3 LSU, Tulane, Southwest Louisiana
Mississippi…….. 3 Mississippi, Mississippi State, Alcorn State
South Carolina….. 3 South Carolina, Clemson, Charleston Southern
Alabama………… 2 Alabama, South Alabama
Illinois……….. 2 Illinois, Northwestern
Michigan……….. 2 Michigan, Western Michigan
New York……….. 2 Marist, Hofstra
North Carolina….. 2 Duke, North Carolina State
Arizona………… 1 Arizona State
Idaho………….. 1 Boise State
Kansas…………. 1 Kansas
Kentucky……….. 1 Kentucky
Nevada…………. 1 UNLV
Maryland……….. 1 U.S. Naval Academy
Massachusetts…… 1 Harvard
Minnesota………. 1 Minnesota
Missouri……….. 1 UM-Kansas City
New Jersey……… 1 Farleigh Dickinson
New Mexico……… 1 New Mexico
Oklahoma……….. 1 Oklahoma
Washington……… 1 Washington
