Some general thoughts on the top 16 teams as well as their lineups:
Virginia lost Shane and Styslinger, but gain a very strong Soderlund. I don’t see their singles lineup losing any steam, but we’ll see how their doubles lineup changes with the two losses.
- Soderlund/Kwiatkowski
- Soderlund/Kwiatkowski
- Altamirano
- Ritschard
- Aragone
- Wiersholm
UCLA lost McDonald as well as Sell, but gain Zhu whose futures results have impressed me. However, losing McDonald bumps everybody up a spot, while losing Sell bumps the lower half up another. It also doesn’t help that both these two were pretty much guaranteed wins at their respective spots. UCLA will be good again this year, but I expect them to drop.
- Redlicki
- Brymer
- Staggs/Zhu
- Staggs/Zhu
- Di Giulio
- A. Rapp
TCU returns all starters from the previous year and gain Alastair Gray. I’m a fan of the talent they already have and think they have a shot for the title with another year of experience. My gauge for Gray could use some more research, but he had a high ITF ranking as well as wins over several good players.
- Norrie
- Rybakov
- Nunez
- Gray
- Lopez/Nava
- Lopez/Nava
OSU lost Diaz as well as Steinbach and gain a couple recruits who I don’t see cracking the starting lineup. I predict Mendez and RS freshman Seelig to step up this year, and, from my knowledge, they should fill those positions adequately. Joyce will probably not retain the same magic he had at 6 and Pollanen is on and off, but I still think OSU will be very good.
- Torpegaard
- Di Feo
- Pollanen
- Joyce
- Mendez
- Seelig
UNC loses Schnur as well Clark, but gain Blumberg and Soendergaard. Both are high-end recruits, so I expect them to still be in contention for the title. Contrary to last year’s lineup, I put Kelly ahead of Murray as I was overall more impressed by his play.
- Blumberg
- Soendergaard
- Schneider
- Kelly
- Murray
- Kodali
Oklahoma is a more difficult prediction for me. I was originally under the impression that Harris would be leaving, but that does not seem to be the case. I knew Alvarez and Roddick would be gone, but I was surprised not to see Mora or Biro listed on the roster. The freshman will have to step up as there are signs of blood in the water.
- Harris
- Papa
- Ghilea
- Bragusi
- Bertsch
- Restifo
Georgia loses Smith, Wood, and Wagland and gain Diaz, Loeb, and Ponwith. Reinberg had a very impressive fall, so I expect him to be taking one of the vacant spots. The last position is up in the air with several freshman in contention. My gut tells me Ponwith, but we shall see.
- Montgomery
- Oosterbaan
- Duncan
- Zielinski
- Reinberg
- Ponwith/Diaz/Loeb/Phillips
Wake Forest is one of teams I feel is improved this year. Chrysochos, Mansouri, and Seraphim all performed exceptionally this past fall. They lost Ho and Bogaerts, but gain impressive players in Lazarov and Gojo. I felt Ho was too high at 3 and Bogaerts faced ailments towards the end of the season, these additions may what Wake needs to take home a championship
- Chrysochos
- Mansouri
- Lazarov
- Gojo
- Seraphim
- Uspensky
Cal loses Wikberg and gains several recruits with Hoffman sporting the best fall. The returning starters all had good fall performances minus a missing Nishimura, so expect them to be strong again this year.
- Lakat
- Goransson
- Griffith
- Bergevi
- Nishimura
- Hoffman
Florida loses Hidalgo and Watson, and gain several freshman. Hidalgo is a significant loss, but I think Perez will hold his own at 1. I chose Ingildsen and Guillin to fill the vacant spots and giving Ingildsen the edge over Kessler for the 4th singles spot.
- Perez
- Orkin
- Perez-Blanco
- Ingildsen
- Kessler
- Guillin
TTech takes a hit from losing their 1&2 singles players. Fortunately they had some solid players on the bench last year who should do respectably at their spots. Their higher positions will really need to step up if they want to stay competitive with the other top teams.
- Bisht
- Cailleau
- Sendegeya
- Curry
- Thomson
- Mylnikov
USC was a wild card team for me last year due to the amount of young/unproven players they had. Added experience and addition of Holt to replace DeVroome makes me really like this team. There’s a slew of players who I think are capable of filling the last spot.
- Holt
- Crystal
- L. Smith
- Devine
- Forget
- ?
I wasn’t very familiar with their team until last year, and I am a fan. I thought losing Ismailov during the season would have doomed them, but they proved they had the depth. All their starters are returning, so they will still be able to compete throughout the lineup. If Cash and Kadhe can step it up a notch, they have a chance of taking out the top teams.
- Cash
- Kadhe
- Gerch
- Finzleberg
- Meraut
- Mendoza
Texas A&M lost Adams, Vincent, and Withrow and gain Habib. Habib’s fall results are encouraging and should definitely make the singles lineup. My biggest concern is the 6 singles spot as I’m not sure who will is strong enough to fill the position.
- Rinderknech
- Arconada
- Catanzariti
- Habib/Lunkin
- Habib/Lunkin
- ?
Northwestern lost Baev and Horoz. Zieba had a shaky fall, but I expect him to rebound and play at 1. Stary had the most standout performance among the freshman by winning the Big Ten Singles tournament, so I could see him ahead of Van Dixhorn. The last spot seems up for grabs.
- Zieba
- Shropshire
- Kirchheimer
- Stary
- Van Dixhorn
- Seidman/Volk/Ephron/Lorenzini
Texas will be the most improved team on this list in my opinion. With the majority of starters returning, the addition of Ito, Sigsgaard, and Telles should do wonders.
- Goldhoff/Ito/Sigsgaard
- Goldhoff/Ito/Sigsgaard
- Goldhoff/Ito/Sigsgaard
- Scott
- Ortiz
- Telles
