Elite 8 predictions - Men

C

collegetennisisthebest

Semi-Pro
Not much discussion on the board right now....
I know that a few teams will still add good players before January.
What teams does every one think.....will be in the elite 8 in Champaign in May 2022?
Cracked racquets.com has started their top 10 breakdown
they have Kentucky at 10 ; Arizona at 9 ; TCU at 8
In their writeup on Arizona, they predict that Stanford will finish ahead of Arizona
I know that Gruskin loves Stanford and Virginia and Big Ten teams.
I would guess...that his top 7 will consist of (in alphabetical order) Baylor, Florida , Ohio State, Stanford, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia

Who do I think.....will be in the elite 8
Florida, Baylor and Tennessee are absolute locks to be there.
Texas is is going to be very good. Spizziri has really stepped up his game.
Virginia will miss Carl Soderlund. However, they add Botzer....and their freshman from last year (Van De Schulenburg, Inaki Motes and Rodesch) have had great results
JJ Tracy for Ohio State had some great results in the fall. Vocel and Van Emburgh will cover the loss of McNally and Seelig. Trotter and Boulais showed improvement in the fall. They are strong in doubles.
If I am right with my assumptions above, Gruskin looks like he will leave Georgia out of his top 10. Georgia made it to the elite 8 last year with an impressive win over Blumberg and UNC. Never count out a team coached by Manny Diaz. Philip Henning played at 3 most of last year. Henning had some impressive wins in the fall. Hamish Stewart and Triston MCormick will be strong in doubles. I think that the Georgia will be one of the 8 teams left in Champaign.
Gruskin only rated TCU at 8...as he was not sure if Pedro Vives and Lui Maxted would do well in college play. Vives had a UTR of 13.63 when his signing was announced last May. Vives had a ATP high tour ranking of 578 when his signing was announced. Vives will challenge Fomba for the #1 spot. If Vives plays 2 for TCU and if Micah Braswell is still at 2 for Texas, Vives will win that matchup. Vives is a big time player. Vives and Maxted
won the Texas regional in doubles. Maxted beat a good player...Michigan's Andrew Fenty in the fall. TCU will be in the final 8 and I suspect that they will end the year higher than #8.
other teams....in contention for final 8.....Gruskin's 3 top 10 teams....Kentucky, Arizona and Stanford. Stanford always seems to under achieve. Fery, Basing, Geller and Rotsaert will have to prove it to me. South Carolina has everyone important back...and they added Memphis's #1. South Carolina probably should have beaten Texas last year in Lake Nona in round of 16. South Carolina is going to be a tough team to defeat.....in a super regional.
Southern Cal added a 13.27 UTR player this week. They lost their big guns...but they will be deep. Texas A&M and North Carolina look like they will really be down this year. Illinois players have had good results in the summer and the fall. Wake Forest and Central Florida are always good. I can't wait for January to get here
 
collegetennisisthebest said:
Not much discussion on the board right now....
I know that a few teams will still add good players before January.
What teams does every one think.....will be in the elite 8 in Champaign in May 2022?
Cracked racquets.com has started their top 10 breakdown
they have Kentucky at 10 ; Arizona at 9 ; TCU at 8
In their writeup on Arizona, they predict that Stanford will finish ahead of Arizona
I know that Gruskin loves Stanford and Virginia and Big Ten teams.
I would guess...that his top 7 will consist of (in alphabetical order) Baylor, Florida , Ohio State, Stanford, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia

Who do I think.....will be in the elite 8
Florida, Baylor and Tennessee are absolute locks to be there.
Texas is is going to be very good. Spizziri has really stepped up his game.
Virginia will miss Carl Soderlund. However, they add Botzer....and their freshman from last year (Van De Schulenburg, Inaki Motes and Rodesch) have had great results
JJ Tracy for Ohio State had some great results in the fall. Vocel and Van Emburgh will cover the loss of McNally and Seelig. Trotter and Boulais showed improvement in the fall. They are strong in doubles.
If I am right with my assumptions above, Gruskin looks like he will leave Georgia out of his top 10. Georgia made it to the elite 8 last year with an impressive win over Blumberg and UNC. Never count out a team coached by Manny Diaz. Philip Henning played at 3 most of last year. Henning had some impressive wins in the fall. Hamish Stewart and Triston MCormick will be strong in doubles. I think that the Georgia will be one of the 8 teams left in Champaign.
Gruskin only rated TCU at 8...as he was not sure if Pedro Vives and Lui Maxted would do well in college play. Vives had a UTR of 13.63 when his signing was announced last May. Vives had a ATP high tour ranking of 578 when his signing was announced. Vives will challenge Fomba for the #1 spot. If Vives plays 2 for TCU and if Micah Braswell is still at 2 for Texas, Vives will win that matchup. Vives is a big time player. Vives and Maxted
won the Texas regional in doubles. Maxted beat a good player...Michigan's Andrew Fenty in the fall. TCU will be in the final 8 and I suspect that they will end the year higher than #8.
other teams....in contention for final 8.....Gruskin's 3 top 10 teams....Kentucky, Arizona and Stanford. Stanford always seems to under achieve. Fery, Basing, Geller and Rotsaert will have to prove it to me. South Carolina has everyone important back...and they added Memphis's #1. South Carolina probably should have beaten Texas last year in Lake Nona in round of 16. South Carolina is going to be a tough team to defeat.....in a super regional.
Southern Cal added a 13.27 UTR player this week. They lost their big guns...but they will be deep. Texas A&M and North Carolina look like they will really be down this year. Illinois players have had good results in the summer and the fall. Wake Forest and Central Florida are always good. I can't wait for January to get here
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Ohio State will be very strong. Vocel & Cash(some of the best volleys/hands in college tennis) won back-to-back national doubles titles in the fall and will already add to an extremely strong doubles lineup with players you previously mentioned to win the crucial doubles point. At singles, Ty Tucker will have multiple options to vary the rotation of singles most likely with Vocel/Kingsley at some order at 1 and 2 with Trotter and Tracy following. With this talented lineup and momentum from the fall going in to the season, imo they definitely have a very strong chance to make the final four. At that point it'll be up to how clutch the lower-ends of their singles lineup(their relative weakness compared to other teams) can play in the big matchups.
 
emit520 said:
Ohio State will be very strong. Vocel & Cash(some of the best volleys/hands in college tennis) won back-to-back national doubles titles in the fall and will already add to an extremely strong doubles lineup with players you previously mentioned to win the crucial doubles point. At singles, Ty Tucker will have multiple options to vary the rotation of singles most likely with Vocel/Kingsley at some order at 1 and 2 with Trotter and Tracy following. With this talented lineup and momentum from the fall going in to the season, imo they definitely have a very strong chance to make the final four. At that point it'll be up to how clutch the lower-ends of their singles lineup(their relative weakness compared to other teams) can play in the big matchups.
Click to expand...
good points
I think that Van Emburgh would be very good at 5 or 6.
Boulais had some pretty strong results in the fall.
Cash held his own ...last year at 6....
I think that Ohio State could sneak up on some teams. As you said,, OSU will win a lot of doubles points....so their opponents will have to win 4 singles
Tracy had some great results .......in either a Columbus challenger or future. If he pushes Trotter down to 4, Trotter will be a pretty strong 4.
I know that TCU mauled them last year at Lake Nona.....but I think that several Buckeyes....Tracy, Boulais and Trotter have shown a great deal of improvement
 
collegetennisisthebest said:
good points
I think that Van Emburgh would be very good at 5 or 6.
Boulais had some pretty strong results in the fall.
Cash held his own ...last year at 6....
I think that Ohio State could sneak up on some teams. As you said,, OSU will win a lot of doubles points....so their opponents will have to win 4 singles
Tracy had some great results .......in either a Columbus challenger or future. If he pushes Trotter down to 4, Trotter will be a pretty strong 4.
I know that TCU mauled them last year at Lake Nona.....but I think that several Buckeyes....Tracy, Boulais and Trotter have shown a great deal of improvement
Click to expand...
Be on the lookout for Jack Anthrop to be added to the mix as well. I'm expecting this Buckeye team to be the number 2 team in the country this year.
 
collegetennisisthebest said:
Not much discussion on the board right now....
I know that a few teams will still add good players before January.
What teams does every one think.....will be in the elite 8 in Champaign in May 2022?
Cracked racquets.com has started their top 10 breakdown
they have Kentucky at 10 ; Arizona at 9 ; TCU at 8
In their writeup on Arizona, they predict that Stanford will finish ahead of Arizona
I know that Gruskin loves Stanford and Virginia and Big Ten teams.
I would guess...that his top 7 will consist of (in alphabetical order) Baylor, Florida , Ohio State, Stanford, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia

Who do I think.....will be in the elite 8
Florida, Baylor and Tennessee are absolute locks to be there.
Texas is is going to be very good. Spizziri has really stepped up his game.
Virginia will miss Carl Soderlund. However, they add Botzer....and their freshman from last year (Van De Schulenburg, Inaki Motes and Rodesch) have had great results
JJ Tracy for Ohio State had some great results in the fall. Vocel and will cover the loss of McNally and Seelig. Trotter and Boulais showed improvement in the fall. They are strong in doubles.
If I am right with my assumptions above, Gruskin looks like he will leave Georgia out of his top 10. Georgia made it to the elite 8 last year with an impressive win over Blumberg and UNC. Never count out a team coached by Manny Diaz. Philip Henning played at 3 most of last year. Henning had some impressive wins in the fall. Hamish Stewart and Triston MCormick will be strong in doubles. I think that the Georgia will be one of the 8 teams left in Champaign.
Gruskin only rated TCU at 8...as he was not sure if Pedro Vives and Lui Maxted would do well in college play. Vives had a UTR of 13.63 when his signing was announced last May. Vives had a ATP high tour ranking of 578 when his signing was announced. Vives will challenge Fomba for the #1 spot. If Vives plays 2 for TCU and if Micah Braswell is still at 2 for Texas, Vives will win that matchup. Vives is a big time player. Vives and Maxted
won the Texas regional in doubles. Maxted beat a good player...Michigan's Andrew Fenty in the fall. TCU will be in the final 8 and I suspect that they will end the year higher than #8.
other teams....in contention for final 8.....Gruskin's 3 top 10 teams....Kentucky, Arizona and Stanford. Stanford always seems to under achieve. Fery, Basing, Geller and Rotsaert will have to prove it to me. South Carolina has everyone important back...and they added Memphis's #1. South Carolina probably should have beaten Texas last year in Lake Nona in round of 16. South Carolina is going to be a tough team to defeat.....in a super regional.
Southern Cal added a 13.27 UTR player this week. They lost their big guns...but they will be deep. Texas A&M and North Carolina look like they will really be down this year. Illinois players have had good results in the summer and the fall. Wake Forest and Central Florida are always good. I can't wait for January to get here
Click to expand...
Man I love the Gruskin bias on the pods lol
If I had to say I think Tennessee, Baylor, and UF are basically locks right now for the elite 8. The other spots are very much toss ups. I disagree with the take he had in Vives. TCU is dangerous but I think they lack that big punch at the top. Ohio state’s addition of Vocel and Van Emburgh will help outdoors but I feel the team will not make that elite out when it comes time for the Championship. Wake is a dangerous floater as well…
I would say in all (because I have to many thoughts on this to just write down here lol) I would bet it to be
UF
Baylor
Tennesse
Texas
TCU
Arizona
Wake forest
And I would say a tossup between South Carolina and maybe Virginia or a dark horse team that shoots out of no where. I know a few programs that are poised to have excellent years this year
 
also I’ll add that I think Baylor and UF will make it, but I don’t think they will be as strong this year, especially UF. Losing Bicknell was tough, and despite gaining Siimar from Michigan I think they have some lineup questions. A big reason they were so good last year was because you had Bicknell and Shelton near the bottom of the line. They practically never lost there. On top of losing Bicknell it’s going to be a CHALLENGE to have Shelton play outside of the top 2 and even more so outside the top 3.
For Baylor it’s slightly different. Unless Boitan keeps up the stellar play he had this fall on the pro circuit, I think Baylor is a bottom heavy squad with no big impacting player at the top. That’s not to say that it’s a big problem but with the amour of depth and talent many teams have this year due to transfers and new players, everyone in the top 15 has solid players lines 4-5. I do like Baylor in every match for the double point though.
 
tennisfan17 said:
Man I love the Gruskin bias on the pods lol

Wake forest
Click to expand...
where the heck did this wake forest player come from? has been as high as 426 in ATP??? has he played any college tennis before this year?


JURABEK KARIMOV


  • CLASS Graduate Student
  • HOMETOWN Tashkent, Uzbekistan
Biography
Prior to Wake Forest
• Began playing tennis aged 7
• Career high ATP singles ranking of 426 achieved on August 27, 2018
• On April 15, 2019, he peaked at world number 279 in the ATP doubles rankings
• Represented Uzbekistan in Davis Cup, where he had a win-loss record of 4–1
 
collegetennisisthebest said:
where the heck did this wake forest player come from? has been as high as 426 in ATP??? has he played any college tennis before this year?


JURABEK KARIMOV


  • CLASS Graduate Student
  • HOMETOWN Tashkent, Uzbekistan
Biography
Prior to Wake Forest
• Began playing tennis aged 7
• Career high ATP singles ranking of 426 achieved on August 27, 2018
• On April 15, 2019, he peaked at world number 279 in the ATP doubles rankings
• Represented Uzbekistan in Davis Cup, where he had a win-loss record of 4–1
Click to expand...
I swear on average Wake gets the oldest players in tennis. I would pay money to see the recruiting pitch Breaky gives to these kind of dudes
 
tennisfan17 said:
From what I remember from going through the NCAA recruiting training I did for my coaching position, there are some weird loopholes that get players in
Click to expand...

and WF finds all of them - the (often sketchy) arms race continues - I’ll always remember UF clinching their first title with a true freshman who left HS early rather than scouring the globe for a guy too old to be in college
 
mikej said:
and WF finds all of them - the (often sketchy) arms race continues - I’ll always remember UF clinching their first title with a true freshman who left HS early rather than scouring the globe for a guy too old to be in college
Click to expand...
Honestly so many teams had some wonkiness in their rosters.
 
tennisfan17 said:
The fact that he is still playing college is crazy to me
Click to expand...

Seems crazy, but actually isn't: came to college at 19, which is more common than you would think. Heck, football players are being held back a year in elementary school so they have a physical advantage on their competition come high school. Starting to see this trend in baseball as well. Add in Covid bonus year and you'll start seeing a bunch more 23-24 year olds playing college tennis.
 
optimaltennis said:
Seems crazy, but actually isn't: came to college at 19, which is more common than you would think. Heck, football players are being held back a year in elementary school so they have a physical advantage on their competition come high school. Starting to see this trend in baseball as well. Add in Covid bonus year and you'll start seeing a bunch more 23-24 year olds playing college tennis.
Click to expand...
Honestly I forget that a lot of European players come over when 19. You’d think I should know that as a coach
 
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