NCAA Men's Tennis Tournament Preview: Who can beat Ohio State?
The Ohio State Buckeyes have the best men's tennis team in the country talent-wise. So why isn't it the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament?
The Ohio State Buckeyes have the most talented men's tennis team in the country. There is no question about that. The Buckeyes are the only school with six singles players ranked in the Top 125 of the ITA singles rankings.
Two honestly stunning losses to Michigan State are likely what bumped the Buckeyes out of the top spot. So, as we look forward to the NCAAs, we have to ask two questions: How did the Buckeyes lose those two matches? And what are the chances that it happens again in the tournament?
First of all, let's go over how NCAA Tennis works. Each team has three doubles pairs, who play a one-set match each. Whichever team wins two doubles sets gets one point.
After that, there are six singles matches (best-of-three sets each). Each singles match is worth one point. So, that makes seven points in total (one doubles, six singles).