12-07-2020, 11:07 AM
(This post was last modified: 12-07-2020, 12:25 PM by ColoradoTree.)
Back to the draft!
* #23 A&M takes the 2 seed at UCLA
* #25 Ole Miss takes the 3 seed at UNC
* #26 Baylor takes the 4 seed at Texas to stay in state
* #27 Tennessee takes the 3 seed at Ohio State
Then #29 Washington took the 4 seed at Ohio State. But UW is supposed to be the host institution and automatic qualifier? I assume ITA Indoor Nationals have been moved so they have to qualify instead? Confusing!
* #30 Washington State takes the 3 seed at UCLA, leaving Stanford as the only site with just two teams so far.
* #31 Kansas takes the 4 seed at UCLA, filling up that region.
Only 4 spots left: the 4 in Chapel Hill, the 3 and 4 at Stanford, and the 4 at N.C. State. Next 4 teams are Northwestern, Notre Dame, Denver, and USC.
Northwestern opts to be the 4 in Raleigh, and Notre Dame picks the 4 in Chapel Hill, leaving just the 3 and 4 seeds at Stanford left to pick! Teams will now decide between playing at Stanford or passing on the tournament altogether.
Denver is the 3 at Stanford, and USC takes the 4 rather than pass. Disappointing not to get a good non-conference match, but such is life. Can't imagine USC is too thrilled, either, potentially playing Stanford and Pepperdine--two teams they would've played in the regular season anyway.
Apparently Indoor Nationals are now in Stillwater, Oklahoma at Oklahoma State, making them the automatic qualifier.
Look, all seven of these regions are harder than usual, and there's no question that the Atlanta region is the toughest and Stanford has the weakest 3/4 seeds. But if seeds hold in the first round, I'm not sure there's a tougher match to get to Indoor Nationals than Stanford has against Pepperdine. (Georgia Tech-Duke and Ohio State-UVA are the other two "regional finals" that I'm most looking forward to seeing play out.)
In the Pac-12:
Los Angeles:
(1) #2 UCLA vs. (4) #31 Kansas
(2) #23 Texas A&M vs. (3) #30 Washington State
Stanford:
(1) #6 Stanford vs. (4) #36 USC
(2) #12 Pepperdine vs. (3) #35 Denver
Austin:
(1) #4 Texas vs. (4) #26 Baylor
(2) #20 Arizona State vs. (3) #21 LSU
Columbus:
(1) #5 Ohio State vs. (4) #29 Washington
(2) #10 UVA vs. (3) #27 Tennessee
And the other three regionals, for completeness:
Chapel Hill:
(1) #1 UNC vs. (4) #34 Notre Dame
(2) #22 Old Dominion vs. (3) #25 Ole Miss
Raleigh:
(1) #7 N.C. State vs. (4) #32 Northwestern
(2) #17 Wake Forest vs. (3) #18 Central Florida
Atlanta:
(1) #9 Georgia Tech vs. (4) #19 South Carolina
(2) #11 Duke vs. (3) #16 Michigan
* #23 A&M takes the 2 seed at UCLA
* #25 Ole Miss takes the 3 seed at UNC
* #26 Baylor takes the 4 seed at Texas to stay in state
* #27 Tennessee takes the 3 seed at Ohio State
Then #29 Washington took the 4 seed at Ohio State. But UW is supposed to be the host institution and automatic qualifier? I assume ITA Indoor Nationals have been moved so they have to qualify instead? Confusing!
* #30 Washington State takes the 3 seed at UCLA, leaving Stanford as the only site with just two teams so far.
* #31 Kansas takes the 4 seed at UCLA, filling up that region.
Only 4 spots left: the 4 in Chapel Hill, the 3 and 4 at Stanford, and the 4 at N.C. State. Next 4 teams are Northwestern, Notre Dame, Denver, and USC.
Northwestern opts to be the 4 in Raleigh, and Notre Dame picks the 4 in Chapel Hill, leaving just the 3 and 4 seeds at Stanford left to pick! Teams will now decide between playing at Stanford or passing on the tournament altogether.
Denver is the 3 at Stanford, and USC takes the 4 rather than pass. Disappointing not to get a good non-conference match, but such is life. Can't imagine USC is too thrilled, either, potentially playing Stanford and Pepperdine--two teams they would've played in the regular season anyway.
Apparently Indoor Nationals are now in Stillwater, Oklahoma at Oklahoma State, making them the automatic qualifier.
Look, all seven of these regions are harder than usual, and there's no question that the Atlanta region is the toughest and Stanford has the weakest 3/4 seeds. But if seeds hold in the first round, I'm not sure there's a tougher match to get to Indoor Nationals than Stanford has against Pepperdine. (Georgia Tech-Duke and Ohio State-UVA are the other two "regional finals" that I'm most looking forward to seeing play out.)
In the Pac-12:
Los Angeles:
(1) #2 UCLA vs. (4) #31 Kansas
(2) #23 Texas A&M vs. (3) #30 Washington State
Stanford:
(1) #6 Stanford vs. (4) #36 USC
(2) #12 Pepperdine vs. (3) #35 Denver
Austin:
(1) #4 Texas vs. (4) #26 Baylor
(2) #20 Arizona State vs. (3) #21 LSU
Columbus:
(1) #5 Ohio State vs. (4) #29 Washington
(2) #10 UVA vs. (3) #27 Tennessee
And the other three regionals, for completeness:
Chapel Hill:
(1) #1 UNC vs. (4) #34 Notre Dame
(2) #22 Old Dominion vs. (3) #25 Ole Miss
Raleigh:
(1) #7 N.C. State vs. (4) #32 Northwestern
(2) #17 Wake Forest vs. (3) #18 Central Florida
Atlanta:
(1) #9 Georgia Tech vs. (4) #19 South Carolina
(2) #11 Duke vs. (3) #16 Michigan