04-21-2021, 11:21 AM
Yeah, there are a lot of good-but-not-great teams in the SEC and ACC. (Also a few great teams, don't get me wrong.) And because they are all perceived to be very good at the beginning of the season, a mixed bag of results in the conference when pretty good teams win some and lose some means that they all climb the rankings, because the penalty for losses to good teams is so low. The cycle just continues, and those presumptions get baked into rankings even deeper as the season goes on.
Anyway, the bracket is now formally out with match times, and USC is the 5th seed rather than Oregon, as apparently ITA rankings was used as the second tiebreaker after head-to-head.
Tournament schedule
Friday, April 23: All first round matches are at 10:00am (the benefit of using a big outdoor facility with 20-some courts).
Saturday, April 24:
(1) UCLA vs. (8)/(9) winner: 9:00am
(4) ASU vs. (5) USC: 9:00 am
(3) Cal vs. (6) Oregon: 12:00pm
(2) Stanford vs. (7) Washington: 12:00pm
Sunday, April 25: both semifinals are at 12:00pm
Monday, April 26: final is at 12:00pm
Revised previews
With USC and Oregon swapping seed lines from what I'd assumed, here's what happened between ASU-USC and Cal-Oregon this season:
* Cal beat Oregon 4-3 in Eugene. After a competitive doubles point put Cal ahead 1-0, Oregon's Tjen wiped the floor with Cal's Giavara to level the match at 1-1. Anna Bright put Cal back up with a dominating win of her own, and Rosenqvist made it 3-1 with a solid win. Oregon's Kahfiani beat Cal's Bui at 3 in straight sets to make it 3-2, and Oregon's Eshet won a close one at 6 to tie it up. That left Cal's Viller Moeller to clinch the win with a 6-4, 7-6 win on Court 4 over Uxia Martinez Moral. I think Cal wins this one 4-2 or so. Competitive, but they have an edge.
* USC beat ASU 5-2 in Tempe. ASU got a very tight doubles point, and singles matches were pretty competitive (albeit in straight sets)--it's just the USC won five of them, only losing at 6. I tend to think USC largely repeats that there. USC 4-1.
So, the semifinals should be an all-California affair, with UCLA likely rolling over USC again with another tight Stanford-Cal match.
Anyway, the bracket is now formally out with match times, and USC is the 5th seed rather than Oregon, as apparently ITA rankings was used as the second tiebreaker after head-to-head.
Tournament schedule
Friday, April 23: All first round matches are at 10:00am (the benefit of using a big outdoor facility with 20-some courts).
Saturday, April 24:
(1) UCLA vs. (8)/(9) winner: 9:00am
(4) ASU vs. (5) USC: 9:00 am
(3) Cal vs. (6) Oregon: 12:00pm
(2) Stanford vs. (7) Washington: 12:00pm
Sunday, April 25: both semifinals are at 12:00pm
Monday, April 26: final is at 12:00pm
Revised previews
With USC and Oregon swapping seed lines from what I'd assumed, here's what happened between ASU-USC and Cal-Oregon this season:
* Cal beat Oregon 4-3 in Eugene. After a competitive doubles point put Cal ahead 1-0, Oregon's Tjen wiped the floor with Cal's Giavara to level the match at 1-1. Anna Bright put Cal back up with a dominating win of her own, and Rosenqvist made it 3-1 with a solid win. Oregon's Kahfiani beat Cal's Bui at 3 in straight sets to make it 3-2, and Oregon's Eshet won a close one at 6 to tie it up. That left Cal's Viller Moeller to clinch the win with a 6-4, 7-6 win on Court 4 over Uxia Martinez Moral. I think Cal wins this one 4-2 or so. Competitive, but they have an edge.
* USC beat ASU 5-2 in Tempe. ASU got a very tight doubles point, and singles matches were pretty competitive (albeit in straight sets)--it's just the USC won five of them, only losing at 6. I tend to think USC largely repeats that there. USC 4-1.
So, the semifinals should be an all-California affair, with UCLA likely rolling over USC again with another tight Stanford-Cal match.