[Spiny_Norman]

I'm sorry, but I strongly disagree: you cannot make Wake Forest the favorite.  In the team rankings, the gap between them (86-38) this season and Stanford (88-10) is as great as the gap between Wake and the number 16 team.  

I do think Wake is the clear #2, with Texas, USC, UCLA and South Carolina strong but trailing.

Engleman hasn't been in peak form, but every team has at least one player of whom that's true.  (Wake's number four ranks 142d in the country; Stanford's number five, Engleman, ranks 55th)

Stanford beat an elite group in the Pac 12's by six strokes, and its regional by an absurd 18.  We deserve to be the favorites, conceding that picking a favorite for five player, 18 hole match play is a bet no one should make.

Because of an injury to Carolina Chacarra, Wake had a rough patch in early spring. They even played one tournament with only 4 players. Chacarra is back and Wake seems to be rounding into form.

But I will agree that Stanford should be the favorite to win the stroke play portion of the competition. After that, it becomes a crap shoot. I fall back onto the team that won last year. Wake returns 3 players from last year's NC team and only 1 of those players lost a match. Wake also played 8(!) match play events this season with a record of 8-2. Stanford played 4 with a record of 3-1.

[Spiny_Norman]

I'm sorry, but I strongly disagree: you cannot make Wake Forest the favorite.  In the team rankings, the gap between them (86-38) this season and Stanford (88-10) is as great as the gap between Wake and the number 16 team.  

I do think Wake is the clear #2, with Texas, USC, UCLA and South Carolina strong but trailing.

Engleman hasn't been in peak form, but every team has at least one player of whom that's true.  (Wake's number four ranks 142d in the country; Stanford's number five, Engleman, ranks 55th)

Stanford beat an elite group in the Pac 12's by six strokes, and its regional by an absurd 18.  We deserve to be the favorites, conceding that picking a favorite for five player, 18 hole match play is a bet no one should make.

Because of an injury to Carolina Chacarra, Wake had a rough patch in early spring. They even played one tournament with only 4 players. Chacarra is back and Wake seems to be rounding into form.

But I will agree that Stanford should be the favorite to win the stroke play portion of the competition. After that, it becomes a crap shoot. I fall back onto the team that won last year. Wake returns 3 players from last year's NC team and only 1 of those players lost a match. Wake also played 8(!) match play events this season with a record of 8-2. Stanford played 4 with a record of 3-1.