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After snapping Stanford's worst losing streak in 40 years by beating USC 6-1 in Los Angeles, Stanford returns home to face perennial non-conference opponent Hawaii (Tuesday, 4/13 at 2:00pm) before finishing the Pac-12 slate against Cal (Friday, 4/16 at 1:30pm).
That's right, I said 40 years. The last time Stanford women's tennis lost 3 in a row was 1981, the last year of AIAW play. Another way of saying it is that this was the first time since the NCAA started sanctioning women's tennis that Stanford lost three in a row. A commentary on how dominant this team has been over the years. (FWIW, Stanford won the inaugural NCAA women's title the next year in 1982, so perhaps this bodes well for next season.)
State of Pac-12 Play
Stanford is 7-2 in conference play and 11-3 overall. The win over USC was technically an upset by the rankings, but that's a feature of Stanford's diminished schedule and upset loss to Oregon. If Stanford hosts in the postseason, it will be because it's a weird year and the NCAA awards us hosting duties as part of a bid package--it won't be because we've earned it. But there's still a lot to play for in terms of postseason positioning, and just old-fashioned improvement. Here's where things stand in the conference:
1. UCLA (15-3, 9-0)
T2. Stanford (11-3, 7-2)
T2. Cal (14-5, 7-2)
T4. ASU (12-7, 5-4)
T4. USC (11-8, 5-4)
6. Oregon (12-7, 5-5)
T7. Washington (12-6, 4-5)
T7. Wazzu (12-11, 4-5)
T9. Arizona (13-10, 2-7)
T9. Colorado (8-11, 2-7)
11. Utah (7-12, 0-9)
The Pac-12 tournament is next week in San Diego, and the only seeds that are set are UCLA as the #1 and Utah as the #11--everyone else could move up or down. Here's what's left for conference play, all on Friday:
* ASU at Arizona (Noon)
* Utah at Colorado (12:30pm)
* Cal at Stanford (1:30pm)
* USC at UCLA (1:30pm)
* WSU at UW (1:30pm)
Oregon is idle. Thus, the Stanford-Cal match will decide which team is the #2 seed and which is the #3 seed. We could really use this one. If Stanford wins and the other matches shake out as I would expect, here's what the tournament seeding would be:
1. UCLA (10-0)
2. Stanford (8-2)
3. Cal (7-3)
4. ASU (6-4)
5. Oregon (5-5)*
6. USC (5-5)*
7. UW (5-5)*
8. WSU (4-6)
9. CU (3-7)
10. Arizona (2-8)
11. Utah (0-10)
* Not positive how the Pac-12 would break this three-way tie of 5-5 teams, since they've gone 1-1 against the other two. But if it's the same tiebreaker used in basketball, I think this would mean they'd look at everyone's record against the #1 team, then the #2 team, then the #3 team, etc. Oregon's win over Stanford looms gives them the advantage.
That would mean the following early-round tournament matchups:
First round:
(6) USC vs. (11) Utah
(7) UW vs. (10) Arizona
(8) WSU vs. (9) Colorado
Second round:
(1) UCLA vs. WSU/CU
(4) ASU vs. (5) Oregon
(2) Stanford vs. UW/Arizona
(3) Cal vs. USC/Utah
Roster shakeup
Angelica Blake finally displaced Emily Arbuthnott against USC, and while I think that is the correct decision, it might not make us a better team, as having Arbuthnott at 2 meant we were likely to take a loss there but likelier to get wins on lines 3 and 4. We'll see what things look like against Hawaii and then against Cal, and whether Geller has also leapfrogged Arbuthnott, or whether this was just a one-match tweak and Arbuthnott will be back at 2.
But with Geller and Shin both out (not sure why Shin was out, but Geller was presumably still out from the cramping that made her retire against Pepperdine), that meant Choy returned to the #4 spot which she had most of the year before we were full strength, Higuchi played at #5, and star recruit India Houghton rejoined the lineup at #6. Curious why Madurawe didn't figure into the plans, but perhaps Lele wanted to give Houghton a match.
How to watch: http://streamingtennis.com/Cardinal/?DB_OEM_ID=30600
At UCF's spring game on Saturday, players wore their social media handles on their jerseys.
https://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/m...story.html
Quote:“We’ve been saying that the future of college football is right here [at UCF],” @CoachGusMalzahn said afterward. “… This is a new age of personal branding. We’re going to embrace it.”
Actually, UCF and all other college football programs don’t really have a choice. They can either embrace players monetizing themselves or those players will simply go elsewhere. This is the new world of college football, where it’s not just about representing your school; it’s about maximizing your brand.
“Everybody was so excited when he did it,” @_dillongabriel said.
“Gus is big on building our brands and wants to help us set up the next part of our lives,” wide receiver @RyanOKeefe23 said.
Added linebacker @fvo56: “It shows that he cares about our lives after football.”
This week, both the Stanford men and women golfers play their final tournament before Pac 12s.
The women play an underwhelming field in Fresno. They are currently ranked 31st by Golfweek, primarily because of the weak field of their tournaments. However the team does not have to worry about being invited to NCAA Regionals. Stanford will be hosting.
The men, currently ranked 52nd by Golfweek, will be playing in the Western Intercollegiate at Pasatiempo. This is a premier college event that will be televised Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday on The Golf Channel. On Monday and Tuesday, coverage runs from 4-7 p.m. PT with a three-hour replay beginning at 9 p.m. PT. On Wednesday, coverage is from 1-4 p.m. PT with a three-hour replay beginning at 8:30 p.m. PT.
tough loss but impressed we took the #4 Bruins to overtime. UCLA is the Pac-12 champion at 12-1-1, 9-1-0 in conference. First victory by UCLA over us since 2014, and UCLA has been really really good over that stretch. Stanford is now 5-6-2, 4-4-1. Last conference match is at Cal next Friday. We should make it into the NCAA tournament as an at-large selection (Taking a #1 regional seed to overtime should be helpful).
#2 Stanford Women's Water Polo is at #1 USC both Saturday & Sunday at 1PM. Both will be live streamed.
6-2 over # 13 ASU. Vawter with a 4 hitter. Spirakis with two hits 3 RBIs including a HR
After a disappointing week that included a great fight against a top team (Pepperdine) and a disastrous loss to Oregon--the worst loss I can recall in my time closely following this team--Stanford has a chance to get back on track with a trip to Los Angeles this weekend to play UCLA and USC. The harder task comes first, with the UCLA match today at 1:30pm.
UCLA is excellent, and they will almost certainly take the doubles point, as it's a point of emphasis for them, and something we tend to deemphasize as a program. (That comment is made without any knowledge of Stanford practices, but at some point, the proof of the pudding is in the tasting, and we are a far stronger singles team than a doubles team, often having to come back and find four singles wins to take the match.) Arbuthnott will be overmatched at #2 singles. Our hopes rest on Geller and Choy both being healthy, getting wins at #3, #4, and #6 singles, and then hoping that either Gordon at 1 or Choy at 5 brings us home.
As for USC, it's still a tough match, but one that if we play reasonably close to our level, we should win. And wins over UCLA and USC would put us back in the driver's seat for the #1 seed in the conference tournament.
UCLA live stream/stats: https://uclabruins.com/sports/2020/1/13/...ats-w.aspx
USC live stream/stats: https://usctrojans.com/sports/2020/2/19/...adium.aspx
Pretty hard to recruit against that for most schools. I assume they used Phil Knight money. In the mean time, Stanford declares poverty and cuts sports.