[ColoradoTree]

With no tennis for a couple more days, here's a quick look at the current Top 25 from the rankings that just dropped today. Stanford is still at #2, but it might be a useful exercise to get a sense of the relative strength of the conferences, including our outgoing home, our new one next year, and what might have been in the Big Ten:

1. UNC
2. Stanford
3. Oklahoma State
4. Georgia
5. Michigan
6. Pepperdine
7. N.C. State
8. Florida
9. Texas A&M
10. Texas
11. UVA
12. UCLA
13. Ohio State
14. Auburn
15. Duke
16. Oklahoma
17. Tennessee
18. USC
19. Cal
20. San Diego
21. Miami
22. Washington
23. UCF
24. Wisconsin
25. Vanderbilt

In terms of current conference alignment, that's 6 in the SEC, 5 in the Pac-12, 5 in the ACC, 4 in the Big 12, 3 in the Big Ten, and 2 in the WCC. Fast forward to next year, and it turns into 8 in the SEC (adding Texas and Oklahoma), 7 in the ACC (adding Stanford and Cal), 6 in the Big Ten, just 2 in the Big 12, and 2 in the WCC. Just three major tennis conferences left, and frankly, the Big Ten could've barely been considered a major tennis conference before the infusion of two perennially solid programs in USC/UCLA, plus a third decent one in UW. 

The Pac-12 teams leaving for the Big 12, by contrast, are mostly lesser tennis programs. ASU is the cream of that crop, and they've got potential to join Oklahoma State as the class of what is now basically a mid-major tennis league. I think that at this point, Oklahoma State has enough cachet as a program that it will remain relevant nationally even with the two tentpole programs of the Big 12 leaving, because the coach there is well known and should continue to bring in players who want him to help develop them. UCF should be good because of the practice facilities and USTA relationship. And Arizona should really be a much better program than it has been, but the college decision for top prospects is heavily influenced by coaching, and the Wildcats' head coach isn't quite as established, so we'll see if they can grow to what they really should be.

[ColoradoTree]

With no tennis for a couple more days, here's a quick look at the current Top 25 from the rankings that just dropped today. Stanford is still at #2, but it might be a useful exercise to get a sense of the relative strength of the conferences, including our outgoing home, our new one next year, and what might have been in the Big Ten:

1. UNC
2. Stanford
3. Oklahoma State
4. Georgia
5. Michigan
6. Pepperdine
7. N.C. State
8. Florida
9. Texas A&M
10. Texas
11. UVA
12. UCLA
13. Ohio State
14. Auburn
15. Duke
16. Oklahoma
17. Tennessee
18. USC
19. Cal
20. San Diego
21. Miami
22. Washington
23. UCF
24. Wisconsin
25. Vanderbilt

In terms of current conference alignment, that's 6 in the SEC, 5 in the Pac-12, 5 in the ACC, 4 in the Big 12, 3 in the Big Ten, and 2 in the WCC. Fast forward to next year, and it turns into 8 in the SEC (adding Texas and Oklahoma), 7 in the ACC (adding Stanford and Cal), 6 in the Big Ten, just 2 in the Big 12, and 2 in the WCC. Just three major tennis conferences left, and frankly, the Big Ten could've barely been considered a major tennis conference before the infusion of two perennially solid programs in USC/UCLA, plus a third decent one in UW. 

The Pac-12 teams leaving for the Big 12, by contrast, are mostly lesser tennis programs. ASU is the cream of that crop, and they've got potential to join Oklahoma State as the class of what is now basically a mid-major tennis league. I think that at this point, Oklahoma State has enough cachet as a program that it will remain relevant nationally even with the two tentpole programs of the Big 12 leaving, because the coach there is well known and should continue to bring in players who want him to help develop them. UCF should be good because of the practice facilities and USTA relationship. And Arizona should really be a much better program than it has been, but the college decision for top prospects is heavily influenced by coaching, and the Wildcats' head coach isn't quite as established, so we'll see if they can grow to what they really should be.