Tennis Channel/USTA College Tennis Top 25: March 2, 2022

The fifth week of the Tennis Channel/USTA College Tennis Top 25 poll saw little movement as the top nine men’s teams remained unchanged, while there was some shuffling amongst the top women’s programs. 

 

The lone change in the men’s Top 10 was the addition of Kentucky, which moved up two spots despite having its lone match scheduled for last week postponed. Former No. 10 USC lost to Pepperdine and fell to No. 13. The biggest change in the men’s poll was the appearance of Middle Tennessee State, which entered the Top 25 for the first time in program history at No. 23. The Blue Raiders are winners of eight straight, including an upset of nationally-ranked Arizona last week. 

 

The biggest movement in the women’s Top 10 was Ohio State, who moved from No. 9 to No. 5 after an upset of former No. 5 Pepperdine. Stanford also moved into the Top 10 at No. 9 after beating previous No. 4 Texas. The Arizona State women entered the Top 25 for the first time since 2017 after a pair of wins over San Diego and Kansas last weekend improved their record to 7-2 on the season. 

 

Each team's point total, specified below, is the sum of its ranking points from the USTA's panel of voters (listed below). Each voter ranked 25 teams from Nos. 1 to 25, with the first-place team receiving 25 points and the last-place team receiving one. For control, the highest and lowest outlying ranking for each team on the ballot was removed. First-place votes were not tallied. This week's poll includes 16 votes, making the maximum number of points available 350.

 

The 2022 voting panel includes votes from the following representatives: Casey Angle (former Intercollegiate Tennis Association Director of Championships); Virgil Christian (former USTA director of college tennis); Richard Croome (former journalist); Sonny Dearth (Daily Press; Newport News, Va.); Judy Dixon (former UMass women’s head coach); Alex Gruskin (Cracked Racquets); Chris Halioris / Matt Stachowiak (Cracked Racquets); J. Webb Horton (Former Florida Gulf Coast men's head coach); Granger Huntress (Texas College Tennis); Andy Katz (NCAA.com); Bobby Knight (College Tennis Today); Brandon Moglen (Tennis Channel); Lisa Stone (Parenting Aces); Caitlin Thompson (Racquet); Scott Treibly (USTA contractor); Laura Vallverdu (Between Lines); Dallas Oliver/Shannon Wrege (Tennis Recruiting Network).

 

Visit the USTA’s Top 25 home page for more information.

 

Women

Rank (Last Week) – Points

1. (1) North Carolina – 350 

2. (2) Oklahoma – 336

3. (3) NC State – 322

4. (6) Virginia – 300

5. (9) Ohio State – 288

6. (4) Texas – 286

7. (8) Texas A&M – 255

8. (7) Georgia – 247

9. (14) Stanford – 244

10. (5) Pepperdine – 227

11. (10) Duke – 201

12. (11) Florida – 180

13. (12) Auburn – 173

14. (13) California – 164

15. (16) Miami (Fla.) – 137

16. (21) Oklahoma State – 132

17. (15) Michigan – 125

18. (18) Tennessee – 95

19. (19) UCLA – 89

20. (25) Wake Forest – 80

21. (23) Washington – 72

22. (24) Old Dominion – 57

23. (17) USC – 32

24. (NR) Arizona State – 27

25. (20) Florida State – 19

Receiving Votes: Kentucky 16, Vanderbilt 16, Georgia Tech 11, Mississippi 9, Loyola Marymount 7, Baylor 6, Furman 5, Notre Dame 4, Texas Tech 3, Iowa State 2, UCF 1, UCSB 1

Dropped Out: Baylor (22)

 

Men

Rank (Last Week) – Points

1. (1) TCU – 350

2. (2) Tennessee – 331

3. (3) Ohio State – 327

4. (4) Baylor – 308

5. (5) Florida – 292

6. (6) Wake Forest – 274

7. (7) South Carolina – 273

8. (8) Stanford – 243

9. (9) Texas – 230

10. (12) Kentucky – 217

11. (11) Virginia – 210

12. (13) Georgia – 188

13. (10) USC – 186

14. (15) Mississippi – 173

15. (T17) Harvard – 150

16. (T17) NC State – 140

17. (19) Oklahoma – 133

18. (20) Michigan – 97

19. (22) Mississippi State – 74

20. (25) Pepperdine – 66

21. (23) Northwestern – 52

22. (24) Florida State – 41

23. (NR) Middle Tennessee State – 37

24. (14) Texas A&M – 35

25. (16) Arizona – 28

Receiving Votes: Columbia 20, North Carolina 18, Miami (Fla.) 12, Utah 11, Memphis 3, Auburn 2, San Diego 1, Washington 1

Dropped Out: North Carolina (21)

 

Pitcured above: Ohio State seniors Kolie Allen and Isabelle Boulais

Photo courtesy of OSU Athletics