This match really shakes up the middle of the rankings, which are—at this point—complete guesswork. Here is what they are currently.
13 | Bowdoin |
14 | Salisbury |
15 | Kalamazoo |
16 | Trinity (TX) |
17 | Chicago |
Clearly, Salisbury is going to move down quite a bit, and they probably deserve it after getting swept in singles by Mary Wash yesterday. Outside of this obvious move, the rest is up in the air, as each of these teams is tied up in a web of direct/indirect wins. Let’s look at them one by one:
The first team we’ll look at is Trinity, who started off their season horrifically, with four consecutive losses to CMS, CMU, Redlands, and Cal Lutheran. For the Tigers, that loss to Redlands was really a killer, because the Bulldogs have basically played everyone this year, and beaten no one. Bouncing back from the aforementioned losing streak, Trinity comes out and beats Bowdoin 7-2. Now, on paper, that seems like a really good win—but, let’s take a closer look at Bowdoin.
After starting the year ranked 13th, The Polar Bears have been less than impressive. They have a convincing win over Salisbury (8-1), and two 5-4 victories over Redlands and Trinity (CT). Couple that with the 7-2 losses to CMS and Trinity, and I’m unsure as to why this team is so hyped. The good news for Bowdoin is that they have matches against Amherst, Midd, and Williams before the end of the month—a great opportunity to pick up wins. This last match will tell us a lot, as Williams has looked pretty weak so far this season. If Bowdoin goes 0-3 over that stretch, though, and doesn’t pull out a huge upset in the NESCAC tournament, I can’t see how they would be deserving of a spot in the tournament.
Chicago is a bit of a wild card in this mix. They have some strong results, including a 7-2 win over Depauw, but they also lost 7-2 against Kalamazoo. That loss came the match after losing 5-4 to Wash U—if that shows you how all-over-the-place this team is. They were able to pick up solid wins against Wash and Lee, Newport, and Mary Wash over spring break, but that K-Zoo loss is really holding them back right now. We’ll see what the Maroons can do at their conference tournament; if the self-titled “Most Intimidating Team in D3 Tennis” can pull an upset against Wash U, Emory, or Carnegie they will have a pretty strong Pool C resume.
I’ve purposely left K-Zoo as the last team to evaluate here, since they are the ones that started this whole mess by losing to Salisbury. Like Chicago, they have had some really good results, and a terrible one. After a hot start that saw them picking up 7-2 wins over Chicago, Depauw and Case Western, the Hornets had an extremely disappointing Spring Break trip. There, after mysteriously losing early-season MVP Pat Boyd, they were forced to adjust both their singles and doubles lineups. Suffice it to say, that didn’t really work out. They were stomped out by JHU, doubles-swept by Salisbury, and were lucky to get away with a 5-4 win against Newport. This team needs to regroup, get Pat Boyd back, and do some damage in GLCA’s to get back on track. Luckily for them, they are not in the Pool C picture, so they have some time to get it together.
Anyway, here’s how I see the rankings now. I have a three-way tie for 13th, because I can’t really see a cogent argument for any one team over another. The first tier here all has either two (Bowdoin, Chicago) or three (K-Zoo) DIII losses. Trinity has four losses, and Salisbury has five (all of which have been blowouts).
13 | Bowdoin | ||
Chicago | |||
Kalamazoo | |||
16 | Trinity (TX) | ||
17 | Salisbury |
