NCAA Tennis Big Dance

Tennisrecruiting.net and Collegetennisonline.com both invited me to give a rundown of the current NCAA team tournament, here's a brief transcript:

Tennis Live Radio’s interview with former Rutgers player and current NBCSports.com tennis writer, Harry Cicma.

Monday, May 12, 2008

Tennis Live Radio:
Alright Harry let's do it on the Men's side. The Championships begin on a Friday. Virginia, the #1 seed on the men's side, is undefeated at 28-0. I'll just give you the top four seeds here, Virginia at 1, Ohio State at 2, UCLA at 3, and the defending champion Georgia Bulldogs at 21-3 on the season. They are at number 4. What do you think?

Cicma:

I think Virginia is hands down the team to beat. I mean you look at the New England Patriots in football, you saw them lose to the Giants in the Super Bowl, quite possibly one of the biggest upsets in the history of sports, well that's what it’s going to take to oust UVA this year…. they have the defending singles champion Somdev Devvarman, he's definitely going to be a top 100 singles player in the ATP pro tour....I mean that guy is going to lead the Cavaliers most likely to the title. But you have to go through 63 solid programs and each and every team is going to be a battle. The first round will not be an issue for any of the top 16 or 30 seeds....but when you're dealing with UVA there's no question that you have to watch out for dark horses; such as Stanford or Illinois. Any of those teams could pose a threat to the Cavs and of course the #2 seed, Ohio State. Such teams will enter the tourney looking to take down the top dogs. So I think the Cavs are the heavy favorite to have an undefeated season but its not going be easy with programs like the Buckeyes and of course Georgia - UGA standing in their way.

Tennis Live:
Yeah, Harry I mean if we can look ahead to the quarterfinal rounds, you've got Virginia that would go up against the eighth seed Tennessee. Again the Bulldogs are in their half, they are the fourth seed they would go up against Mississippi who is the sixth. Do you expect to see the Cavs take on the Bulldogs in this event?

Cicma:
I do expect to see the Cavs go against the Bulldogs, but I'll be honest with you Todd and I love saying this, and I love stressing this: you just don't know what's going to happen.....however...I will guarantee this [as much as I can guarantee anything] you're most likely not going to see the top eight seeds in the elite eight.  It’s just not going happen.....there's too much depth on the men's tour, and as much depth on the women's tour.  Anything can happen in college ball and there will be upsets this year no question about it and most likely in the sweet sixteen round…. you're going see a lot of upsets, and it could happen in the earlier rounds because if your seeded number 16 and you have a solid number 32 team in the country on your side, there may be problems.  It's not easy 'now a these days.'....a lot of upsets in 2008.  Watch out.

Tennis Live:
Well as "Boomer", Chris Berman from ESPN says during the NFL season, "That's why they play the game" because that's indeed Harry, you just never know what's going to happen.  But if we can look on the other side and project, because that's what we do, that's what talk radio is all about....on the other side, you could have an all Southern California quarterfinal with USC and UCLA and then those Buckeyes could go up against Texas the seventh seed in the quarterfinals as well.  Who do you think has the best chance on that side to meet Virginia if Virginia indeed continues to go undefeated all the way to the finals?

**For the complete interview, go to http://www.tennisliveradio.com/CollegeCorner.aspx**