Wisconsin Badger Men’s Tennis Dancing

Wisconsin men’s tennis returns to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2010.

According to a news release from the UW Athletic Department, the #31 Badgers will play San Diego in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.  Wisconsin actually played at San Diego on March 21, 2017 beating the host Toreros 5-2 thanks to its depth.  The Badgers narrowly won the doubles points prevailing thanks to the #2 and #3 doubles pairings winning the decisive match 7-5.  Bucky dropped #1 and #2 singles but swept the rest of the singles matches to claim victory.

San Diego was the automatic qualifier from the West Coast Conference.

"Wisconsin (17-7, 7-4) is making its first appearance in the NCAA championship since reaching the Sweet 16 in 2010. Overall, the Badgers are making their seventh appearance in program history…The Badgers have tallied their most wins since 2010 and reached 17 wins for just the third time in the last 25 years. UW’s .708 win percentage is on pace to match the fifth-highest mark in program history."

Next: Grading the Difficulty of the Badgers Schedule

The NCAA Tennis Tournament is 64 teams, but not exactly the same as the basketball bracket.  In tennis, four teams are grouped together “in a single-elimination tournament” to complete the first two rounds of the tournament.  The winner of the Wisconsin – San Diego match will face off against the winner of #4 University of Southern California – University of Denver. Consecutive matchup wins books your place in the Sweet 16.  The winner of Wisconsin’s four-team pod could face host #13 Georgia in the Sweet 16.  The badgers are one of seven Big Ten schools in the field along with Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Northwestern, Purdue, and #3 THE Ohio State.

In case your father didn’t play Division III tennis 45-50 years ago, a new release from the NCAA  describes the how match scoring works.

"The matches shall be regulation dual matches. Three doubles matches consisting of six-game sets will be played for one team point, followed by six singles matches, each valued at one team point; played the best of three sets.  The team winning four or more team points advances in the championship bracket."

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Having attended NCAA tennis matches in the past, its great entertainment because you can watch so many matches at once.  There is a constant flurry of action and loads of shouting/cheering that don’t seem to faze the athletes.  Admittedly, it is a little deflating during the doubles to see matches halted once the doubles point has been decided.

During the 2016-2017 season, Badger men’s tennis posted a 17-7 record (7-4 Big Ten).  Wisconsin actually started the season 13-2 (4-0 Big Ten) before sputtering a bit towards the end of the season going 4-5 over its last nine matches.  Nonetheless, this was a considerable improvement over recent form.

2015-2016: 14-9

2014-2015: 7-18

2013-2014: 9-16

2012-2013: 13-12

2011-2012:  11-12 (not a typo, they went 11-12 in 2011-2012)

2010-2011: 12-13

The Badgers posted a .603 winning percentage in the singles and .640 winning percentage in doubles.  A week ago, junior Lamar Remy was named 1st Team All-Big Ten and junior Josef Dodridge was named to the second team.  The UW Athletic Department news release noted that Remy was the “first Wisconsin player to earn first-team All-Big Ten honors since 2011.”

Wisconsin has been stable in the rankings all season.  The Badgers were slotted at #31 on February 21st before slipping to #33 on March 7th, creeping up to #29 a week later, and back at #31 at present.