Well the ULM tennis team went 17-1 on the season, undefeated in Sun Belt play, yet somehow, are the #2 seed in the tournament to FIU.


Hurry up football.

The good thing is that both, #1 and # 2 seeded teams do get a bye, so it's not much of a difference, although ULM seems like a very deserving #1. I think they seed them in terms of national rankings, and at this point FIU is the only women's tennis ranked team in ITA rankings, at #63. Also, maybe they incorporate a little bit of past history/success, as FIU women's tennis has reached the SBC finals game the last 6 years in a row, winning 4 of them, coupled with the fact FIU is also undefeated in SBC play this year at 6-0.

http://www.itatennis.com/AwardsAndRankin...nkings.htm

(04-20-2011 09:50 AM)bmwilder139 Wrote:  Well the ULM tennis team went 17-1 on the season, undefeated in Sun Belt play, yet somehow, are the #2 seed in the tournament to FIU.


Hurry up football.

"FIU (10-6, 6-0) earned the top seed in the women’s tournament with the best team ranking in the league (No. 63) and earned a first-round bye."

"ULM enters the tournament on a tear, having won 17 straight matches – the second longest win streak in the nation. "

Did you guys compete against each other??

(04-20-2011 10:42 AM)sham84 Wrote:  

(04-20-2011 09:50 AM)bmwilder139 Wrote:  Well the ULM tennis team went 17-1 on the season, undefeated in Sun Belt play, yet somehow, are the #2 seed in the tournament to FIU.


Hurry up football.

"FIU (10-6, 6-0) earned the top seed in the women’s tournament with the best team ranking in the league (No. 63) and earned a first-round bye."

"ULM enters the tournament on a tear, having won 17 straight matches – the second longest win streak in the nation. "

Did you guys compete against each other??

ULM and FIU did not play each other this year. ULM lost its first match but then won 17 straight to finish 17-1. The team was ranked earlier in the year, continued to win and continued to fall in the rankings.

You got me!!

Looks like if we play them it will be in the tournament! Looking forward to it. Saw some of the girls at a baseball game last night. Not bad looking at all.

In between classes, I walked over to the tennis courts and saw some young ladies from Denver and I think Western Kentucky or Arkansas State warming up. Quite a bit of talent out there.

(04-20-2011 02:15 PM)USACoN2012 Wrote:  In between classes, I walked over to the tennis courts and saw some young ladies from Denver and I think Western Kentucky or Arkansas State warming up. Quite a bit of talent out there.

and you went back to class? You are taking this education thing way to serious!! To quote the infamous Judge Smalls "the world needs ditch diggers to Danny"....now how about a Fresca? Hmmmmm

I've kept up with the ULM tennis team recently, and I'm still baffled as to why they are not ranked at 17-1. They don't have a terribly tough schedule, but c'mon... they are 17-1 and have beaten everyone they played in the SBC, which isn't all that easy of a conference in terms of tennis.

The only reason I've heard is that tennis rankings aren't very reliable. Is there any sort of national competition after the conference tournaments, or is it over after that?

There are national championships, both for individual players, and for teams as a whole. I agree it's odd they (ULM) team is not there and they are not ranked, even if lower, given their win total and current streak. The only reason I can find is the fact ULM only played against 2 ranked teams at the time of the match losing to then #27 SMU (currently #33)while beating then #73 Mississippi State (now unranked), but other than that, you can't go against that win streak.

On the other hand, FIU played against 7 ranked teams at the time and all 7 are still ranked now., and their 6 losses came against ranked teams. FIU lost against #2 Florida, two times against #6 Miami, against then #14 Florida State, against then #22 (currrently #36) South Carolina, and against #33 SMU, while the only win against a ranked team was at #39 UNLV.

The ITA is the "governing body of collegiate tennis", and as such, I would presume their rankings are at least semi-official.

Looks like strength of schedule has a ton to do with the rankings then.

So the national tournaments or whatever aren't the winners of conference tournaments, they just select them by their rankings?

I'm not sure, but I believe SBC has an automatic berth on NCAA's, and others are picked at-large. Individually and doubles teams I think are based, at least in part, by rankings, I would presume.

That's what I would figure too, but I don't really know. Anyways, hope we meet yall in the tournament!

Tennis is like baseball when it comes to the postseason. The winner of the SBC tournament gets an automatic bid to a regional. The regional, like baseball, has four teams, seeded 1-4. The at-large bids are based on the rankings.

Ok, cool. Thanks for the info.