Men’s Tennis: The Elite Eight Continue Quest For The Natty

TCU and seven other teams compete this weekend for the national championship; here are the matchups, locations, times, and scores, as they happen

TCU Athletics

For the fifth time in the last seven postseasons, the TCU men’s tennis team is playing in the Elite Eight of the NCAA tournament. It will also be the 12th time in program history that the team has made it this far and the first time as the overall No. 1 national seed.

The Frogs are 26-4 on the season, including one national championship (Indoor Nationals) and a Big 12 regular-season title. So far in the NCAA tournament, TCU has swept all three of its opponents – Drake, Utah, and NC State. It is the second time in program history that the team advanced to the quarterfinals by three sweeps. The last time was in 2015. TCU has not registered four straight sweeps in the NCAA tournament. Yet.

If the Frogs advance to the national semifinals, which will be played on Saturday, it will be their 5th appearance. Other years that the Frogs progressed that far are 1989, 1996, 2001, and 2015. TCU has never played in the national championship match.

TCU is 7-0 in true road matches and 4-0 at neutral sites this season, with all four of their losses occurring on their purple courts (Tennessee, Michigan, Baylor – twice). The neutral-site wins all came at the ITA Indoor National Championships in February.

TCU is vying to enter an exclusive club. Only six other schools have won both the indoor and outdoor national titles in the same season this century. Those teams include Georgia (2007), Illinois (2003), Stanford (2000), USC (2012), Virginia (2013, 2017), and Wake Forest (2018).

Here is a look at all this weekend’s matchups

The Teams 

(with the national seed noted):

(1) TCU (26-4) - ELIMINATED
(2) Florida (26-2) - ELIMINATED
(3) Baylor (29-3) - ELIMINATED
(4) Ohio State (28-3)- ELIMINATED
(5) Michigan (25-3) - ELIMINATED
(6) Tennessee (25-7)- ELIMINATED
(7) Virginia (25-5) - NATIONAL CHAMPIONS
(8) Kentucky (24-7)- ELIMINATED

Familiar Teams in the Bracket

If TCU makes it to the semifinals and finals, they will face a familiar opponent. This season, TCU has faced six of the other seven teams in the Elite Eight and holds a 6-4 record over those teams. However, all four of TCU’s losses came from one team still in the tournament this season. Interestingly, the only team in the Elite Eight that the Frogs have yet to face this year is Kentucky, the team they will meet in the quarterfinals.

• Baylor (29-3) – The overall No. 3 seed and recipient of the Big 12’s automatic berth with their tournament championship. TCU and Baylor played each three times this season, with Baylor winning two of them. If the two teams meet again, it will be in the National Championship match. Frogs fans will recall that Baylor eliminated TCU last year in the National Quarterfinals.

• Florida (26-2) – The overall No. 2 seed. TCU defeated the Gators in the second match of the season in January, 4-3, in Fort Worth. A potential rematch with Florida would be in the finals.

• Michigan (25-3) – The overall No. 5 seed holds one of the four victories over TCU this year. A potential rematch would come in the semifinals.

• Ohio State (27-3) – The overall No. 4 seed. TCU beat Ohio State in the semifinals of the Indoor Nationals. A potential rematch would come in the semifinals.

• Tennessee (25-7) – The overall No. 6 seed. TCU lost a match in Fort Worth in January but beat the Volunteers in the finals of the Indoor Nationals. A potential rematch would be in the finals.

• Virginia (25-5) – The overall No. 7 seed. TCU beat Virginia twice in back-to-back matches in February, one in Fort Worth and the next in the first round of the Indoor Nationals. A potential rematch would come in the finals.

The Matchups – Champaign, Illinois

(All times are Central Time)

Thursday, May 19 – Elite Eight Quarterfinals

3 p.m. – No. 1 TCU vs. No. 8 Kentucky

• Kentucky won 4-3

3 p.m. – No. 3 Baylor vs. No. 6 Tennessee

• Tennessee won 4-3

7 p.m. – No. 2 Florida vs. No. 7 Virginia

• Virginia won 4-1

7 p.m. – No. 4 Ohio State vs. No. 5 Michigan

• Ohio State won 4-2

Saturday, May 21 – Final Four Semifinals

10 a.m. – No. 4 Ohio State vs. No. 8 Kentucky

• Kentucky won 4-1

1 p.m. – No. 6 Tennessee vs. No. 7 Virginia

• Virginia won 5-0

Sunday, May 22 – National Championship

3 p.m. – No. 7 Virginia vs. No. 8 Kentucky

• Virginia won 4-0

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