Tennis Channel /USTA College Tennis Top 25 for February 5, 2020
ORLANDO, Fla., February 5, 2020 – Once ranked among the likes of Taylor Fritz, Reilly Opelka, Frances Tiafoe and Tommy Paul, William Blumberg has now led his UNC Tar Heels to their first-ever No. 1 ranking in the Tennis Channel / USTA College Tennis Top 25.
The 2017 NCAA singles runner-up, who was ranked as high as No. 4 in the world among juniors alongside those four now-Top 100 pros, showed his form over the weekend in leading UNC to 4-0 victories over South Carolina and Illinois. Blumberg beat both reigning NCAA singles champion Paul Jubb in the matchup with the Gamecocks and 2019 NCAA singles semifinalist Aleks Kovacevic vs. the Illini to earn himself ACC and national player of the week honors.
Ohio State was the big jumper in the women’s poll, rising from No. 11 to No. 7 thanks to a 4-2 home toppling of Duke, last week’s No. 4. Meanwhile, Princeton represented the Ivy League with aplomb in a 5-2 road win against Northwestern to jump up to 13th.
Each team’s point total, specified below, is the sum of its ranking points from the USTA’s panel of 14 voters (listed below). Each voter ranked 25 teams from Nos. 1 to 25, with the first-place team receiving 25 points and the last place team receiving one. For control, the highest and lowest outlying ranking for each team on the ballot was removed. First-place votes were not tallied. The maximum points a team can earn this week is 300.
MEN
Rank (Last Week) – Points
1. (2) North Carolina – 292
2. (4) Ohio State – 291
3. (1) Texas – 266
4. (3) Florida – 264
5. (7) USC – 259
6. (6) Wake Forest – 243
7. (11) Texas A&M – 213
8. (10) Columbia – 210
9. (5) Baylor – 197
10. (12) Stanford – 193
11. (15) NC State – 175
12. (14) Tennessee – 152
13. (8) TCU – 145
14. (20) Michigan – 138
15. (16) Georgia – 127
16. (13) South Carolina – 126
17. (9) UCLA – 113
18. (19) California – 89
19. (17) Mississippi State – 72
20. (23) UCF – 56
21. (NR) Duke – 40
22. (22) Florida State – 33
23. (NR) Mississippi – 29
24. (24) Oklahoma – 27
25. (25) Kentucky – 23
Receiving Votes: Virginia 22, Arizona 16, Illinois 15, Oklahoma State 9, Arkansas 7, Harvard 6, Dartmouth 4, San Diego 3
Dropped Out: Illinois (18), Virginia (21)
WOMEN
Rank (Last Week) – Points
1. (1) Stanford – 299
2. (2) Georgia – 284
3. (3) North Carolina – 280
4. (5) UCLA – 264
5. (6) Pepperdine – 246
6. (7) Texas – 244
7. (11) Ohio State – 219
8. (4) Duke – 210
9. (9) NC State – 197
10. (10) Florida State – 195
11. (12) Virginia – 176
12. (8) Michigan – 169
T13. (17) Princeton – 126
T13. (14) UCF – 126
15. (16) Oklahoma State – 115
16. (18) Arizona State – 112
17. (13) Vanderbilt – 109
18. (15) South Carolina – 104
19. (21) California – 83
20. (22) USC – 76
T21. (23) Tennessee – 53
T21. (19) Texas A&M – 53
23. (20) Georgia Tech – 42
24. (24) Washington – 32
25. (NR) Wake Forest – 16
Receiving Votes: Baylor 9, Florida 7, Old Dominion 4
Dropped Out: Kansas (25)
The weekly rankings will rate the Top 25 men’s and women’s teams in NCAA Division I and will be released each Wednesday on Tennis Channel’s and the USTA’s platforms, including the USTA’s new Top 25 home page, through the conclusion of the NCAA Championship.
The full voting panel includes: Casey Angle (former Intercollegiate Tennis Association Director of Championships); Jordan Bishop (The News Press; Stillwater, Okla.); Virgil Christian (USTA); Richard Croome (The Eagle; Bryan, Texas); Sonny Dearth (Daily Press; Newport News, Va.); Judy Dixon (former UMass women’s head coach); David Fish (Universal Tennis Ratings); Granger Huntress (Texas College Tennis); Andy Katz (NCAA.com); Bobby Knight (College Tennis Today); Brandon Moglen (Tennis Channel); Peter Smith (former USC men’s head coach); Lisa Stone (Parenting Aces) and Caitlin Thompson (Racquet Magazine).
