We asked some of our staff/writers which teams outside the top 10 had a shot at making a deep run in the 2018 NCAA tournament. Here are the top 3 women’s teams they came up with.

These answers are taken from a round table discussion that Cracked Racquets participated in, hosted by Tennis Recruiting Network. Check out the entire roundtable discussion here.

Matt Stachowiak (College Tennis Contributor)

Darkhorse Contender: Stanford

My dark-horse would be Stanford. I know, it’s hard to actually consider the Cardinals a dark-horse with all the history of their program, but they enter the tournament as the #15 seed! Coach Forood’s team understands how to proceed through a major tournament like this. I think if they can win their first couple rounds, the Cardinals might be able to carry the momentum to a seriously deep run in Winston-Salem. Don’t be shocked if Stanford is one of the last few teams standing.

Dalton Thieneman (Founder, Host of the Cracked Interviews Podcast) Darkhorse Contenders: South Carolina, Florida State South Carolina is the No. 10 overall team in the draw, so this may be cheating a bit, but I think they have the right matchups to make a deep run in May. The Gamecocks would face No. 7 Georgia in the Sweet 16, who they pummeled 4-1 in Athens earlier this season. Florida State is another battle-tested team with six top 50 wins this season. The Noles could have a showdown with in-state rival and No. 9 Florida in round two, but with a convincing 4-1 win against the Gators earlier in the season, look for the draw to open up and FSU to take advantage.

Alex Gruskin (College Tennis Contributor, Host of the Great Shot Podcast)

Darkhorse Contender: Winner fo the Stanford

I agree with what Matt said. Stanford, by virtue of being outside of the top ten overall seeds, has to be considered the “darkhorse” on the women’s side. They, Vanderbilt, UNC, Florida, and Duke are the prohibitive favorites to take home the event, and I really don’t think anyone else in the field can make a serious run to challenge them. Therefore, by virtue of being the lowest seed of the bunch, Stanford becomes the “darkhorse” candidate.

Want more content from the Tennis Recruiting Network roundtable? Check out yesterday’s break down of the top 5 stories from the end of the NCAA regular seasons and conference tournaments.