Even though the college season ended just over a week ago, we are dearly missing college tennis over here at Cracked Racquets. The 2019 dual match season will get underway January 25-28 at various host sites of the annual ITA Kickoff weekend where the winner of each site will go on to play at the ITA Indoor National Championships at the University of Illinois in February. With the completion of the ITA kickoff draft this morning, let’s dive into some of the most surprising topics from the draft.

Michigan and Florida State Fill up First

It was not surprising that first-year coach Brian Boland chose to take his Baylor (18th ranked) squad to the Michigan (14th ranked) regional with the first overall pick in the draft.

M: We are excited to host Baylor, Georgia and North Carolina State next winter for the ITA Kick-Off! READ | https://t.co/DuJFrxcIZV #GoBlue pic.twitter.com/Hy7kc2a1ST — Michigan Tennis (@umichtennis) June 6, 2018

Michigan’s recruiting class is ranked 5th according to tennisrecruiting.net, but the Wolverines lost four starters from last year’s team including their top two singles players in Runhao Hua and Alex Knight.

With the 4th pick in the draft, the Georgia Bulldogs (20th ranked) elected to be the three seed at the Michigan regional. The Bulldogs are returning most of their starting lineup and have some big-time recruits coming in. Watch for them to do some damage in Ann Arbor. North Carolina State (29th ranked) will face Michigan in the opening round of kickoff weekend. They elected to travel to Ann Arbor as the 4th seed with the 12th overall pick in the draft.

The Florida State (13th ranked) regional also filled up rather quickly. With 5 seniors graduating from last year’s squad, it is not surprising that many teams are confident they can snag a berth to indoors in Tallahassee.

The ITA Kickoff Weekend Draft is complete. We will be hosting Tennessee, Tulane and Texas Tech. Match-ups:

Florida State vs. Texas Tech

Tennessee vs. Tulane — FSU Men’s Tennis (@FSU_MTennis) June 6, 2018

Tennessee (18th ranked) chose the Seminole regional with the 2nd overall pick in the draft. Tulane (28th ranked) then elected to travel to Tallahassee with the 11th overall pick.

I have no doubt that either of these teams could upset the Seminoles. Each of these squads only graduated one senior.

Florida State may even be challenged in their opening round match against Texas Tech (36th ranked). The Red Raiders are only graduating two starters from last year’s squad. Look for this regional to be an absolute war come January.

What’s so Bad About College Station?

The Texas A&M Aggies (4th ranked) may have a high ranking and some good recruits coming in, but the Aggies are losing their top three players from last year’s team, as well as singles and doubles contributor AJ Catanzariti.

I was surprised that the California Golden Bears (35th ranked) were the first team to elect to go to College Station with the 17th overall pick in the draft.

The Virginia Cavaliers (41st ranked) then quickly chose the Aggie regional after Cal with the 23rd overall pick. The Cavaliers could do some damage next year. They are returning their whole starting lineup and are adding some top recruits as well.

The Memphis Tigers (25th ranked) even chose to travel to defending champion Wake Forest over Texas A&M with the 8th overall pick.

Wake may be losing two to three of their starters depending on if Borna Gojo stays or not. But Wake has an army of very solid bench players from last year’s squad that will be ready to fill any holes in the lineup. It wouldn’t surprise me if Coach Bretzky and Coach Eaton brought in some more top foreign recruits for the spring season, something they have done in the past.

Florida USC and Ohio State Feared

It was no surprise that most teams seems to avoid making the trek to the Florida (10th ranked) regional. The Gators only graduated one starter Chase Perez-Blanco, and are bringing in the nation’s top recruiting class led by Sam Riffice (UTR of 14.55 and ATP rank of 667) and Lukas Grief (UTR of 13.90 and ATP rank of 1231).

The 2019 #ITAKickOff event is set: No. 10 Florida vs No. 73 William and Mary

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No. 49 Louisville vs No. 61 Florida Atlantic#GatorWayBestWay — Gators Men’s Tennis (@GatorsMTN) June 6, 2018

Louisville (49th ranked) was the first team to choose to travel to Gainsville with the 31st overall pick. By that time, 5 regions had already been filled up. Look for the Gators to cruise in this regional.

The USC Trojans (11th ranked) were also feared in the draft, probably because they also only graduated one starter Thibault Forget, who mostly played on court-5 for the Trojans. After battling the Trojans rather closely during NCAA’s in May, the UCSB Gauchos (54th ranked) were the first team to choose the USC regional with the 36th overall pick. USC should face little trouble in advancing to Illinois.

Columbus, Ohio was also among the unpopular destinations chosen this morning. The Ohio State Buckeyes (2nd ranked) are losing their top singles player Mikael Torpegaard, as well as contributor Matt Mendez. The Buckeyes, however, are returning the rest of their very deep squad that made the finals of the NCAA tournament last May.

The Buckeyes will welcome in Arkansas, Cornell and VCU next January for the ITA Kickoff Weekend.

Opening Matchups

OSU vs. VCU

Arkansas vs. Cornell — Ohio State M Tennis (@OhioState_MTEN) June 6, 2018

Arkansas (45th ranked) was the first team to choose the Columbus regional with the 27th overall pick, followed by Cornell (48th ranked) with the 30th overall pick. The Buckeyes shouldn’t have a problem in advancing to ITA Indoors. I also have Ohio State as one of the favorites for the indoor title come February.

Which picks surprised you from this morning? Let us know in the comments below!