Men's NCAAs Predictions

Women's NCAAs came to a close yesterday, and it's time to move on to the men's. I am on a big run with predicting, and I don't want to mess up now! For the women's meet, I correctly predicted 13 out of 18 event winners, and I nailed which teams would finish in the top-ten, picking the final positions of seven of them correctly (not counting Auburn finishing in a tie with Tennessee for seventh, rather than eighth, as I predicted). I underestimated USC, as they leapfrogged Stanford and Arizona from my picks. Going back a little bit further, at last year's men's meet I picked places 1-7 and 10 perfectly, and I just switched Michigan and Virginia in the final standings. Let's see how I can do this year.

Thursday:
200 Free Relay
1. Auburn
2. Stanford
3. Cal

500 Free
1. Bobby Bollier, Stanford
2. Connor Jaeger, Michigan
3. Chad La Tourette, Stanford

200 IM
1. Dave Nolan, Stanford
2. Cory Chitwood, Arizona
3. Martin Liivamagi, Cal

50 Free
1. Jimmy Feigen, Texas
2. Vlad Morozov, USC
3. Adam Small, Arizona

400 Medley Relay
1. Arizona
2. Cal
3. Stanford

Friday:
200 Medley Relay
1. Arizona
2. Auburn
3. Texas

400 IM
1. Kyle Whitaker, Michigan
2. Austen Thompson, Arizona
3. Matt Thompson, Stanford

100 Fly
1. Tom Shields, Cal
2. Dan Madwed, Michigan
3. Mathias Gydesen, Cal

200 Free
1. Dax Hill, Texas
2. Dimitri Colupaev, USC
3. David Karasek, UVa

100 Breast
1. Kevin Cordes, Arizona
2. Nolan Koon, Cal
3. Kelley Wyman, Arizona

100 Back
1. Tom Shields, Cal
2. Dave Nolan, Stanford
3. Cory Chitwood, Arizona

800 Free Relay
1. Michigan
2. Texas
3. UVa

1650 Free
1. Chad La Tourette, Stanford
2. Michael McBroom, Texas
3. Sean Ryan, Michigan

200 Back
1. Cory Chitwood, Arizona
2. David Nolan, Stanford
3. Matt Thompson, Stanford

100 Free
1. Vlad Morozov, USC
2. Jimmy Feigen, Texas
3. Dax Hill, Texas

200 Breast
1. Nick D’Innocenzo, Texas
2. Carl Mickelson, Arizona
3. Eric Friedland, Texas

200 Fly
1. Tom Shields, Cal
2. Bobby Bollier, Stanford
3. Dan Madwed, Michigan

400 Free Relay
1. Texas
2. Cal
3. Stanford

The Top Ten:
1. Texas
2. Stanford
3. Arizona
4. Cal
5. Michigan
6. USC
7. Auburn
8. Florida
9. Georgia
10. Ohio State

Texas looked horrible all-season. Their stars have lagged behind at the Texas Invite, in the dual meet with Arizona, and again at the Big-12 Championships. Eddie Reese is one of the best coaches in the world, and he will have them ready to perform. I went into the predictions unsure of whether to put Stanford or Arizona second, but I ended up picking too much Stanford in the top-three to deny the Cardinal. Defending champs Cal lost a big senior class, but Tom Shields is carrying this team on his back. Look for a big performance from him, and if my picks hold true, he will be swimmer of the year. Down year for the SEC, and I think no team finishes higher than seventh. We will see how this all shakes out next week in Federal Way, Washington.

Women's NCAA Predictions

March Madness is here at last! No, not endless hours of college hoops but the NCAA Swimming Championships coming up in the next two weeks, starting with the women next week in Auburn, Alabama. I've been slightly out of the loop the past few months, but my guess is as good as anyone's when it comes to who takes home the college crowns. Last year, I picked the top-three teams dead on, as Cal, Georgia, and USC went 1-2-3. I fell off a bit towards the end, so we'll see what I can do this year. Let's start with the individual events.

Thursday, March 15:
200 Free Relay
1. Stanford
2. Auburn
3. Arizona

500 Free
1. Amber McDermott, Georgia
2. Wendy Trott, Georgia
3. Alyssa Anderson, Arizona

200 IM
1. Caitlin Leverenz, Cal
2. Katinka Hosszu, USC
3. Elizabeth Beisel, Florida

50 Free
1. Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace, Auburn
2. Liv Jensen, Cal
3. Margo Geer, Arizona

400 Medley Relay
1. Cal
2. Arizona
3. Tennessee

Friday, March 16:
200 Medley Relay
1. Cal
2. Tennessee
3. Arizona

400 IM
1. Elizabeth Beisel, Florida
2. Katinka Hosszu, USC
3. Caitlin Leverenz, Cal

100 Fly
1. Sara Isokovic, Cal
2. Sam Woodword, Stanford
3. Jenny Connolly, Tennessee

200 Free
1. Megan Romano, Georgia
2. Karlee Bispo, Texas
3. Liv Jensen, Cal

100 Breast
1. Breeja Larson, Texas A&M
2. Kasey Carlson, USC
3. Ellyn Baumgardner, Arizona

100 Back
1. Cindy Tran, Cal
2. Jenny Connolly, Tennessee
3. Megan Romano, Georgia

800 Free Relay
1. Georgia
2. Cal
3. Florida

Saturday, March 17:
1650 Free
1. Wendy Trott, Georgia
2. Haley Anderson, USC
3. Stephanie Peacock, UNC

200 Back
1. Elizabeth Beisel, Florida
2. Maya Dirado, Stanford
3. Dominque Bouchard, Missouri

100 Free
1. Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace, Auburn
2. Liv Jensen, Cal
3. Margo Geer, Arizona

200 Breast
1. Caitlin Leverenz, Cal
2. Breeja Larson, Texas A&M
3. Haley Spencer, Minnesota

200 Fly
1. Katinka Hosszu, USC
2. Cammile Adams, Texas A&M
3. Sara Isokovic, Cal

400 Free Relay
1. Stanford
2. Arizona
3. Auburn

The Top Ten:
1. Cal
2. Georgia
3. Stanford
4. Arizona
5. USC
6. Texas A&M
7. Tennessee
8. Auburn
9. Texas
10. Florida

I pick Cal to win the title for the second straight year, their third in the last four years. Leverenz, Tran, Isokovic, and Jensen will score big points individually and on relays. If Georgia had Allison Schmitt this year, they may be in the driver's seat for the title, but that loss to redshirt will throw away too many points. Stanford is consistent across the board, led by Maya Dirado, Arizona has monster relays, and USC has Katinka Hosszu and Kasey Carlson. Beyond that, it's really a toss-up for the rest of the top-ten, but I do think that these will be the ten teams that make the list.