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.