Monday, 5/19/97 Despite depth, talent in SEC, Pac-10 dominates
nation CROWD: More southeastern schools make it to tournament, but
Stanford, UCLA still holding strong
By Vytas Mazeika Daily Bruin Contributor In collegiate tennis
more talent doesn’t always equal a better product. Three letters
strung together encompass the most talent in the nation. With those
three letters one associates nine of the top fifteen players in the
nation (including the top three), the second- and fourth-ranked
teams and seven out of 16 squads which earned berths in this week’s
NCAA Championship tournament. Those three letters are S-E-C. The
Southeastern Conference provides men’s tennis with competitive
duels day-in and day-out. But the question at hand is whether or
not a competitive conference equals a dominant force. SEC schools
may have comprised nearly half of the tournament field has seven
teams that qualified for the NCAA tournament (No. 2 Ole Miss, No. 4
Georgia, Kentucky, LSU, Mississippi State, Auburn and Florida), but
after the first day of competition only three remained and by
Sunday night only Ole Miss and Georgia survived competition. The
Pac-10, on the other hand, simply had a pair of teams qualify. Yet
both – No. 1 seed UCLA and the defending national champion Stanford
Cardinal – are still alive and kicking. Since 1977, the Pac-10 has
won 17 NCAA titles (Stanford 11, UCLA 3 and USC 3) while the SEC
has only won two (Georgia won both). Therefore the SEC is
considered the best conference depth- and talent-wise, but the
Pac-10 simply dominates the rest of the competition come playoff
time. "I think you could say the SEC is the strongest, deepest
conference in the country in the fact that they did have seven
teams in the … field," Georgia coach Manuel Diaz said after his
Bulldogs narrowly defeated SEC foe Mississippi State Sunday. "That
is something we are proud of. "But needless to say, UCLA and
Stanford are one and three in the nation." Interestingly enough,
both semifinal matchups pit the Pac-10 versus the SEC. In the night
match host UCLA and Georgia face off in a continuation of a storied
rivalry. The earlier match squares off Mississippi and Stanford.
The fact that Ole Miss is the SEC champion and that its lineup
bolsters three of the top 10 players in the nation has Rebels coach
Billy Chadwick confident that his team will not succumb to
Stanford’s legacy and make the SEC proud. "The SEC had five out of
the top eight automatic selections, so it was very exciting to win
that conference," Chadwick said. "I feel that our conference is
much deeper … (The SEC) is just a strong, strong conference." But
is it strong enough to be considered dominant? That question may be
answered today. * * * In the most thrilling match of the tournament
thus far, Boise State pulled out all the stops, but came up two
games short of upsetting No. 2 Mississippi and downgrading the
SEC’s claim as the nation’s most dominant conference. With the
match tied at 3, it all came down to the No. 2 singles spot. Ole
Miss’ Sebastien DeChaunac edged out Boise State’s David Dalgaard
7-6 (7-5), 5-7, 6-4 to clinch a semi-final spot for Mississippi. In
other quarterfinal action, Stanford squashed Texas 4-0 while
Georgia squeaked by Mississippi State 4-2.