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The NCAA Division I men’s and women’s team championships begin this weekend with first and second round play at campus locations nationwide.

The brackets were released on Monday (men’s draw, women’s draw). Our panel of experts tackled a few questions about the tournament fields before all the action begins. Part II of our Roundtable will appear Friday morning.

What were the best storylines during the regular season?

Colette Lewis, Zoo Tennis

The January/February admissions changed the landscape even more dramatically than usual this year, with Wake Forest's addition of Stefan Dostanic and Charlie Robertson resulting in an undefeated regular season and an ITA Team Indoor title for the Demon Deacons. On the women's side, LSU added two Canadians at the top of its lineup in Cadence Brace and Kayla Cross, who helped them improve from 6-7 in the SEC last year to 11-5 this year and secure a hosting spot in the first two rounds this weekend.

Conference realignment didn't faze Texas, Stanford, Arizona or UCLA, with those four men's programs winning conference tournament titles in their first years. UCLA's 4-3 win over Ohio State in Columbus to claim the Big Ten title was particularly notable, as it was the Buckeyes' first loss at home to a conference opponent in 22 years.

And, although this postseason will not employ Electronic Line Calling, the universal acclaim it received after testing at February's Division I ITA Team Indoor Championships certainly qualifies as a storyline with significant long-term implications for the sport.

Julie Wrege, Tennis Recruiting Network

Perhaps the best storyline this season is that the Wake Forest men went through the ACC regular season without a loss (13-0), and finished the first-ever perfect regular season in program history (33-0).

The Michigan State men defeated No. 7 Kentucky for its highest ranked win ever, and the Spartans followed that victory later in the season with a road win over No. 26 USC.

Although not in season play, there were three notable upsets in the first round of the ACC Tournament. In the Big 12 Tournament, No. 18 UCF came back from down 0-3 in the semis to upset No. 2 TCU 4-3. This was the first loss for TCU in outdoor play this season.

The 58th-ranked Michigan State women defeated No. 53 Purdue on the road, which gave Purdue its first home loss of the season. This was a significant win in the Big Ten for the Spartans, who had four upsets in the spring season. Eleven of the ACC teams finished the season ranked in the top 50.

Alex Gruskin, Cracked Racquets

When “It’s more than just Isner: A Complete History of College Tennis” hits the shelves in 2037, there shall be great consideration to the placement of UGA/Texas A&M amongst the game’s great rivalries. After matching up in this year’s National Indoor Championship (and last year’s NCAA Final), the top two women’s seeds possess the ability to provide a storybook ending to one of the great chapters in the history of our sport.

In a similar vein, it appears that for the fourth consecutive season all eight men’s teams entering the final site will legitimately be able to look in the mirror and say “Why not us?” While Wake Forest remains the (ever-so-slight) favorite after its ACC Tournament stumble, a combination of good form, injury luck (both good and bad), and relative late-tournament inexperience for so many of the top 16 teams has me thoroughly prepared for a month of men’s MAY-hem to begin!!

Chris Halioris, College Tennis Ranks

Before I get into the spring season, I have to start with the individual championships in the fall and the new format to qualify for them. Getting to call all the action on site in Waco, Texas was an honor and also gave us the opportunity to talk to all the players and coaches. My overwhelming takeaway from the new format was that the players loved it and the coaches hated it. You can understand why on both fronts. The players are fresh, they aren't exhausted after a long season sticking around after teams to play individuals. The coaches are managing budgets that we can all see getting increased scrutiny these days and more travel in the fall doesn't help.

For the men, I just couldn't keep my eyes off of UCF every week after kickoff weekend. We've seen teams in the past with one big win/loss but I have never seen anything like the season UCF had in beating Arizona twice, Ohio State at Indoors and then TCU while also losing to Miami, USF and BYU. However, the team story has to be all about Wake Forest and how we had an undefeated team going into conference play with the Demon Deacons threatening 2013 Virginia, only to be beaten by 2025 Virginia.

From an individual front, the story had to be Arizona’s Colton Smith and what he has done both in college, but more importantly at the professional level while still in school. He will enter the NCAA tournament No. 161 in the ATP rankings (and was higher). On the women's side, we had a great undefeated run by FAU into conference play, but the story has to be the dominance of Georgia and Texas A&M. Both schools picked up right where they left off last year, and when you add the Dasha Vidmanova vs Mary Stoiana battle you're getting to No. 1 vs No. 2 at the team and individual levels a lot. Will we get one more?

Joey Dillon, TRN contributor

I think the rise of NIL is really a big one. Stefan Dostanic going to Wake Forest and juggling those duties with professional tournaments to help the Deacons claim ITA Indoors and only one loss is a sign of things to come. I also think all men's Power Four conference champions coming from first-year teams is something that can't not be discussed. Is it beginners luck or are those teams going to start dominating those conferences?

For the women, there's no one team that's ultra dominant like Wake on the men. However, the Georgia-Texas A&M rivalry sure is tasty. For both draws, I also think player health is something to keep an eye on. Teams like the TCU men and Texas women have had lineup injuries that have some teams on high alert to maybe take advantage. That being said, I'm also curious to see how not having the individual tournament right after the team event this year will be. Even though the team title is always the goal, I feel some players subconsciously might hold some reserve to continue into the second week so without that, the quality of matchups could be even higher.

What Super Regional match-ups would you like to see?

Lewis: The seeds have an excellent record in reaching the Super Regionals since the format was adopted in 2019; last year, only two unseeded men's teams and two unseeded women's teams reached the round of 16 Super Regionals, beating 9-16 seeds to get there. Among this year's projected women's matchups, my interest gravitates to College Station, where No. 2 seed and defending NCAA champion Texas A&M is scheduled to host No. 15 Vanderbilt, who beat the Aggies 5-2 in Nashville, sweeping the top three singles matches. But Vanderbilt, which made the Super Regional last year unseeded, could face 17th-ranked UCLA in its regional final, which would feature Bruins head coach Stella Sampras Webster facing her daughter Sophia, a Vanderbilt freshman.

On the men's side, the 7-10 Super Regional is always intriguing and this year is no exception, with Virginia, ranked No. 4 but seeded seventh, taking on Big 12 tournament champion Arizona. The matchup at No. 1 between Virginia's superstar freshman Rafael Jodar and Arizona senior Colton Smith is as compelling as they come, with Jodar 17-2 since joining the Cavaliers in January and Smith, currently 161 in the ATP rankings, a perfect 15-0 in dual matches this season.

Wrege: With four ACC and two Big-12 men's teams in the final season top 10 rankings, it will be interesting to see if these six can make it out of the Super Regionals. That being said, there are lots of interesting matchups in the 41-48 area of the draw. Due to conference realignment, former Pac-12 teams Cal and UCLA can meet in the second round, provided both get by tough first-round opponents. And should the University of San Diego get by USC, it would host the Cal-UCLA winner in the Super Regional.

Lower in this half of the men's draw, a potential Virginia-Arizona match in Charlottesville is intriguing. Also in this Super Regional, TCU has to host one of the four Florida teams that get out of Orlando.

The second quarter of the women's draw has several potential matchups that I would like to see. If UNC gets by South Carolina, the Tar Heels would play either NC State or UCF. Big Ten winner Ohio State has a tough potential second round against Notre Dame. The winner of this match potentially meets the winner of the LSU-USC match.

Gruskin

There are two types of people in this world: those who are rooting for a Colton Smith (Arizona, No. 45 in the world, according to Tennis Abstract) vs. Rafael Jodar (UVA, 2024 US Open Boys Champion) matchup, and LIARS!! Don’t be the latter.

The Ohio State’s women’s rise to No. 4 was Opelka-esque in stature, and I look forward to watching Coach Schaub’s Buckeyes respond to the pressures that come with a top seed. Also, all one must do is look at Tennis Recruiting’s 2024 Class Rankings to understand No. 14 Texas’s upside. A potential rematch with No. 3 Michigan would be amongst the most intriguing matchups of the Super Regional weekend (Plus Auburn/Duke…but duh!!)

Halioris: The women have far more intriguing Super Regional matches to me. I'm super excited to see almost every one of the potential matches with the exception of Georgia, which is just going to be a monster favorite. Even No. 2 Texas A&M is staring at a potential rematch with a Vanderbilt team that not only beat the Aggies in the SEC but beat them at the top of singles. Auburn at Duke is super intriguing as well. For the men, I have one singular match I really really want to see and that is Arizona at Virginia. True strength on strength. I will pick Colton Smith and Jay Friend over any other top two period, but Virginia is one of a few teams that can go toe-to-toe with them there.

Dillon: For me, as cliche as it sounds, I think both Nos. 8 vs. 9 (M: Columbia vs. NC State, W: Duke vs. Auburn) are the two I would like to see most in person. My runner-ups would be Virginia vs. Arizona for the men and Texas A&M vs. Vanderbilt (a rematch of their SEC matchup that produced the Vandy upset with five three-setters could be reproduced).

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About Rhiannon Potkey

Rhiannon Potkey is a veteran sportswriter with more than two decades of experience in journalism. Potkey has covered many sports at many levels and has a passion for finding great stories. Potkey has covered the U.S. Open, junior sectional and national events, college conference championships and Davis Cup matches. Potkey is currently Content Strategist for Tennis Recruiting. You can reach Rhiannon by email at rhiannon@tennisrecruiting.net.