Virginia, NC State, Tennessee Reach CSL Final; Wild Cards Confirmed
A win by Tennessee in the sixth and final CSL regular-season match earned the Volunteers a place in the final match alongside Virginia and NC State.
The final match on Friday confirmed the four Wild Card contestants for next week, with Stanford and Louisville joining Indiana and California.
Virginia is the top seed with two match wins. On total points, Tennessee jumped NC State into the second seed thanks to its 668 points in CSL Match 6 on Friday over SEC foes Auburn, Georgia and Alabama. That score is the second-highest, trailing only what Virginia posted in its first match.
Championship weekend is in two weeks in Indianapolis. Nov. 5 is the Wild Card match between seeds 4-7. The winner of that match will be in the water the next day against the three automatic qualifiers to crown the inaugural CSL champion.
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Virginia had already booked automatic passage to the final, the only school to win two meets. It bested NC State head-to-head in Match 2, then claimed Match 4 over Tennessee, Louisville and Michigan.
NC State won Match 5 over Indiana, California and Stanford to go with its runner-up finish.
Indiana had clinched a Wild Card berth entering the final match with seven points. The Hoosiers won Match 1 over Louisville, Michigan and Ohio State to go with a runner-up result to NC State in Match 5.
California had clinched progress to at least the Wild Card match. The Golden Bears were second to Stanford in Match 3 and third in Match 5.
Stanford was fifth entering the final day of competition and slid down a point. The Cardinal nudged past Cal in Match 3, the closest finish of the season, but then finished fourth (and behind Cal) in Match 5. Cal finished with 938 points, Stanford with 861.
Louisville picked up the seventh overall spot and the final Wild Card berth. It had five points in the standings and 769 overall. It was well ahead of Alabama, which also had five points but only an aggregate score of 652.
Michigan and Ohio State were eliminated entering the final match day. Georgia, Alabama and Auburn join them as the five teams who won’t continue in the competition.