By Emily Mason<\/p>\n
PHOENIX, Ariz. November 28. NOW before the criticism comes, I AM BIASED. I went to Arizona and swam for four years, training with most of the current team members. But before any readers say my opinion is a waste of time, let me present the facts, yes facts. I did my research and am pleased with my results.<\/p>\n
The University of Arizona can win and will make a legitimate run at the NCAA team title this year. And I will go out on a limb and say I will be a little disappointed in my boys if they get anything less than first place.<\/p>\n
So here goes.<\/p>\n
If you take out all the graduating seniors and\/or people who have left for one reason or another, Arizona stands to lose a total of 12 points from last year's squad. Yes, just twelve points, and yes I am thinking about relays. Arizona lost two swimmers this year, Nate Stevens to graduation and Gerhard Zandberg to who knows what. And I can guess what you are thinking too, \u201cZandberg was on the 200 free relay (third), the 400 medley (second), and the 400 free relay (third).\u201d I\u2019ve thought of that too.<\/p>\n
Arizona has more than enough depth to replace Zandberg on the 200 and 400 free relays. For example, freshman Matt Barnard (20.69 and 45.43) is bound to improve under Rick DeMont\u2019s tutelage. As far as the medley relays go, there is Nick Thoman who placed higher than Zandberg in both backstroke events at NCAAs. Wait, I hear a pause, Thoman does need to regain his eligibility after a rough semester last spring, but I know he\u2019s a smart kid and will pull through for the Cats.<\/p>\n
So here\u2019s the breakdown, with no relays…yet.<\/p>\n
Arizona \u2013 201
\nStanford \u2013 158
\nAuburn \u2013 138
\nMichigan \u2013 127 (sorry John)
\nCal \u2013 101
\nSouthern Cal \u2013 96
\nFlorida \u2013 90
\nTexas \u2013 82<\/p>\n
So, I will highly disagree with the current rankings that place Auburn first, followed by Stanford, Cal, Michigan and Arizona in fifth. FIFTH! Okay, so relays do account for nearly half of all the points earned if not more, let\u2019s take a look.<\/p>\n
In the 200 free relay, reigning champ Cal lost powerhouse Duje Draganja, but retains Jonas Tilly and Michael Cavic. Ok, the Bears have the potential to repeat with their returnees. Auburn finished second and lost Ryan Wochomurka and sub-19 king Fred Bousquet. Ouch, somehow I don\u2019t see them doing so well. Arizona lost Zandberg and his 19.30, but substitutes Barnard with a 20.0. With that effort, Zona still clocks in at 1:17.66. That would place them in a tie for fifth at last year's NCAAs. Take out Auburn, that\u2019s third. Take out Kentucky, too, and there goes the tie (they lost two), and you\u2019ve got Cal and Stanford (Stanford lost Jayme Cramer). Assuming that\u2019s the way it goes, here move the points.<\/p>\n
Arizona \u2013 233
\nStanford \u2013 192
\nAuburn – 168
\nCal \u2013 141
\nMichigan – 127
\nFlorida \u2013 118
\nSouthern Cal – 108
\nTexas – 104<\/p>\n
Moving on to the 400 medley. Stanford is hurting with only one returning member and is out. Zona replaces Zandberg\u2019s 46.98 with Thoman\u2019s 47.40 and we\u2019ve got a 3:07.99. Auburn lost Bousquet, so I\u2019m going with Zona for the win and 40 more points. I\u2019ll give Auburn the number two spot, Northwestern, Florida, Stanford, So. Cal, Michigan, and Cal rounding it out, but I think Cal will do better. Not sure what to do with Texas, ninth?<\/p>\n
Arizona \u2013 273
\nStanford \u2013 220
\nAuburn \u2013 202
\nCal \u2013 163
\nMichigan \u2013 151
\nFlorida \u2013 148
\nSouthern Cal \u2013 134
\nTexas \u2013 122<\/p>\n
In the 200 medley, Zona\u2019s at third minus Zandberg\u2019s 19.15, which I will give directly to Thoman, so we end up with the same time if not better, 1:25.73. Stanford\u2019s out two and Cal is out one, so with Cal\u2019s ability to find sprinters I\u2019ll keep them at one, Zona two, then Northwestern, Florida, Stanford, Auburn, So. Cal, Texas or Michigan at eighth.<\/p>\n
Arizona \u2013 307
\nStanford \u2013 248
\nAuburn \u2013 228
\nCal \u2013 203
\nFlorida – 178
\nMichigan \u2013 173
\nSouthern Cal \u2013 158
\nTexas \u2013 144<\/p>\n
My favorite, the 800 free relay. This is going to be an awesome event to watch, Florida is down Adam Sioui and Michigan lost Andrew Hurd and Arizona and Auburn lost no one. Here comes the bias, Arizona, Florida, Michigan, Auburn, Texas, Stanford, Cal, Indiana.<\/p>\n
Arizona \u2013 347
\nStanford \u2013 274
\nAuburn \u2013 258
\nCal \u2013 227
\nFlorida \u2013 212
\nMichigan \u2013 205
\nTexas \u2013 172
\nSouthern Cal \u2013 168<\/p>\n
Bring on the hate mail, this relay is impossible to place and I can\u2019t wait to watch it. The top five listed here are going to be so close it is insane, never mind top five, the top eight. It\u2019s going to be awesome.<\/p>\n
Last of all we have the 400 free relay. I\u2019m going to go out on a limb with this one. Florida first, then Cal, Arizona, Stanford, Texas, Northwestern, Auburn, and Michigan.<\/p>\n
Arizona \u2013 379
\nStanford \u2013 304
\nAuburn \u2013 282
\nCal \u2013 261
\nFlorida \u2013 252
\nMichigan \u2013 227
\nTexas \u2013 200
\nSouthern Cal \u2013 186<\/p>\n
My math isn\u2019t great so try to appreciate the attempt. Diving has been excluded because I won\u2019t pretend to know anything about diving. This is, after all, an opinion and readers can take it anyway they like. Hypotheticals are for fun and this has been for me. So best of luck to all the NCAA swimmers, especially Arizona.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Emily Mason PHOENIX, Ariz. November 28. NOW before the criticism comes, I AM BIASED. I went to Arizona and swam for four years, training with most of the current<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"dois","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10319","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-featured","category-zzzzzzzzz"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\r\n