TCU Men’s Tennis set to face 8-seed Kentucky in Elite 8

No. 1-seed TCU Men’s Tennis will face off against 8-seed Kentucky in the Elite 8 of the NCAA Tournament this afternoon at 3 p.m. CST.

Today’s match marks the 5th quarterfinals appearance in program history, and the first since 2015 (1986, 1996, 2001, 2015). Whereas the first three rounds were played in familiar territory at the Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center in Fort Worth, the Frogs will travel to Champaign, Illinois to continue their postseason run.

Considering the Frogs pulled off three straight sweeps in the first three rounds (12-0 combined), it’s safe to say they’re in good shape heading into their matchup with the Wildcats. This is the 2nd time in program history (2015) the Frogs have accomplished this feat, and they’ll be looking to make it four in a row for the first time ever this afternoon.

Although this recent success came on home turf, the Frogs have earned some of their biggest results of the season on the road. TCU is undefeated away from home this year, posting a perfect 7-0 record in road matches and another perfect 4-0 record in neutral site matches.

All four neutral-site victories came in the ITA Indoor National Championships, where the Frogs claimed the title. In other words, the Frogs have been there, done that when it comes to championship-caliber matches.

In order to reach the Elite 8, the Frogs took down Drake, 37th-ranked Utah, and 20th-ranked NC State by a combined score of 12-0.

These wins brought the Frogs' record to 26-4 overall, one of the best records in the country. Few teams compare to what the Frogs have accomplished this season, and the majority of those squads remain in the Elite 8.

Of the seven other remaining teams, the Frogs have already bested five of them, including Florida, Tennessee, Virginia, Ohio State, and Baylor. Michigan is the only team to get the best of TCU, while Kentucky serves as the only team the Frogs did not face in the regular season.

Although not quite as mighty as the Frogs’ resume, Kentucky more than earned their spot amongst the final eight teams.

The Wildcats earned their spot in Champaign, IL by way of a 4-2 win over 9-seed Wake Forest. Before that, Kentucky claimed victory in their regional by beating DePaul (4-0) and Northwestern (4-2).

Throughout the regular season, the Wildcats were no joke. They finished as runner-up in the SEC after falling to the current No. 2 overall seed Florida in the conference championship match. The Wildcats' 24-7 regular season featured wins against Tennesee, Mississippi State, Texas A&M, and LSU.

TCU will look to continue its dominant start to the NCAA tournament by qualifying for the Final Four for just the second time in program history (2015). The Frogs are now three matches away from claiming yet another NCAA Title, and this next chapter of the tournament begins today with the Wildcats.

The match gets underway at 3 p.m. CST and can be live-streamed on the TennisONE app, or follow along with the Frogs O’ War Twitter (@FrogsOWar) to keep up with the highlights from the match!