With Championship season coming up, swim fans everywhere are starting to get pumped up for the pending conference championship meets. Every meet has its own story-line, its own drama, its own intrigue, and most importantly its own Champion, and they are all special and unique for their own reasons. We will do more in-depth conference previews, but we want to know which one you’re most looking forward to.
Pac-10
The Pac-10 certainly has the most names attending. Both the men’s and women’s sides have 4 teams in the top-7 in the latest CSCAA rankings, including both #1’s. There will be a ton of great individual matchups, like Thomas Shields versus Austin Staab in the 100 fly. For the women, it will be the best measure yet of two of the biggest National Championship hopefuls, Stanford and USC, as well as darkhorses Cal who have come on strong. Every race is fireworks at this meet. Also watch to see if the Stanford men can keep their streak of 30-straight conference titles alive against a tough Cal team.
SEC
The Georgia women have the best National Championship hopes out of this conference, but that doesn’t mean they’re the favorites to win the meet. That’s what makes the SEC meet so special every year. The meet is so loaded and deep that rarely is the conference champion the highest ranked team at NCAA’s, so a conference championship takes on a little extra meaning. We will see how Brett Hawke brings things together at Auburn after a less-than-Auburn-like 2010, but a VERY Auburn-like 2011 so far. The best matchup of this meet will be Ariana Vanderpool-Wallace from Auburn against Jane Trepp from LSU in the sprint freestyles. Both are world-class. Sleeper to scare people is the Alabama men, who have a freshman class that has swum out of their minds this year.
Big-12
In the Big 12, there’s not much mystery about who will win the men’s meet, but it will be awesome to see the powerful Longhorns battle amongst themselves for spots on the NCAA roster. Don’t count out A&M to make some noise in a few races, especially the distance events and breaststrokes. On the women’s side, A&M has dominated the meet of late, including winning three out of the last four Big 12 titles. That could change this year, as A&M graduated a big class, and Texas loaded up with another batch of strong recruits. Both teams always show up for the conference title, however, and this will be no different. The matchup to watch is Laura Sogar of Texas versus freshman Breeja Larson in the 100 breaststroke. Also keep an eye on Iulia Kuzhill from Kansas, who will make the country sit up and notice the Jayhawk swim team this spring.
Big East
The Louisville squads seem to be the best here, and they are also probably the best dual-meet teams that nobody ever talks about. There’s not a ton of big-names in this conference, but definitely watch the men’s 100 breaststroke. Led by second-nationally Carlos Almeida, Louisville has one of the best groups in the country in this stroke.
ACC
The Virginia squads have dominated this conference for the past 3 years. While they still have the biggest names (National Teamers Matt McLean and Scot Robison for the men, Rachel Naurath and Lauren Perdue for the women), the rest of the conference has caught up this year. It’s not the big names who will win this meet, it’s the depth that will win this meet, and North Carolina and Florida State have plenty of it. The result of the men’s 100 free will say a ton about who will win this meet, as Florida State’s Robert Hayes, Virgina’s Scot Robison, and North Carolina’s Steven Cebertowicz all have best times of 43.8 this season.
Big Ten
What to make of the Big Ten this season. For the first time in recent memory, neither the men nor the women have a squad ranked in the top 10. But this meet is going to be a tighter battle than any other one in the country. Check out the bunchings on these teams rankings. Men: #11 Ohio State, #13 Indiana, #13 Michigan, #15 Minnesota. Women: #13 Minnesota, #14 Indiana, #15 Michigan, #17 Wisconsin, #18 Ohio State, #19 Purdue. This all sets up for a hugely competitive meet that will surely be undecided until the final relays. I’ll be on the edge of my seat for Wisconsin’s Ashley Wanland versus Michigan’s Jilian Tyler in the 100 breaststroke in an NCAA-Finals Preview.
Other/Mid-Majors
Every Mid-Major meet has it’s own special feel to it. They don’t usually have the glitz and the glam surrounding the other conferences, but they’re certainly exciting. Among these, the one to watch is the Mountain West Conference and leaders UNLV. This is a team that will have their name all over the scoreboards at NCAA’s. These meets are also special because the have a more blue-collar feel to them, with athletes who train like crazy for little-to-no recognition.
