Top 5 Can’t-Miss NCAA Dual Meets Between Now And Conference Season

With just a month left until conference championships begin, here are the five biggest dual meets remaining for the NCAA season. In no particular order…

Texas/NC State/UVA/ASU- January 24-25

The quad meet of the NCAA season features all eight teams ranked in the top 25 including the #1 ranked Virginia women and #1 ranked Texas men. It also features the reigning NCAA Champions of Arizona State on the men’s side who are now under their first season with head coach Herbie Behm after Bob Bowman took the job at Texas.

Gretchen Walsh has been on fire this season and Alex Walsh made her return to the team after knee surgery this fall. Olympic medalist Katie Grimes already made waves in her first meet with the team as she arrived for the spring semester. Texas also had a big spring addition with Olympian Chris Guiliano.

Stanford vs Cal- January 31

A former Pac-12 now turned ACC dual meet features four top ranked teams. The Stanford women saw Torri Huske return from a historic summer in Paris while the Cal women return Isabelle Stadden for her fifth year. Andrei Minakov leads the Stanford men while Jack Alexy and Destin Lasco are the big names for Cal.

The Cal women earned the win last year, despite having a lower finish at NCAAs as they won 155.5-145.5 but Stanford went on to finish 5th at NCAAs. The men’s side also saw the winning team finish lower at NCAAs as Stanford won 170-130. Cal finished 2nd at Men’s NCAAs.

Tennessee vs Georgia- January 25

A meet that is a part of Kyle Sockwell’s dual meet tour, the SEC showdown will not disappoint. Luca Urlando has made his return to Georgia while Jordan Crooks and the Tennessee men look primed for another top finish at NCAAs. Those two athletes could potentially have a big showdown in the 100 butterfly.

The Tennessee women are ranked #5 while Georgia sits at #13. The team’s have their different strengths, as Georgia is stronger at the longer freestyle events while Tennessee has strengths in the sprints but there are top names on both sides such as Camille Spink of Tennessee and Abby McCulloh of Georgia.

Louisville vs Indiana- January 31

The Indiana men were ranked #2 in the most recent Power Rankings which came out before the news of the arrival of Olympic bronze medalist Caspar Corbeau. Corbeau made his IU debut in the dual meet against Michigan.

The women’s meet looks to be closer than the men’s with the #7 Indiana women and #9 Louisville women. Gabi Albiero is back for her fifth year with the Cardinals while Anna Peplowski has been firing on all cylinders for the Hoosiers. Indiana won the meet a year ago 181-119.

Ohio State vs Michigan- January 18

With the teams competing in the biggest rivalry in sports, Michigan and Ohio State face off again. Ohio State earned the sweep a year ago but Michigan will look to turn things around this year.

Michigan is ranked higher on both sides with the #10 ranked women and #13 men while Ohio State sits at #14 on the women’s side and #16 on the men’s. The women’s 200 free looks to be one of the best races of the meet as Sienna Angove has already made waves as a first-year at OSU with a 1:43.54 while Stephanie Balduccini leads the way for the Wolverines with a 1:41.85 from midseason.