By Lee Feinswog and Larry Hamel
The NCAA’s National Collegiate Beach Championship bracket is set after a weekend that certainly gave the committee reason to ponder as it filled out the field.
The top seed in Gulf Shores, Alabama, will be UCLA, followed by TCU, two-time defending champion USC and Florida State.
The tournament previously was double-elimination, but this year it’s been changed to one and done. There were nine conference winners, which included their respective automatic bids, and eight at-large invitations.
Action on the Redneck Riviera begins at 4 p.m. Central on Wednesday when 16th-seeded UT Martin plays No. 17 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in a play-in match for the right to face UCLA.
There are eight matches Friday, which sets up Saturday’s quarterfinals and semifinals. The national-title match is Sunday.
Every match starting Friday will be shown by ESPN on one or more of its platforms, including Sunday’s noon Eastern championship on ESPN. The long-range forecast on Weather.com predicts that the temperatures will not break 80, which is amazing for Gulf Shores this time of year, but there is a possibility of thunderstorms on Saturday and Sunday.
Who’s in
1. UCLA, Pac-12 winner
2. TCU, CCSA winner
3. USC, at-large
4. Florida State, at-large
5. LSU, at-large
6. Loyola Marymount, WCC winner
7. Grand Canyon, at large
8. Cal, at-large
9. Long Beach State, Big West winner
10. Stanford, at-large
11. Hawai’i, at-large
12. FAU, Conference USA winner
13. FIU, at-large
14. Georgia State, Sun Belt winner
15. Stetson, ASUN winner
16. UT Martin, Ohio Valley winner
17. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Southland winner
The matchups
No 16 UT Martin vs. No. 17 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
UT Martin
Record: 27-8.
Coach: Jaclynn Wilson, sixth season (Wilson also coaches the Skyhawks’ indoor program).
The lineup in the last match and record on that court:
No. 1: Dylan Mott and Logan Wallick (16-9).
No. 2: Kambree Lucas and Olivia O’Keefe (20-7).
No. 3: Lucy Kaufman and Addy Vaughn (20-7).
No. 4: Haeleigh Paulino and Jenna Vallee (23-3).
No. 5: Kayla Carrell and Ryan Rednour (6-0).
Synopsis: UT Martin, riding a 10-dual winning streak, earned an automatic bid as champion of the Ohio Valley Conference, after entering its tournament as the No. 1 seed. The Skyhawks went 10-0 during OVC regular-season play and hold victories over two ranked AQ teams competing in the NCAA draw, Georgia State and Stetson.
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
Record: 24-9.
Coach: Gayle…
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