NCAA Tournament Opens with SMU – Stanford Cardinal

– The Cardinal heads to Norman, Oklahoma for the regional stage of the NCAA Tournament, starting with a Friday morning clash with No. 44 SMU. The winner will face either UT Arlington or the regional host, No. 11 Oklahoma, in the round of 32.
– Stanford won the Pac-12 regular season championship on April 20, defeating California, 4-1, to clinch the title. The conference championship was the first for the program since winning the outright title in 2021. The 2024 version is shared with Arizona.
– Stanford is 17-6 this season with wins over Saint Mary’s, Memphis, Pepperdine, Sacramento State, UC Davis, California (2x), UNLV, USC (2x), Oregon, Washington (2x), Arizona, Arizona State (2x) and Utah. The Cardinal went 7-1 in the Pac-12 to win the league.
– Stanford moved to 19th in the latest ITA Rankings. Nishesh Basavareddy (16) and Samir Banerjee (55) are included in the latest ITA singles rankings, while the duo of Max Basing and Nico Godsick is ranked No. 62 and the tandem of Banerjee and Basavareddy is No. 85. Max Basing, Neel Rajesh and Kyle Kang have also been ranked earlier this season.
– Basavareddy was named the Pac-12 Singles Player of the Year, becoming Stanford’s 21st winner of the honor and the second in a row after Arthur Fery won last season. An All-Pac-12 first team honoree, Basavareddy joins five teammates with all-conference accolades: Samir Banerjee (first team), Max Basing (second team), Kyle Kang (second team), Neel Rajesh (second team) and Nico Godsick (honorable mention).
– Samir Banerjee and Neel Rajesh co-lead the team with 14 singles wins this season, while six players are in double-digits for singles wins, along with Kyle Kang (12), Max Basing (12), Nishesh Basavareddy (12) and Hudson Rivera (11). Basavareddy is 12-1 with all 10 wins in the top position, and he holds an unblemished 7-0 mark against Pac-12 foes.
– Stanford holds a winning record at each singles slot in dual play: No. 1 (16-2), No. 2 (10-7), No. 3 (9-6), No. 4 (13-3), No. 5 (11-4), No. 6 (15-3), and each doubles position: No. 1 (9-7), No. 2 (11-6) and No. 3 (11-6).
– The Cardinal has advanced to the NCAA Super Regionals on the road in each of the past two seasons, taking out hosts Harvard in 2022 and Columbia in 2023. The Cardinal has reached the Super Regional stage in five of the last seven seasons.
– Stanford is 10-1 all-time against SMU and 4-0 against the Mustangs in NCAA Tournament competition. Stanford has never faced UT Arlington and is 3-0 against…