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The NCAA Division I men’s and women’s championships begin this weekend with first and second round play at campus locations nationwide.

The brackets were released on Monday (men’s draw, women’s draw). Our panel of experts tackled a few questions about the tournament fields before all the action begins. Part II of our Roundtable will appear Friday morning.

What were the best storylines during the regular season?

Colette Lewis, Zoo Tennis

The quest for an undefeated season for the North Carolina women would be a nominee, as would NC State freshman Diana Shnaider's run at the Australian Open and her defeat of WTA No. 13 Veronika Kudermetova last month, which brought plenty of welcome attention to the level of Division I college tennis. But I would have to choose the eligibility process as the top (certainly not best) storyline this season. The months that it took to get Shnaider, TCU's Jack Pinnington Jones and Southern California's Learner Tien cleared to play may have increased suspense as the weeks and months went by, but the length of time these cases took to resolve is another reminder that the NCAA's priorities don't include tennis.

Julie Wrege, Tennis Recruiting Network

My “best storyline” is not about a team or a match result. Rather it is about a player.

It has been fun for me to follow the maturation of redshirt freshman Ethan Quinn at the University of Georgia this season. He entered Georgia in January of 2022 as the undisputed No. 1 junior in the nation and lived up to this hype -- being named the SEC Freshman of the Year. The Fresno, California native was pre-ranked as the No. 1 singles player in the nation, so the pressure on him was immense. He finished the conference season with a 10-1 record in singles, including 15 ranked wins overall.

Alex Gruskin, Editor-in-Chief of Cracked Racquets

Choosing the best storylines from the 2023 season feels like choosing the best cast member in Ocean’s 11.

In the Brad Pitt/George Clooney/Julia Roberts Roles: The presence of an active WTA Top 100 Player (NC State’s Diana Shnaider), all of the eligibility drama (JPJ, Learner Tien), a UNC women’s roster that doubles as the cast of the next Avengers movie, TCU/Texas Acts 1-4, the Iowa State Women (!!!!), how deep the sport currently is, and perhaps most importantly…COLLEGE TENNIS AS A PATHWAY TO THE PROS (see Shelton, Collins, Norrie, Stearns, and more)!!!!

Your nominees for best supporting storylines: A Duke men’s resurgence, the Vanderbilt women’s roller coaster, the SMU men clawing their way into the tournament, NCAA Individuals on the move, the Utah men (!!), the impending coaching carousel (will be sneaky fun) and the exciting degree of uncertainty heading into May.

Chris Halioris, College Tennis Ranks

Always a lot of great storylines, but I like to look at these from the standpoint of teams that stood out compared to expectations. For the men, that's Texas, Georgia and Utah. We knew Texas had talent, but the Longhorns have really put it all together and positioned themselves as the front-runner. Georgia is just a great feel-good story, primarily with the resurgence of Trent Bryde. Finally, Utah almost getting a host spot and missing by the narrowest of margins. But what a year for the Utes. Outside of teams, I think the surprise additions and eligibility circumstances for Jack Pinnington Jones and Learner Tien were fun stories as well.

For the women, the story has been the flat out dominance by North Carolina... until ACC Tournament final. And with the flip of NC State and Georgia in the seedings, the fact that we could get an NCAA Final between UNC and NC State after that conference final is just juicy. Honorable mention goes to the Iowa State women as it’s great to see new blood mixing it up with the blue chips.

Joey Dillon, Title IX Newsletter/TRN Contributor

On the men’s side, I think the back-and-forth between Texas and TCU has been a blast. The matchups have been high-quality and are super tight. The matches have been really what college tennis is all about - especially their last regular-season battle in Austin. The margins were razor thin and could’ve gone TCU’s way. Their 2023 series is tied 2-2 and the odds are pretty good for a fifth matchup to determine the national champion.

For the women, two stick out. First, the coming out story of Iowa State. A program that has to rely on international players having quite the season. I loved the Cyclones’ Cinderella run at Indoors. Also, NC State having WTA Top 100 Diana Shnaider has helped the program reach more firsts, but I think also helping the future of the game. With Shnaider playing, recruits who are Top 250 can play the Slams AND have their college eligibility.

What Super Regional match-ups would you like to see?

Lewis: Two schools have both their men's and women's teams in the top eight, which would mean hosting the Super Regionals next weekend: Georgia and Michigan. While Athens is always worth a trip, I will probably set my sights on Ann Arbor. The No. 5 Michigan women have already posted a victory over their projected opponent, No. 12 Virginia, but it was a competitive match at the National Team Indoor Championships, with the Wolverines taking it 4-2. The No. 7 Michigan men also have a 4-1 victory over their likely Super Regional guest Southern California, but that was back in February, long before Learner Tien was cleared to play. Last year, the top eight men's and women's seeds all advanced to the final site; I don't see that happening again this year, with the No. 10 USC men and No. 9 Pepperdine women two of the reasons why.

Wrege: Men: South Carolina having to play at Tennessee will be bittersweet for the Gamecocks. For some reason the 8-9 rankings were reversed, so USC will travel to Knoxville for the rematch. Tennessee won the conference match in early April seemingly convincingly 6-1, but all doubles went to tiebreaks and the singles were very close. It could be a wild, loud time in Knoxville in two weeks.

Women: The 8-9 matchup between Pepperdine and Texas should be a great matchup. Both teams are used to going deep in the NCAAs and they have not met this year, so I would like to be in Austin that weekend.

When I first saw the draw, I immediately wanted to go to the Gainesville regional this weekend to see my alma mater, Georgia Tech.This regional is strong with the Gators hosting Tech, UCF and North Florida.

Gruskin:

The unequivocal biggest question heading into Selection Monday: Where would the USC men (now fielding a freshly eligible 2022 KZoo champ Learner Tien) land in the draw? The 10th-seeded Trojans will host their opening two rounds of NCAA play before a potential trip to Ann Arbor. Given the lack of outdoor cameras at Michigan’s Varsity Tennis Center, I’d wager even the G.O.A.T (Colette Lewis) will make an in-person appearance for that match.

Some other potential 2023 regular-season rematches: NC State/Miami women Part II (Miami def. NC State during the regular season), UVA/Michigan women Part II (as good as UM’s been in 2023, feels like it’s Orlando or bust), UGA/Oklahoma women Part II, UVA/Duke men Part III. Also should it happen…watching the Arizona Men compete in Columbus would be very fun.

Halioris: There is zero question what the most anticipated Super Regional for the men is: Michigan vs USC. We said that once Learner Tien became eligible whoever drew USC was not going to be happy, it's just even hotter with the fact that it's our good buddy Alex Gruskin's alma mater.

I think there are more interesting Super Regional possibilities on the women's side. I love Pepperdine vs Texas at Texas after Pepperdine probably lost out on that No. 8 seed and chance to host on the final weekend. I also love Duke vs Iowa State, Georgia vs Oklahoma and Stanford vs Ohio State.

Dillon: On the men’s side, my most-anticipated one is Michigan vs. USC. I think there could be some really fun matchups in doubles and at the top of the lineup there. I don’t know if the Trojans have enough juice to upset the Wolverines though, but that would be a lot of fun to watch.

For the women, Texas vs. Pepperdine is the one I zoned in on first. You have to love an 8 vs. 9 battle, especially when it’s an 2021 NCAA Championship rematch. NC State vs. Miami can be a nail-biter, and I’m biased, but I would love to see the Buckeyes take out Stanford at the Farm.

**Editor’s Note: Part 2 of our NCAA Roundtable will appear on Friday.