Nebraska Men's Tennis Earns No. 4 Seed

Kansas City, Mo. ? The Nebraska men's tennis team earned the No. 4 seed at the 2007 Big 12 Men's Tennis Championships on Friday, beating out Oklahoma and Texas Tech for the position. The Huskers are now schedule to compete against No. 5 Oklahoma on Friday at 3 p.m. at the Plaza Tennis Center in Kansas City, Mo.

Seeding came down to the wire with tournament play scheduled to begin on Friday at 9 a.m. and conference dual matches not wrapping up until the late hours of Thursday night. With the No. 1, 2, 3 and 7 seeds already established, the Huskers awaited the completion of a match between 31st-ranked Oklahoma and No. 35 Texas Tech before they would know whether they would be seeded No. 4, 5 or 6.  A three-way tie between Nebraska, Oklahoma and Texas Tech ensued when the Sooners defeated the Red Raiders, 4-3, on Thursday night. 

With all three teams recording a 2-4 record in conference play, the seeding was established by determining the total number of points earned by each team in the singles competition when competing against one another. Nebraska gained the advantage and earned the No. 4 seed as they led the group with eight points, followed by Texas Tech with seven and Oklahoma with six. After the three-way tie was broken, the process returned to head-to-head results, with Oklahoma beating Texas Tech for the No. 5 and 6, respectively.

Nebraska and Oklahoma have met twice already this season and stand even at 1-1, with Nebraska holding the most recent victory. With the No. 4 seed, Nebraska matches its highest spot at the Big 12 Championships, which it first gained in 1999. That year also marks the last time the Huskers won a match in the Big 12 Tennis Championships when they entered the tournament with a 10-12 overall record, 4-4 in the Big 12. The win in 1999 also marks the only win that the Nebraska men’s tennis team has earned in the Championships since the inception of the Big 12 in 1996.