Handicapping 2017 USTA League Nationals - 18 & over 3.5 Men

Nationals for the 2017 USTA League 18 & over division gets started this weekend, and it wouldn't feel right to let it pass without a little preview and prediction.  I wrote about the 5.0+ men, and 5.0+ women, and 3.5 women, now the 3.5 men.

For all my previews, I'll be using my Estimated Dynamic NTRP Ratings and comparing teams using the top-8 (for 5 court levels) or top-5 (for 3 court levels) averages which gives an idea of who the best teams are, if they play their best players.  Who actually plays and the match-ups a captain is able to get obviously go a long way to determining who will win, but it is still interesting to compare "best" vs "best".  The actual detailed numbers along with full roster averages and by court played averages are available as part of a Flight Report which can still be purchased for any Nationals flight.  Contact me if interested.

The 3.5 men will be played in Surprise, AZ.  Florida is missing so there are the 16 teams and four flights each with four teams, so the flight winners will advance to the semis.

The favorites in the three flights are Texas, Southern California, Northern California, and Northern, but several flights are very close.

Ratings will clearly change as a result of the matches played, but right now, Northern Cal appears to be the favorite.

Good luck to all!