2021 Southern 18 & Over Sectionals are this weekend - Who are the favorites?

The Southern section is the largest in the USTA, and as such Sectionals are very competitive with the best teams from nine states coming together to decide who will advance on to Nationals.  The 18 & Over division has its event this weekend, and here is a quick preview.

I won't go into a ton of detail for this, but just highlight, in alphabetical order, the highest rated teams that are likely to advance to the semis.  For this analysis I'm using my Estimated Dynamic NTRP Ratings.

At the 2.5 level, for the women, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, and Tennessee are most likely to make the semis, while for the men, Georgia and Mississippi are the top-2 teams out of the five there.  And none of these teams are really 2.5s with several of these teams having top-5 averages over 2.8 or even 2.9.

At the 3.0 level, the women are likely to have Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, and Tennessee in the semis, with the men likely to have Arkansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, and Tennessee.  A bunch of these teams have top-8 averages over 3.1, a few over 3.2.

For the 3.5s, the top women's teams are both Alabama teams, Georgia, and Kentucky, while the men's are Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, and North Carolina.  Some of these teams have top-8 averages over 3.6.

The 4.0s women have as their top teams Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, and Tennessee.  The men have Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, and South Carolina.  For the men, a team with a top-8 average of over 4.00 is going to miss out on the semis.

At 4.5, the women are led by Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, and South Carolina, and the men have Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, and Tennessee.  None of these teams have top-8 averages over 4.5.

At 5.0 the women have the two South Carolina teams at the top of a five team flight, and the men have Georgia and North Carolina at the top of a six team flight.  Just one of all these teams has a top-5 average over 4.9.

I do offer reports for teams going to Sectionals to help, plan, scout, and prepare and it isn't too late to get them for this weekend, or any playoffs in any section or district.  I can do flight reports with a nice summary of all the teams, or team reports giving detailed information on a team.  Contact me if interested for more details.