Northwestern, Virginia remain No. 1 in Campbell/ITA College Tennis Rankings
UCLA women climb to No. 2, USC men to No. 3

SKILLMAN, N.J. – The 2010 ITA National Men’s and Women’s Team Indoor Champions each held onto their No. 1 ranking this week. Virginia has firmly held the position for four straight weeks now, since capturing the prestigious ITA Team Indoor title, while Northwestern claims the top spot for the second straight week and for the third time in four weeks after regaining No. 1 from ITA Team Indoor runner-up, North Carolina, after Northwestern suffered its first loss of the season to Notre Dame three weeks ago.

The Wildcats defeated two teams ranked in the top 75 with a 5-2 victory over 56^th-ranked Purdue and a 7-0 shutout over Indiana, which actually moved up two spots to No. 28. The Cavs swept a pair of unranked foes in Old Dominion and Georgetown before picking up their third win of the season over a top five opponent with a 9-4 victory at home over Texas.

This is the point in the season when the Campbell/ITA College Tennis Rankings switch from a poll to a computer point-per-match formula, which causes several changes throughout the rankings.

Follow the Leader:For the men, following Virginia is (in order): Tennessee, USC, Ohio State, Texas, Kentucky, Florida, UCLA, Georgia and Illinois. On the women's side, Northwestern is followed by: UCLA, Notre Dame, North Carolina, Florida, Michigan, Duke, California, Baylor and Clemson.

Conference Count: Men's Top 25: Pac-10 and SEC– 5; ACC and Big 12 – 4; Big Ten – 3; Big East, Mountain West, WAC and WCC - 1. Women’s Top 25: SEC – 7; ACC and Pac-10 – 5; Big East – 3; Big Ten – 2; Big 12, Colonial and Ivy – 1. Each of the six BCS Conferences have at least one team appearing in both the men’s and women’s top 10.

On the Move: Three teams joined the men’s top 25 rankings as Fresno State and Pepperdine returned after just missing the cut last week, moving up to 22 and 24, respectively. The lone first-timer to the top 25 in 2010 is Michigan, who slides into the 25 spot after a 5-2 win over No. 11 Cal boosted the Wolverines 11 spots. Another team to keep an eye on is Nebraska. The Huskers made the biggest leap from being unranked to No. 36, after capturing a big 6-1 upset win over Arizona on Sunday.

In the women’s rankings, there was a lot of movement from the 20^th spot through the 35^th spot, including four new teams that entered the top 25. What a week it was for South Carolina, knocking off two teams ranked in the top 20 in Arkansas and South Florida as well as conference rival, LSU. The wins propelled the Gamecocks 38 spots to land at No. 20 in this week’s rankings, fittingly, just ahead of South Florida. Fellow SEC member, Ole Miss, also entered the top 25, while a pair of Ivy League schools have made their way up the rankings as Yale snags the No. 24 spot, while Princeton appears just outside of the top 25 at No. 27.

Twice as Nice: Twelve schools have both their men’s and women’s programs ranked inside this week’s top 25.

Cavs Stampede ITA Attendance Race: The top-ranked Virginia men’s tennis team is also atop another ranking, the 2010 ITA Attendance Race. With 5,906 fans through February, the Cavaliers have drawn almost 4,000 more fans this season than any other school. Virginia won the inaugural ITA Attendance Challenge in 2008 and was the runner-up to Ole Miss last season.

Virginia, bolstered by large crowds for the 2010 ITA National Men's Team Indoor Championships in February, lead the challenge with 5,906 fans total and an average of 738 fans per match. The Cavaliers lead second-place Tulsa (1,992) by nearly 4,000 total fans this season and Mississippi (446 average) by nearly 300 fans per match.

The Cavaliers’ four matches at the ITA National Team Indoor Championships are the four largest single match crowds this season. Virginia drew 1,500 fans for the quarterfinal match against Georgia, 1,300 for the semifinal against Ohio State, 1,200 for the first round against Alabama and 1,000 for the championship match against Tennessee.

On the women’s side, two-time defending ITA Attendance Race Champion, Texas A&M, has yet to host a home match, leaving the door open for two Sunshine State rivals to take the early lead. Florida leads the overall attendance total as the only school to surpass the 1,000 with 1,164, while Florida State is atop the average attendance race with 218 fans per contest. The two also claimed the fifth highest match total from their duel in Gainesville, which drew 212 people in attendance.

Next Up: The next weekly National team rankings will be published Tuesday, March 16, along with the next singles and doubles rankings.

Campbell/ITA College Tennis rankings can be found at www.itatennis.com.