The big Mid-May crush of conference championships now has the field for the 2023 NCAA D1 Championship halfway to being set: all 11 Automatic Qualifiers (AQs) went to the conference winners over the weekend, and on Tuesday evening, the NCAA will announce the 11 At-Large bids which will round out the D1 field.
Four of those AQs got settled with Friday racing—-as we covered in our Friday report here—-and over the weekend, the top ranked teams in each of the remaining seven conferences took care of business, though there was some fierce racing, particularly at the Ivy Championships which we covered here in a full report from Worcester.
It was a lot to track--even if you were camped out on the row2k Results page--but in racing across the country, #2 Texas claimed the Big 12 title, #4 Stanford won the Pac-12, #9 Virginia took the ACC title, #12 Southern Methodist earned the American Athletic Conference bid, and Gonzaga came away with the WCC's AQ spot. All five repeated as conference winners this year, though the streaks varied from new--Stanford's 2 in a row and SMU's 3 in row--to long, with Texas' and Gonzaga's 8 in a row, to epic, as Virginia's streak ran to 13 in a row and 22 overall.
Across these last 7 AQ's--to include Princeton's repeat win in the Ivy League--only the Big 10 Conference crowned a new champ, as #11 Michigan won out this year over a #13 Ohio State team that fell just short of replicating last year's upset to swipe the bid from the favored Wolverine squad.
Pac-12: Stanford Rules West Again
The #4 Stanford Cardinal repeated as the Pac-12 champion, winning both the First Eight and Four over second-place Washington. UW did take the Second Eight race from Stanford, and was second in the Four as well, but that was not enough to keep Stanford from sewing up the automatic bid. California took third in each of the three NCAA events.
This was Stanford's first back-to-back win at Pac-12s and their third title over all. Stanford has been a force in the past two NCAA Championships, tying for the overall points both years, only to lose the title to Texas via the First Eight tie-breaker both times.
They will head back to the Championships having only lost to Texas this year in the NCAA events, back at the San Diego Crew Classic, and once--in the Four--to Brown at the Big Ten Invitational.
#6 Washington, #7 Cal, and USC--by just one point over #19 Oregon State--rounded out the top four team places and figure to be in the mix for At-Large invitations, which will be announced during the NCAA D1 Selection Show on Tuesday.
Big 12: Texas' Long-Haul Longhorns Win Again
The two-time defending NCAA Champs, #2 Texas, put up another set of impressive 20-seconds-plus margins against the Big 12 field as they swept to another conference crown. It was title number 8 in their current streak, and the Longhorns have won 12 of 14 conference titles at this point.
Texas opened the year at #1 in the rankings, but did drop races in all three NCAA events to Princeton on the road in New Jersey in late April. At that regatta, their Second Eight finished behind both Yale and the Tigers, which bumped Texas to #2 in the Coaches Poll.
ACC: Virginia Takes Title But 'Cuse Captures 1V
One year ago, #9 Virginia out-raced its seedings to sweep the finals and keep its ACC title streak going. This weekend, Virginia came in as the top seed in the Second Eight and the Four, and kept the streak intact by winning both to lock up the points race again.
In the First Eight Final, however, it was Syracuse who living up to the promise of its #1 seed and held on to win the final race of the day over Virginia. It was only the second time in 22 years that Virginia did not win the Varsity Eight at the ACCs.
Syracuse, who came into the conference championships polling just one spot behind Virginia, at #10, took second overall again this year on the strength of that 1V finish, but will rely on its strong season and that Varsity Eight's speed for an At-Large bid. #14 Duke, who took third at ACCs and finished ahead of Syracuse in both the Second Eight and Four, also stays in the mix for a bid from the Committee on Tuesday. Notre Dame and Miami rounded out the top 5 teams at ACCs this year.
Big 10: Michigan Makes Good
In 2022, Ohio State upset their favorite rivals from Michigan, but this year's #13 Michigan squad held serve with wins in the First Eight and Four--while #13 Ohio State's points advantage after winning the Second Eight evaporated when #15 Indiana grabbed the silver by half a canvas over the Buckeyes, prevailing in the three boat battle that developed behind Michigan's open water win.
That one place differential cost Ohio State the points they needed to keep the title, and Michigan will head to the NCAAs with the Big Ten's AQ bid.
Ohio State remains a strong contender in the At-Large Pool, as does #15 Indiana, who earned their highest conference finish ever when the 1V's silver vaulted them into third place overall. The other two Big Ten teams in the Top 20 of the latest poll, #16 Rutgers--who took fourth in that three boat tussle for the 1V podium--and #18 Iowa, took fourth and fifth in the team standings.
AAC: Southern Methodist Gallops Onward
SMU won every event at the American Athlete Conference racing in Oak Ridge to lock up their third title and a return trip to the NCAAs. The Mustangs finished 12th as a team at NCAAs in 2022.
Tulsa took second in the AAC, but SMU is the only team in the conference currently polling in the top 20, so additional At-Large bids are unlikely this year for the American.
WCC: Gonzaga Goes Dancing Again
In the WCC, Gonzaga again ran the table, as they have for the past eight championships. When they get to NCAAs in New Jersey, the Zags will look to improve on their 18th place finish from last year. In 2022, Gonzaga put both their First Eight and Four into the C Finals.
Gonzaga, like SMU in the American, was the only WCC in the latest polls, and will likely be the sole representative of their conference at this year's NCAA Championship.
At-Large Bids Announced Tuesday
The remaining 11 D1 places at the 2023 NCAAs will be revealed on NCAA D1 Selection Show on Tuesday. You can find broadcast information here for watching the selections live at 6:30 EDT on May 16th.
As it stands, six of the teams polling in the top 20 have secured spots via this post weekend racing for AQs, so that does leave 14 ranked teams for just 11 spots. This means there are a few teams perched on the bubble who will be hoping their regular season results and performances this past weekend will stand up and earn them a bid to join the Championship field.
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