News
Conference call, April 20
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The tricky part about predictions is that they can make you look foolish quickly. Case in point: there was no doubt in my mind that the Jackson State men were going to win the SWAC title earlier this week. After all, they had claimed top honors in the conference the past 19 years. So it is, then, that we have to give loads of credit to Texas Southern, which overcame a nine-stroke deficit in the final round Tuesday, shot a tournament best 293 and knocked off Jackson State by 12 shots. Kudos to coach Hank Stewart and the two top performers, Jacob Sriven and Devon Robinson, who each claimed a share of medalist honors.
That said, here is a look at this weekend's conference tilts, with an educated guess at what we might see happen:
__WOMEN
Field: __BYU, Colorado State, New Mexico, San Diego State, TCU, UNLV, Wyoming
__2006 champions: __UNLV, by five strokes over New Mexico; Da Sol Chung, UNLV (playoff victory)*
Skinny:The Rebels are looking for a fourth straight title but seem vulnerable, having failed to win in 2006-07 and posting just three top-five finishes in nine starts. Adding to their woes is that Chung, hampered by an injured right shoulder, is not in the lineup for a third straight event. New Mexico is the favorite to end the streak, with BYU not far behind and TCU being a dark horse.
For live scoring, link here to Golfstat
__[
Colonial Athletic
](http://www.caasports.com/SportSelect.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=8500&KEY=&SPID=3438&SPSID=43059)
Field: __Dayton, Georgia State, Hofstra, James Madison, Old Dominion, Richmond, Towson, UNC-Wilmington, William & Mary, Xavier
__2006 champions: __Georgia State, by 22 strokes over UNC-Wilmington; Lisbeth Meincke, Georgia State
__Skinny:__This appears to be the year UNC-Wilmington claims its first CAA crown after finishing runner-up in the two seasons since moving from the Big South Conference.
__[
Ivy
](http://www.ivyleaguesports.com/index.asp)
Field: __Brown, Columbia, Dartmouth, Harvard, Pennsylvania, Princeton, Yale
__2006 champions: __Yale, by five strokes over Harvard; Emily Balmert, Harvard*
__Skinny:Bad weather forced last year's tournament to be shortened to 27 holes.Balmert's victory was the first by a player from a school other than Princeton or Yale since the tournament's inception in 1997. Princeton started the season with two straight wins, is coming off a victory at the Hoya Invitational earlier this month and is the choice to go on to its fifth Ivy title. Watch for Bulldog senior Cindy Shin on the individual side; she was medalist in 2005 and runner-up a year ago. __
For live scoring, link here to Golfstat
__[
SEC
](http://www.secsports.com/index.php?s=&change_well_id=2&url_article_id=8786)
Field: __Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU, Mississippi, Mississippi State, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vanderbilt
__2006 champions: __Auburn, by one stroke over Tennessee; Maria Martinez, Auburn
Skinny:This could be the most entertaining conference championship of the entire post-season, with four teams ranked in the top 10 in the most recent Golf World/NGCA coaches' poll competing (Georgia, Auburn, Vanderbilt, Florida) and seven in the top 25 (Tennessee, Arkansas, Alabama). The Tigers are going for a third straight victory and have had a solid spring, although the Gators are the squad coming in with perhaps the most momentum. Individually, five of the top 25 on the Golfstat ranking are in the field (Florida's Sandra Gal, Vanderbilt's__Jacqui Concolino, Georgia's__Taylor Leon, Arkansas' Stacy Lewis and Alabama's__Jenny Suh__). Any of the five could win on any given week. Our picks? Auburn and Concolino.
For live scoring, link here to Golfstat
__
MEN
Field: __Boston College, Clemson, Duke, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Maryland, North Carolina, N.C. State, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest
2006 champions: Georgia Tech, North Carolina (tie); Cameron Tringale, Georgia Tech*
__Skinny:__The tournament returns to the Old North State Club for the 11th time in 12 years and is pretty wide open, with Clemson, Georgia Tech, North Carolina and Wake Forest the more realistic bets to take the title. The final round, meanwhile, will be broadcast on the Internet (click here to get to the link.) Sadly the event also will have a somber tone to it as Virginia Tech arrives in the wake of the tragic shooting on campus this Monday and Duke comes to the tournament less than a month after the death of its coach, Rod Myers.
For live scoring, link here to Golfstat
__[
Colonial
](http://www.caasports.com/SportSelect.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=8500&KEY=&SPID=3450&SPSID=43046)
Field: __Delaware, Drexel, George Mason, Georgia State, Hofstra, James Madison, Old Dominion, Towson, UNC-Wilmington, VCU, William & Mary
__2006 champions: __Georgia State, by 22 strokes over VCU; Mark Haastrup, Georgia State*
__Skinny:__Georgia State remains the head of the class in the CAA, ranking in the top 25 of the Golf World/Nike Golf coaches' poll all season. The Panthers are going for their third straight conference title and second CAA since joining a year ago. Expect a Panther to claim medalist honors too, either Haastrup or Joel Sjoholm being the likely candidates
__[
Ivy
](http://www.ivyleaguesports.com/)
Field: __Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Pennsylvania, Princeton, Yale
__2006 champions: __Princeton, by one stroke over Columbia; Larry Haertel, Brown*
__Skinny:__Princeton is eyeing its fourth straight league title and 20th since the tournament began in 1975. Haertel has a good shot at becoming the first player to repeat individually since Princeton's Steve Dana in 1993-94; he just came off winning the New England Championship, becoming the first golfer from Brown to claim that title since the event was first played in 1934.
For live scoring, link here to Golfstat
__[
SEC
](http://www.secsports.com/index.php?s=&change_well_id=2&url_article_id=8785)
Field: __Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU, Mississippi, Mississippi State, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vanderbilt
__2006 champions: __Georgia, by one stroke over Florida; Brett Stegmaier, Florida
Skinny: Like the women's side, the SEC is arguably the deepest conference in the country, with three different schools holding the top spot in the Golf World/Nike Golf coaches' poll during the 2006-07 season (Alabama, Florida and current No. 1 Georgia). The Bulldogs, however, have too much momentum (three wins in their last four starts) on their side to be stopped at Sea Island. Florida sophomore Billy Horschel is my guess as the spoiler that keeps Georgia from claiming the team and individual titles.
For live scoring, link here to Golfstat