Griz get first-ever ITA national team ranking at No. 63

The Montana men's tennis team continued to make program history Wednesday, with the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) ranking the Grizzlies No. 63 this week – UM's first-ever national ranking.

Off to its best-ever start at 6-0 this spring, the Griz are the top-ranked team in the Big Sky Conference, and the third-highest ranked team in the ITA Mountain Region in this week's top-75, sitting only behind Utah (No. 26) and Denver (No. 54).

Now in his fifth year as head coach of the Griz, Jason Brown says this ranking has been a long time in the making and is a key building block for the team's future goals.

"This ranking reflects the growth this program has seen over the last 15 years. I don't think this is the best team that I've coached and definitely not the best team (former head coach) Kris Nord and I coached together. But I think we have the potential to become one of the best Grizzly teams ever," said Brown.

"So, it's cool to see some recognition and validation for this team. Coming out of the Big Sky Conference, getting nationally ranked is a difficult thing to do. Hopefully we're on our way to changing that."

The ITA Rankings Algorithm is based on an accumulation of win points and loss points, accounting for a win-loss record, the strength of schedule, and the depth or significance of wins and losses.

Montana has seen big success this season with a difficult strength of schedule, beating Air Force (ranked No. 69 this week) 4-3 on Jan. 16 and Boise State 4-3 on Feb. 4.

If the current rankings hold, Montana will play its first match in program history against another ranked opponent on March 18 when the Griz travel to Spokane to play Gonzaga. At 6-1 on the year, the Bulldogs slotted in at No. 46 on this week's ITA rankings.

Tennessee came in at No. 1 in the nation this week, while TCU checked in at No. 2 and Ohio State came in at No. 3. Baylor and USC rounded out the top five. Northern Arizona was the only other Big Sky team to be ranked in the top-75, slotting in at No. 68.

Montana will look to stay unbeaten this week as it opens Big Sky play on a three-match trip to Oregon. The Griz face George Fox and Pacific University on Friday and Saturday before opening league play at Portland State on Sunday.

ITA Division I Men's National Team Rankings – Feb. 23.

Rank	Team	Record
1	Tennessee	11-2
2	Texas Christian	12-1
3	Ohio State	11-1
4	Baylor	13-1
5	Southern California	7-2
6	South Carolina	11-2
7	Florida	7-2
8	Wake Forest	14-4
9	Stanford	8-2
10	Kentucky	9-3
11	Mississippi	10-3
12	Texas	7-5
13	Harvard	7-2
14	Northwestern	10-2
15	Georgia	6-3
16	North Carolina State	7-2
17	Virginia	6-5
18	Texas A&M	6-3
19	Arizona	11-2
20	Oklahoma	10-1
21	North Carolina	5-3
22	Mississippi State	7-3
23	Columbia	6-3
24	Florida State	8-2
25	Auburn	8-1
26	Utah	13-0
27	Notre Dame	7-2
28	Tulsa	6-3
29	Princeton	6-4
30	Middle Tennessee State	11-3
31	California	3-3
32	Duke	5-3
33	Florida Atlantic	8-0
34	Memphis	5-2
35	Miami	7-1
36	Michigan	4-2
37	Arkansas	8-3
38	San Diego	5-1
39	Louisiana	8-1
40	Georgia Tech	3-4
41	Pepperdine	3-4
42	Oregon	5-3
43	Louisville	5-4
44	Clemson	6-3
45	Old Dominion	4-4
46	Gonzaga	6-1
47	UCLA	4-3
48	Tulane	3-3
49	Charlotte	5-4
50	Texas Tech	6-5
51	Louisiana State	6-2
52	Cornell	8-2
53	Illinois	3-6
54	Denver	4-2
55	Wichita State	6-3
56	Monmouth	6-0
57	Liberty	3-4
58	Southern Methodist	5-3
59	Pennsylvania	6-1
T60	Penn State	6-3
T60	Furman	5-1
62	Texas, San Antonio	5-3
63	Montana	6-0
64	Vanderbilt	6-0
65	Rice	5-4
66	Nebraska	3-5
67	Oklahoma State	4-5
68	Northern Arizona	3-4
69	Air Force	8-4
70	Georgia State	3-4
71	UC Santa Barbara	5-3
72	San Francisco	3-2
73	UNC Wilmington	5-2
74	Western Michigan	2-4
75	Ball State	5-3

University of Montana Athletics

Griz get first-ever ITA national team ranking at No. 63

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