Prior to the announcement that Hady Habib was returning to the A&M program after a year away, the host team was going to be a significant underdog to make it through. Now we've got a ballgame. But before we get ahead of ourselves let's look at the Saturday matches.
The Aggies should have no problems with Western Michigan on Saturday and will look to make quick work of things and get rested up for a dogfight Sunday.
The other Saturday match will feature Cal vs Virginia, but 2nd seeded Cal will be a prohibitive underdog in this one. Virginia had a rebuilding year last year and brought in some talented players, most notably Gianni Ross. This season they get Henrik Wiersholm back after a medical red-shirt year, brought in Ryan Goetz in the fall and then had the biggest January signing of any program in the country with Kalamazoo runner up Brandon Nakashima joining the team. The top 4 of the Virginia lineup are going to be scary good if they manage to stay healthy. Cal's top 4 are almost interchangeable but they will be at a decided disadvantage at 1 and 2 and will also be underdogs down low. These guys from Cal are fighters and I don't expect them to go down easy, but in the end I think Virginia will just be too much.
If those matches go as predicted, it will setup a showdown between Texas A&M and Virginia on Sunday. I think A&M gets a win from Habib and finds one more but I think the Hoos emerge victorious here.
Predictions:
Virginia 4, California 2