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Texas-Cal Coming Down to the Wire

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NCAA Men’s Championships: Texas-Cal Showdown Coming Down to the Wire (Finals Heat Sheet)

The Texas Longhorns took a 55.5-point lead over Cal entering the final day of the NCAA Men’s Championships while Indiana was only 8.5 points behind the Golden Bears. As expected, the title will come down to the final races of the meet after Cal made a statement Saturday morning, securing 11 scoring swims for the finals session.

Click here to view the Saturday evening heat sheet.

Texas will have Hubert Kos aiming for his third national title of the meet in the 200 backstroke while Will Modglin also races in the A-final, but Cal can expect a boatload of points with three-time defending champion Destin LascoGabriel Jett and Mewen Tomac finishing second, third and fifth, respectively. The Golden Bears also have Keaton Jones and Humberto Najera in the consolation heat.

The 100 freestyle should be more even as both Cal and Texas have one swimmer in the A-final, Jack Alexy for Cal and Chris Guiliano for Texas, while Cal has two B-finalists to just Luke Hobson for Texas. The 200 breaststroke could be something of a wash, with Yamato Okadome squeezing into the A-final for Cal by six hundredths but two Texas swimmers making the consol heat.

Dare Rose is a major player for Cal in the 200 butterfly, and Frank Applebaum made the B-final, but Texas countered with Cooper Lucas swimming a best time and tying for 14th.

Still to be decided are the 1650 freestyle, platform diving and the 400 free relay. Cal is seeded fourth in the relay with Texas seventh, but in the mile, David Johnston and Rex Maurer are seeded to finish 1-3, but with Cal’s Lucas Henveaux ranked second entering the meet. From the early heats, the teams will be looking for big swims from Jackson Huckabay (Texas) and Tyler Kopp (Cal). Diving will become clear following the completion of prelims.

Not to be forgotten is Indiana, with the Hoosiers’ four A-finalists the second-most of the day behind Cal. Owen McDonald is in the top heat of the 200 back, as is Matt King in the 100 free and the duo of Jassen Yep and Caspar Corbeau in the 200 breast. Diving points, of course, remain to be distributed, and we can expect another Hoosier surge there.

If all seeds were to hold in Saturday’s finals, Texas would win the meet by 20 points over Cal, 491.5 to 471.5, with Indiana 54.5 points further adrift. Again, that is before diving points are factored in, and there could be significant shifts in the timed-finals races, the mile and the 400 free relay (or perhaps disqualifications in the relay). Swimmers could still move up and down within their respective heats.

Cal did a lot Saturday morning, but more remains for the Golden Bears’ hopes of running down Texas. The Longhorns remain in the driver’s seat for their first title since 2021 while Bob Bowman is on track to helm his second consecutive national championships squad.

Day 4 Prelims Up-Downs

  • Cal: 6-5
  • Indiana: 4-2
  • Texas: 3-4
  • Tennessee: 3-2
  • Georgia: 3-0
  • Arizona State: 2-1
  • Florida: 2-1
  • Louisville: 2-0
  • Stanford: 1-5
  • Virginia Tech: 1-2
  • Michigan: 1-1
  • USC: 1-1
  • Brown: 1-0
  • LSU: 1-0
  • Penn: 1-0
  • Arizona: 0-1
  • Cornell: 0-1
  • Florida St.: 0-1
  • Minnesota: 0-1
  • NC State: 0-1
  • Alabama: 0-1
  • Cal Baptist: 0-1
  • North Carolina: 0-1
Men - Team Rankings - Through Event 14                      
 
  1. Texas                             368   2. California                      312.5
  3. Indiana                           304   4. Florida                           233
  5. Georgia                         177.5   6. Arizona St                        172
  7. Tennessee                       162.5   8. Stanford                          162
  9. NC State                          128  10. Michigan                           83
 11. Alabama                            68  11. Ohio St                            68
 13. Virginia Tech                      63  14. Texas A&M                        57.5
 15. Southern Cal                       55  16. Louisville                         53
 17. Florida St                         48  18. Purdue                             33
 19. Wisconsin                          28  20. Lsu                                26
 21. Georgia Tech                       24  22. UNC                                21
 23. Army                               15  23. Yale                               15
 23. University of Utah                 15  26. Auburn                             14
 27. Pittsburgh                         13  28. Virginia                           12
 28. Smu                                12  30. Miami (Fl)                         11
 30. Brown                              11  32. Missouri                            6
 32. Kentucky                            6  34. Arizona                             1

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