It is getting close to the 2011 Collegiate Wake Series Championships. This year we are heading to Long Beach California and world famous Marine Stadium. There the true top 16 teams in the nation will face off head to head.

Each team will be bringing their best 9 riders to compete in just one division. After all, this IS the Championships and you only want to bring the best!  There were a lot of upsets last year, we can only wait to see if the same will happen again this year.
So many questions to be answered until the first round kicks off. Will Texas repeat? Will number 1 seed Florida make it out to Cali? How will team of the year University of Louisiana Monroe do?

We are going to break down some of the match ups in the first round for you and start setting the stage for the most exciting weekend in College Wakeboarding!

9.  Virginia Tech v. 8. Central Florida – Central Florida is good this year. If they show up with their A game they are going to be tough to beat.  Virginia Tech isn’t looking to bad either with some solid new freshmen and very good returning riders. Kyle Barmoy was the teams top rider in 2010. The Hookies finished 2nd in hot spot Atlanta against some really good teams.

7. Texas Tech v 10. Texas A&M – This is a rematch from last year’s Championships in Austin Texas. These 2 teams are so evenly matched it is going to be one of the best first round competitions of the weekend. We expect the winner of this match up to go far in the tournament.  Look out for Ross Pierce and Rob Muff from Texas Tech, and Mark Seaman of A&M.

6. Baylor v. 11. Central Washington – Baylor just keeps getting better in every sport it seems. Their wake club is extremely well run and they are ready to push for the title this year. Don’t let the fact they didn’t place in Dallas fool you. They have one of the toughest regions in the country.  Central Washington is solid too. It is their first year in the Collegiate Wake Series and they took 3rd at the Portland stop.  The Wildcats will need to bring some more top level riders to get past Baylor.

5. Texas v 12. Washington St. – Another match up from the Northwest and Mid West. Texas is primed for a repeat but Washington St has the ability to send them out early. We learned last year that Texas steps it up at the Championships and with Steven Cahail and the Finely siblings, they are going to be good again. Look for this team to make it all the way.

Check back next week for the other 4 first round match ups! We will break down the top 4 teams and reveal who we predict will win it all.

http://www.empirewake.com/collegiate/index.html