NCAA Championship begins at Riviera

May 28, 2012 | by Golfweek

Jordan Spieth

The top teams and players in college golf take aim at a National title in Round 1 at Riviera Country Club

A look at the 2012 NCAA Division 1 Men's Championship, held May 29-June 3 at Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, Calif.:

Field of 30

The NCAA Championship field, in order of Golfweek/Sagarin College Ranking:

1. Texas
2. Alabama
3. UCLA
4. USC
5. Auburn
6. California
7. Oregon
8. Stanford
10. Texas AM
11. Washington
13. North Florida
14. San Diego State
16. Kent State
17. Virginia
18. Florida
19. Florida State
22. Central Florida
24. Georgia
26. Iowa
28. Oklahoma
29. Liberty
31. Illinois
32. Chattanooga
33. Alabama-Birmingham
35. East Carolina
39. TCU
40. Memphis
48. Virginia Tech
49. Lamar
55. Tulsa

Ringler’s Fab 5:

1. Texas: The Longhorns have to be the favorite, having been ranked No. 1 all season. Texas has three players ranked in the top 20.

2. Alabama: The Crimson Tide, along with perhaps California, may be the team with the most momentum.

3. UCLA: The Bruins have only one win this season, but have quietly been one of college golf’s most consistent teams.

4. California: The Golden Bears have the fewest head-to-head losses (13) in college golf and are peaking at the right time.

5. Washington: This is the time of the year this program gets noticed. The Husky magic seems to be alive and ready for a run at Riviera.

Overachiever:

Lamar is an obvious choice. The Cardinals, who finished fourth at the East Regional, were the only double-digit seed to qualify for nationals and do not have any players ranked in the top 100.

Underachiever:

Chattanooga’s winning the South Central Regional might have raised a few eyebrows. Not mine. The Mocs have shown glimpses this season of a team that could stick around at Riviera. With the Southern Conference Championship its only previous win, the Mocs were something of a regular-season disappointment. This team is better than its ranking.

Number crunching:

• Conference USA was the big winner at regionals. Five league teams – Alabama- Birmingham, Central Florida, East Carolina, Memphis and Tulsa – advanced. Only the Pac-12 had more teams, with six. The SEC had four, and the ACC and Big 12 each had three.

• Talk about your power conferences. The Pac-12 won three of the six regionals, and its six teams at the NCAA finals (UCLA, USC, Cal, Oregon, Stanford, Washington) are ranked in the top 11 of the Golfweek/Sagarin College Rankings.

• With Oklahoma State’s streak of 65 consecutive NCAA Championships now over, who has the longest current streak? The answer: Florida, with 12.

• The top 20 players in Golfweek’s individual rankings all will be at Riviera.

Results: NCAA Division I Championship

Place	Player	Location	Pts	Scores
1	Thomas Pieters	, Belgium	1500	69-68-71--208
T2	Julien Brun	, France	1000	72-72-67--211
T2	Tyler McCumber	Ponte Vedra Beach, FL	1000	68-71-72--211
T4	Patrick Cantlay	Los Alamitos, CA	700	74-72-66--212
T4	Corey Conners	, Canada	700	68-75-69--212

View full results for NCAA Division I Championship

About the NCAA Division I Championship

The NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Championship is the pinnacle of collegiate golf in the United States, held annually in late May or early June. The event brings together the nation's top 30 teams and six individual qualifiers, all of whom have advanced...