2017 WOMEN’S NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Wednesday, March 15 – Saturday, March 18
- IUPUI Natatorium – Indianapolis, IN
- Prelims 10AM/Finals 6PM (Eastern Time)
- Defending Champion: Georgia (results)
- Championship Central
- Psych Sheet
- Live stream: Wednesday/Thursday Prelims & Finals, Friday/Saturday Prelims / Friday/Saturday finals on ESPN3
- Live Results
For those unfamiliar with swimming terminology, the concept of “Ups” and “Downs” is a good way to track which teams performed best at prelims. In prelims, swimmers qualify for one of two finals heats: the top 8 finishers make the A final, while places 9 through 16 make the B final. In finals, swimmers are locked into their respective final, meaning a swimmer in the B heat (spots 9-16) can only place as high as 9th or as low as 16th, even if they put up the fastest or slowest time of any heat in the final.
With that in mind, we’ll be tracking “Ups” and “Downs” after each prelims session at the Women’s NCAA Championships. “Up” refers to swimmers in the A final and “Down” refers to swimmers in the B final.
Following day 2 prelims at the 2017 Women’s NCAA Championships, Stanford leads the way in up/downs with 7 swimmers. Based on the projected score, however, the Bears should be keeping it close with their 4 A finalists. The Cardinal is projected to have 179 points after tonight’s swimming events, but the Bears are projected to be within 20 points of that with 1:59.5.
Georgia and Texas A&M are both in position to move into the top 5. Georgia has a slight edge based on scores from last night’s 800 free relay, but the Aggies made big moves this morning. Texas A&M was projected to score 49 points based on the psych sheet, but are now projected to score 92 points based on their prelims performance.
Louisville is another one of the big movers, as they improved on their psych sheet projected score of 25 points, setting up a projected 73 points in prelims. It should be close between Texas and Louisville as they fight to get into the top 5 tonight.
**NOTE: UP/DOWNS DO NOT INCLUDE DIVING, AS 1-METER PRELIMS HAVE NOT CONCLUDED**
INDIVIDUAL UP/DOWNS:
| Team | Ups | Downs | Total Swims | Projected Day 2 Score |
| Stanford | 3 | 4 | 7 | 179 |
| Cal | 4 | 0 | 4 | 159.5 |
| Georgia | 2 | 1 | 3 | 123 |
| Texas A&M | 2 | 3 | 5 | 109 |
| Texas | 1 | 1 | 2 | 96.5 |
| Louisville | 1 | 0 | 1 | 95 |
| Michigan | 2 | 1 | 3 | 70 |
| Virginia | 1 | 0 | 1 | 67 |
| NC State | 2 | 0 | 2 | 66 |
| USC | 1 | 2 | 3 | 61.5 |
| Arizona | 0 | 1 | 1 | 54 |
| Wisconsin | 1 | 1 | 2 | 51 |
| Kentucky | 1 | 1 | 2 | 46 |
| Indiana | 1 | 0 | 1 | 43 |
| Tennessee | 0 | 2 | 2 | 30 |
| Auburn | 0 | 0 | 0 | 28 |
| Ohio State | 1 | 1 | 2 | 26 |
| Missouri | 0 | 1 | 1 | 24 |
| UNC | 1 | 0 | 1 | 20 |
| Purdue | 0 | 1 | 1 | 9 |
| Minnesota | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| Boise State | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| UMBC | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5.5 |
| Alabama | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| FGCU | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Denver | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Virginia Tech | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Air Force | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
RELAY UP/DOWNS:
| Team | Ups | Downs | Total | Projected Day 2 Score |
| Stanford | 2 | 0 | 2 | 179 |
| Cal | 2 | 0 | 2 | 159.5 |
| Georgia | 2 | 0 | 2 | 123 |
| Texas A&M | 1 | 1 | 2 | 109 |
| Texas | 1 | 1 | 2 | 96.5 |
| Louisville | 2 | 0 | 2 | 95 |
| Michigan | 0 | 1 | 1 | 70 |
| Virginia | 0 | 2 | 2 | 67 |
| NC State | 1 | 1 | 2 | 66 |
| USC | 1 | 1 | 2 | 61.5 |
| Arizona | 1 | 1 | 2 | 54 |
| Wisconsin | 1 | 0 | 1 | 51 |
| Kentucky | 0 | 1 | 1 | 46 |
| Indiana | 1 | 0 | 1 | 43 |
| Tennessee | 0 | 1 | 1 | 30 |
| Auburn | 1 | 0 | 1 | 28 |
| Ohio State | 0 | 1 | 1 | 26 |
| Missouri | 0 | 1 | 1 | 24 |
| UNC | 0 | 1 | 1 | 20 |
| Purdue | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| Minnesota | 0 | 1 | 1 | 8 |
| Boise State | 0 | 1 | 1 | 8 |
| UMBC | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.5 |
| Alabama | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| FGCU | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| Denver | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Virginia Tech | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Air Force | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
I’ve always wondered when “ups” and “downs” were adopted to describe this. I’ve been in swimming all my life and would have always considered “ups” to be outperforming your seed, and “downs” to be underperforming your seed. Just give grades of As Bs and Cs like a report card to talk about scoring chances. “Downs” sound bad, but they still score.