Georgia’s #1-ranked mens tennis team, led by top-ranked John Isner, will face Illinois for the national championship this afternoon in Athens. The match begins at 3:00 and will be televised by ESPNU. You can also follow it online here.

Isner lost in team play at #1 singles for only the second time this year, falling 4-6, 4-6 to Somdev Devvarmann of Virginia, the #2 player in the nation. Isner beat Devvarmann earlier in the year, setting up a possible rubber match with everything at stake when the individual tournament kicks off in Athens later this week.

How good is Georgia? Just ask the Baylor coach who lost in the semis to Illinois.

“Georgia is way too good for everybody,” Baylor coach Matt Knoll said. “It is hard to realize how good they are. A guy like (Nate) Schnugg could be playing Davis Cup tennis one day. If we had gotten to the finals, we had no chance.”

Hopefully Knoll’s prophecy will hold true this afternoon. Georgia fell in last year’s national championship, but their #2 singles player was out with an injury. The Dawgs are at full force in this tournament and have lost a single point along the way. Illinois at #10 might be considered a heavy underdog in this match, but they’ve done all the right things so far to make it into the championship.

Related links:

• Georgia’s “Pit Players” get them to the finals
• Ever wonder what it’s like to return a John Isner serve? A Greensboro, NC reporter finds out.
• Magill Tennis Complex seen as the best of it’s kind. Athens is the pinnacle of college tennis.