COLUMBUS, Ohio – The men's tennis team will have a chance to see where it stacks up nationally this weekend when it plays a pair of matches in the prestigious Intercollegiate Tennis Association Kick-Off Weekend tournament. The 44th-ranked Big Red will take on No. 3 host Ohio State at 10 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 28 before facing either No. 29 Indiana or No. 28 Notre Dame on Sunday, Jan. 29 at Ohio State's Varsity Tennis Center.
 
Cornell (2-0) got its winter season off to a perfect start on Sunday at Reis Tennis Center with 7-0 sweeps of Buffalo and Boston College. The Big Red graduated five of its top six singles players from last year's Ivy League-winning squad, but one of the top freshman classes in the country has kept Cornell nationally prominent.
 
National prominence is a spot Ohio State (3-0) knows all too well. The Buckeyes have won 131 consecutive home matches, dating back to the 2002-03 season — including 79 consecutive Big Ten Conference matches. Ohio State advanced to the NCAA semifinals last season before falling to No. 1 Virginia. Blaz Rola is ranked eighth nationally and singles and, teamed with Chase Buchanan, first in doubles.
 
Indiana (2-1) started off their season with doubleheader victories on Sunday against Western Michigan and Toledo before falling to . Indiana is coming off a historic season in which it set a school record for victories in a season and advanced to the NCAA tournament, where it lost in the first round to LSU, 4-3. Cornell and Indiana have never met before falling to No. 7 Kentucky, 7-0, on Tuesday.
 
Notre Dame (3-1) enters the tournament after its first loss of the season, a 4-3 setback at No. 15 Illinois. The team went 18-15 in 2010-11 and finished second in the Big East tournament to Louisville, then fell to Ohio State in the second round of the NCAA tournament. The Irish's Sam Keeton is ranked No. 74 in singles, but he lost a No. 3 singles match to Illinois' Bruno Abdelnour. Notre Dame's Greg Andrews upset No. 24 Roy Kalmanovich of Illinois at No. 2 in straight sets. Casey Watt is the squad's top singles player for the third straight season. If the Big Red faces the Irish on Sunday, it will be just the programs' second meeting all-time — Notre Dame won the first, 5-4, in 1970.