As reigning conference champions, the men’s tennis team will be in position to defend its crown this week out in the Rocky Mountains.The No. 68 Horned Frogs will begin match-play in the 2007 Mountain West Conference Championship this afternoon in Colorado Springs, Colo.

The team went 5-1 in conference play during the season, including a regular season finale sweep of the Air Force Falcons, University of Nevada-Las Vegas Rebels and the New Mexico Lobos.

The Horned Frogs enter the championship as the No. 2 seed behind the Brigham Young University Cougars and will face the No. 7 seed Falcons in the opening round. The two teams previously met April 13 when TCU shut out Air Force, 7-0.

Junior Cosmin Cotet, who is ranked No. 103 nationally in the latest Fila/ITA poll, will lead the Frogs in singles play.

Seniors Radu Barbu and Chris Biro have also added to the Frogs’ success in recent weeks. Barbu, a recipient MWC Tennis Player of the Week, is currently riding a seven match winning streak including a comeback win in his last match against the Lobos’ Graeme Kassautzki. Biro, a graduate student, has won 10 of his last 11 matches and is 5-1 in conference play as he finishes out his final year of NCAA eligibility.

Sophomore Kriegler Brink has won four of his last six matches and was 4-2 in conference play.

The No. 43 tandem of Cotet and Brink lead the Frogs in doubles play. The pair posted a doubles record of 4-1 in conference play and 14-4 throughout the season.

The Falcons have been shut out in MWC play and are on an eight match losing streak. The tournament bracketing will have the winner of the TCU-Air Force match face the victor in the UNLV-Utah meeting.

UNLV is the No. 3 seed in the tournament and Utah is the No. 6 seed. The Frogs defeated both of these teams in regular season matches.

The TCU-Air Force match is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m., CDT.