AVCA Week 4 (2016): The B1G Edition
Sept 21, 2016 21:08:36 GMT -5
nyline, treblejig, and 1 more like this
Post by lionsfan on Sept 21, 2016 21:08:36 GMT -5
Let’s take a look at some highlights of last week, matches to look forward to, and my own version of the poll! Based on the AVCA Week 4 poll from 9/19:
B1G Gains: Wisconsin capped its trip to Texas with a thrilling come-from-behind victory over the Longhorns in Austin, giving itself a signature win that’s bound to pay off come tourney time (and with homecourt advantages going to top seeds this year, that’s huge). The Badgers were down 0-2, but stormed back with a 20-18 fifth-set win (the second set of the match to go extra points). The win moved them up to #3, behind #1 Nebraska and #2 Minnesota, which is (I think) the first time ever that the Big Ten has occupied the top three spots in the poll. Thanks to Rich Kern in his Volleytalk posting for pointing out that “The Pac-10 occupied the top three spots on 11/14/2011 - #1 USC, #2 UCLA, and #3 Cal; You have to go back to 1985 for that to happen again and it was also the Pac-10 with UCLA, USC And Stanford in that order.”
Choo Choo! For the second week, the Boilermakers toppled a Top 10 opponent, defeating previously unbeaten and No. 4 Kansas. Purdue moved to #10, the team’s highest since No. 8 on the Sept. 8, 2014. The Jayhawks dropped to #8 (still not sure why Purdue wouldn’t be ranked ahead of them…).
The Blues: Some surprising results dropped two hot teams: North Carolina fell in five at TCU, just the eighth time in the Horned Frogs’ history that they downed a ranked team. That dropped the Tar Heels four spots to #12, ending its one-week stay in the Top 10. Meanwhile, previously unbeaten BYU (get it? They also have blue as a school color!) fell at home in five to in-state rival Utah. That dropped the Cougars four spots to #13 (things were much worse for fellow unbeaten West Coast Conference compatriots Santa Clara, who dropped three in a row and fell out of the Top 25. But they don’t have blue as a color, so I probably shouldn’t mention that here…)
Matches to watch this week: Illinois @ Purdue (which already happened…congrats Illini for the five-set win! See you in the Top 25 next week!); Marquette @ Creighton; Washington @ Southern Cal; Kansas @ Texas; Ohio State @ Wisconsin and @minnesota...and the dreaded Penn State @ Northwestern match, which turned out to be an omen last year...
Lionsfan’s Top 25 (not including this week’s matches)
(not to toot my own horn, but I had the Top 3 called a week before the AVCA did; my top 6 remains unchanged from last week!)
1. Nebraska (Hey! They dropped a set!)
2. Minnesota
3. Wisconsin
4. San Diego
5. Florida
6. Texas
7. UCLA
8. Washington
9. Purdue (enjoy this now, Boilers!)
10. Stanford
11. North Carolina
12. Kansas
13. BYU
14. Florida State
15. Hawaii
16. Ohio State
17. Colorado
18. Penn State
19. Texas A&M (rough schedule!)
20. Michigan
21. Kansas State
22. Oregon (what's with these off weekends they have every year?!)
23. Illinois
24. Marquette
25. Michigan State (Okay, okay...you're in!)
What are your ranking thoughts?
B1G Gains: Wisconsin capped its trip to Texas with a thrilling come-from-behind victory over the Longhorns in Austin, giving itself a signature win that’s bound to pay off come tourney time (and with homecourt advantages going to top seeds this year, that’s huge). The Badgers were down 0-2, but stormed back with a 20-18 fifth-set win (the second set of the match to go extra points). The win moved them up to #3, behind #1 Nebraska and #2 Minnesota, which is (I think) the first time ever that the Big Ten has occupied the top three spots in the poll. Thanks to Rich Kern in his Volleytalk posting for pointing out that “The Pac-10 occupied the top three spots on 11/14/2011 - #1 USC, #2 UCLA, and #3 Cal; You have to go back to 1985 for that to happen again and it was also the Pac-10 with UCLA, USC And Stanford in that order.”
Choo Choo! For the second week, the Boilermakers toppled a Top 10 opponent, defeating previously unbeaten and No. 4 Kansas. Purdue moved to #10, the team’s highest since No. 8 on the Sept. 8, 2014. The Jayhawks dropped to #8 (still not sure why Purdue wouldn’t be ranked ahead of them…).
The Blues: Some surprising results dropped two hot teams: North Carolina fell in five at TCU, just the eighth time in the Horned Frogs’ history that they downed a ranked team. That dropped the Tar Heels four spots to #12, ending its one-week stay in the Top 10. Meanwhile, previously unbeaten BYU (get it? They also have blue as a school color!) fell at home in five to in-state rival Utah. That dropped the Cougars four spots to #13 (things were much worse for fellow unbeaten West Coast Conference compatriots Santa Clara, who dropped three in a row and fell out of the Top 25. But they don’t have blue as a color, so I probably shouldn’t mention that here…)
Matches to watch this week: Illinois @ Purdue (which already happened…congrats Illini for the five-set win! See you in the Top 25 next week!); Marquette @ Creighton; Washington @ Southern Cal; Kansas @ Texas; Ohio State @ Wisconsin and @minnesota...and the dreaded Penn State @ Northwestern match, which turned out to be an omen last year...
Lionsfan’s Top 25 (not including this week’s matches)
(not to toot my own horn, but I had the Top 3 called a week before the AVCA did; my top 6 remains unchanged from last week!)
1. Nebraska (Hey! They dropped a set!)
2. Minnesota
3. Wisconsin
4. San Diego
5. Florida
6. Texas
7. UCLA
8. Washington
9. Purdue (enjoy this now, Boilers!)
10. Stanford
11. North Carolina
12. Kansas
13. BYU
14. Florida State
15. Hawaii
16. Ohio State
17. Colorado
18. Penn State
19. Texas A&M (rough schedule!)
20. Michigan
21. Kansas State
22. Oregon (what's with these off weekends they have every year?!)
23. Illinois
24. Marquette
25. Michigan State (Okay, okay...you're in!)
What are your ranking thoughts?
