Movement after top 5 in VolleyballMag.com Super 16 Media Poll
The voters didn’t mind that Washington State lost in four to visiting Stanford on Sunday in an epic Pac-12 battle.
In this third week of the VolleyballMag.com Super 16 Media Poll, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Stanford and Washington stayed 1-2-3-4.
For that matter, Oregon is still No. 5.
And then things got shaken up.
Texas and Pittsburgh are up two spots to Nos. 8 and 9, respectively.
Florida dropped five spots to No. 11. Creighton and Minnesota are out and Kansas and Arizona State are in.
Voter comments follow.
Rank, Team, Points (Last week)
1. Wisconsin, 188 (1)
2. Nebraska, 183 (2)
3. Stanford, 169 (3)
4. Washington State, 155 (4)
5. Oregon, 134 (5)
6. Texas, 126 (8)
7. Pittsburgh, 112 (9)
8. Louisville, 108 (7)
9. Tennessee, 88 (10)
10. BYU, 72 (11)
11. Florida, 68 (6)
12. Georgia Tech, 65 (12)
T-13. Arkansas, 62 (13)
T-13. Penn State, 62 (14)
15. Kansas, 14 (NR)
16. Arizona State, 9 (NR).
First-place votes: Wisconsin (9), Nebraska (3)
Also receiving votes: Auburn, Florida State, Dayton, Creighton, Purdue, Minnesota, Marquette, Iowa State
Dropped out: Creighton, Minnesota
The voters
Emily Ehman @emilyehman) — Big Ten Network, ESPN analyst; former Northwestern DS
Ed Strong (@VBMagazine) — VolleyballMag.com super Tweeter
Michella Chester (@michellachester) — THE volleyball voice of NCAA.com
Daniel Gillman (@DanielGillman/@SixRotations) — host of Six Rotations for the AVCA, Cal Poly play-by-play
Lincoln Arneal (@Lincoln_VB) — Nebraska beat writer for Huskers Illustrated
Sam Gore (@sambgore) — veteran broadcaster/studio host who does ESPN volleyball play-by-play, host of the Fifth Set during the NCAA Tournament
Mick Haley (@Michaelhaley6) — ESPN analyst, former national-championship coach at Texas and USC and 2000 Olympic coach
Dennis Punzel (@DennisPunzel) — Wisconsin beat writer for the Wisconsin State Journal, author of Point! Wisconsin
Fran Flory (@LSUCoachFran) — ESPN+ analyst, national champion at Texas, winningest coach in LSU history, AVCA Hall of Famer
Anne Marie Anderson (@AnneMAnderson, @annemarieandersontv) — Emmy Award winner, volleyball play-by-play veteran who works NCAA matches for the Pac-12 Network, Big Ten Network and ESPN; played at Hofstra, where she still ranks in the top 10 in blocks
Shelby Coppedge (@shelbycoppedge) — ESPN analyst, former Texas A&M-Corpus Christi DS
Lee Feinswog (@VBMagazine) — editor of VolleyballMag.com
Voter comments
Haley: Nebraska, Stanford and Wisconsin are the cream of the crop, they are and will be the teams to beat. Creighton, Minnesota and Florida are struggling to stay in the top 25, while Arkansas, Kansas and Auburn are showing steady improvements.
Punzel: Top four are the same as last week with Wisconsin, Nebraska, Stanford and Washington State. Seems like the Coogs should drop after loss to Cardinal, but they beat Texas head-to-head so I kept them ahead of the Longhorns. Some minor shuffling after that but only new team in top 16 is Marquette on the strength of a nasty schedule and sweep of Creighton — finally a good win after so many good/decent losses.
Anderson: Lots of movement this week! Texas is finding a rhythm with four consecutive ranked wins including two over No. 9 BYU. Tennessee is on a 10-match win streak as they tear through the SEC. Auburn and Kentucky vs. Vols this week will be telling as Regan Rutherford is back for Kentucky. That will be a fun matchup.
Flory: October proves to be the most difficult time of the year with conference wins and losses leading to a bit of a mix-up in the poll. There seems to be stability at the top with the top five being the most consistent performers.
Arneal: Washington State was the only team in my top 10 to lose, but I kept Wazzu at No. 4. The Cougars battled tough with Stanford and proved they are a worthy elite contender. I briefly debated moving Stanford ahead of Nebraska after the Huskers struggled on the road for the second straight weekend. If NU continues the trend for a third weekend, the order will take care of itself. Florida took another tumble after a loss to Auburn, who joined the party this week. Purdue gets the nod for the last spot. The loss to Northwestern still doesn’t look good, but the Boilermakers have the best wins of those on the fringe.
Gore: My top four remained the same, despite Washington State’s 3-1 loss to Stanford, I went with Wisconsin, Nebraska, Stanford and Washington State, Texas moved up to my No. 5 this week, after four straight wins over ranked teams. Also moving up in my poll this week are Penn State and Pitt. I added three new teams to my top 16 this week. FSU is undefeated in the ACC, Dayton hasn’t lost since dropping a five-setter to Louisville on September 6, and Arizona State just snuck in.
Gillman: Pittsburgh and Stanford had the most talented wins of the weekend, as the top eight is showing some serious separation to me in terms of elite status. Two big challenges for Tennessee this week (Auburn, Kentucky) and a Pitt-Louisville match Friday I’ve been waiting for. Soon we’ll get Nebraska hosting Wisconsin.
Ehman: Wisconsin is back to No. 1 for me as Nebraska has struggled to start on the road as of late while Badgers are dominating. Florida dropped a few spots for me to No. 10 after the loss to Auburn. Nos. 15 and 16 were hard for me comparing Kansas, Creighton, Purdue, Minnesota and Baylor but Purdue/Minnesota/Baylor had too many bad losses. Since Creighton beat Purdue, I gave them No. 16.
Strong: Wazzu doesn’t fall at all with the loss. Who would replace them at No. 4, anyway? Pitt is closing the gap significantly on the Ducks but I’ll still keep Oregon in the 5 spot. The Louisville/Pitt winner probably jumps Oregon next week. After being unimpressed with Texas early on, the Longhorns have shown me a lot in the past few weeks with series sweeps of BYU and Kansas. Hard to place Florida, really — the resume is still top-notch, so they at least stay in my T16, even if it feels like that probably won’t last. Under-the-radar key week for Arizona State, turning around from their first loss to get their first weekend sweep of the L.A. schools in over a decade. Dayton sneaks in as my last team in. I’m probably higher than most on the Flyers, but they have a strong win (WKU), no remotely bad losses, and haven’t allowed 22+ points in any set for six straight matches. Also considered: Auburn, Creighton, Marquette, Purdue, UCF
Chester: Oregon, Louisville order has been a little tough for me. I feel like Louisville has the better wins, but also has an unranked loss that Oregon doesnt have. Keeping Oregon above them for now with a big Pitt matchup looming for the Cards. As for the bottom half, with Florida getting swept by Auburn, I moved them out of top 10 to No. 11. Was a tough decision, but ultimately they are 4-2 since Stucky’s injury and all the big wins keeping them in the top 10 were with her leading the team. Now, they have an unranked loss, the loss to Auburn, and two five-set wins that could have gone the other way. Ultimately, went with BYU and Tennessee over the Gators right now based on who I think is playing like a top 10 team at this very moment. Tennessee is a tough one to throw in there since they haven’t beaten top 10 opponents, but they have been crushing everyone and doing what they need to do … we will learn A LOT in the next two weeks as they take on Auburn, Kentucky and Arkansas. Saw Pitt in person this week as well and was pretty impressed by their level of play as their freshmen continue to get better. Excited for Louisville vs. Pitt!
Feinswog: After watching Stanford win at WSU on Sunday — without Sami Francis — it was tempting to move them up, but I still went with Wisconsin-Nebraska-Stanford. I did not drop Washington State from fourth because that was a so-called good loss. Saw Arkansas in person last week and was very impressed. Headed to Pitt at Louisville this Friday and that should be a good one.
Kendall Kipp unloads during Stanford’s victory last week at Washington/Stephen Burns photo
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