Nebraska takes top spot in VolleyballMag.com Super 16 Media Poll
Not surprisingly, after beating Wisconsin on Saturday, Nebraska has traded places with the Badgers and taken over first in the VolleyballMag.com Super 16 Media Poll.
Stanford stayed No. 3, but after that much of the rest of the poll was shuffled. Arizona State dropped out and Kansas made it back in. The top 16 follows and so do comments from pollsters.
Rank, Team, Points (Last week)
1. Nebraska, 192 (2)
2. Wisconsin, 177 (1)
3. Stanford, 171 (3)
4. Louisville, 150 (5)
5. Texas, 138 (6)
6. Washington State, 133 (4)
7. Pittsburgh, 112 (7)
8. Oregon, 103 (9)
9. BYU, 92 (10)
10. Arkansas, 88 (7)
11. Georgia Tech, 56 (13)
12. Tennessee, 48 (12)
13. Penn State, 46 (11)
14. Kentucky, 28 (NR)
15. Florida, 27 (15)
Tie, 16. Kansas, 17 (NR)
Tie, 16. Dayton, 17 (15)
First place votes: Nebraska got all 12
Also receiving votes: Creighton, Baylor, Purdue, Florida State, USC, The Citadel
Dropped out: Arizona State
Previous VBM Super 16 Polls
Week 4: October 16
Week 3: October 9
Week 2: October 2
Week 1: September 25
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
Gillman: I had to keep Wisconsin in the top two after that loss (would’ve kept Nebraska there if they fell, too). Those were the two best teams in the nation and Black Friday will be so, so fun. Stanford is looking like an absolute steamtrain in a Pac-12 conference that saw many of its unranked teams pull off upsets in the past two weeks. Might Wazzu put a scare in Stanford this weekend? The SEC still goes through Lexington, and I do have four SEC hosts (Big 12 looking like they might have four as well)
Haley: Nebraska is still my first choice. WSU’s disappointing loss to USC moves them out of the top four. Arkansas’ loss to Kentucky shows they are not there yet. Oregon shouldn’t be penalized for their loss to Stanford. PSU loss to Purdue, Tennessee loss to Arkansas and ASU loss to unranked Colorado moves them down in my poll. Kentucky is the hot time.
Punzel: Obviously, the top two flip, with Nebraska ascending to No. 1. Otherwise the top 10-11 seem to have established their credentials, although there’s always some slight shifting each week. A lot of mixed messages with the last four or five. My new team this week is Kentucky at 16. Don’t like the seven losses but all were to good/great teams and it’s had a good couple weeks of wins. I can always change my mind next week.
Arneal: Nebraska moves to the top after an impressive, gritty performance against Wisconsin. The Badgers didn’t fall far, as they proved to be elite. Let’s hope we have more matchups of that caliber during the next five weeks. Texas jumped Louisville as the Cardinals continued to drop sets against lesser foes. Washington State takes a tumble after a tough road loss to USC. The SEC continues to cannibalize itself as Arkansas, Tennessee and Kentucky beat up on each other. What the Wildcats are doing is impressive given how rough the non-conference went for them. The last four spots continue to rotate as teams struggle to maintain consistency, but Dayton continues to take care of business and finally crack my rankings.
Ehman: Nebraska earned the No, 1 spot with its epic win. WSU dropped to 5 for me after the USC loss (not a bad loss though, USC is gonna surprise more people). The top 13 feel like a lock but 14-16 are hard. I have Kansas, Purdue (great wins and a few tough losses but none egregious aside from Loyola) and Kentucky (heating UP)
Strong: Badgers don’t fall further than No. 2 after being two points away (or just some better bounces) from beating Nebraska in Lincoln while Stanford lost in four at home to the Huskers. Washington State was honestly the better team on Friday night at USC while Texas was pretty lucky to escape in five at TCU (plus the head-to-head result), so Cougs keep the No. 5 spot. I’ve been a bit lower than others on BYU, but they look like they’ve turned a corner with a pair of convincing sweeps vs. Iowa State, so they scoot up to No, 8. Georgia Tech making a habit of dropping sets to inferior opponents is worrisome but at least they’re winning. Florida looked the best it had in quite a while in the win at an underrated Texas A&M squad, so they push back in, replacing Arizona State. Also considered: Arizona State, Baylor, Kentucky, Purdue
Flory: Nebraska and Wisconsin proved they are separated by very little. Their next match-up on November 24 in Madison will be huge. Texas continues to figure things out, after their slow start. They are playing better and better together. Louisville continues to find a way to win. The leaders in the SEC — Tennessee, Arkansas and Kentucky — beat up on each other this week making for an intriguing finish in the league. You have to give Dayton credit for being undefeated and only losing two sets in A 10 play to this point.
Feinswog: I’m the guilty one. RPI, strength of schedule and all that be damned. I voted The Citadel No. 16. And the Seminoles are not ranked here yet, but beware of Florida State.
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