Tuesday, November 5, 2013

NCAA | Washington volleyball still among elite of weekly RPI and polls

Huskies remain among top four in all rankings

The Washington Huskies, fresh off two more wins, retained their lofty position in national rankings. UW is third in both the AVCA Coaches’ Poll and the Volleyball Magazine media poll, and fourth in the NCAA’s RPI.
Washington's Cassie Strickland passes against Colorado
-photo by Shutter Geeks Photography

Washington (19-1) is one of only three teams (out of 328) with fewer than two losses. Missouri (27-0) and Colorado State (21-0) remain undefeated. This ties the Huskies’ third-best record after 20 matches; they were 20-0 in 2004 (losing their 23rd match to Stanford and their 25th to USC), they were 20-0 in 2005 (losing their only match of their National Championship season in match 25 at UCLA), and they were 19-1 in 2007 (losing their 17th match to California and their 24th match to Stanford.)

The only Top 10 team to lose this week was #6 Stanford (15-5), losing for a second time this season to #4 Southern Cal (20-3). #19 North Carolina (20-3) lost twice this week, to #18 Florida State (17-6) and to Keno Gandara’s unranked Miami team (14-7).

Voters are still drinking the Big Ten Kool Aid. Michigan State (18-6) comes in at #13 despite losing 5 of its past 6 (are you kidding me?) Michigan (15-8) is still at #17 on the “strength” of losing 3 of 5—it’s two wins coming against Michigan State (see above) and unranked Ohio State. The Buckeyes (14-10) are experiencing an epic collapse, losing 8 in a row and 10 of 11 after starting the season 13-0. Even so, this is only the first week Ohio State failed to draw a single vote on any ballot.

BYU (19-4)--winner of 14 of its previous 15--deserves to be ranked above Michigan and Michigan State. And Volleyblog Seattle still loves Central Arkansas (22-3); the Sugar Bears have won 15 straight.

This week’s AVCA and Volleyball Magazine polls, with Volleyblog Seattle’s ballot in the Volleyball Magazine media poll:

WEEK ELEVEN
AVCA Coaches
VBM
Media
RPI
School
(First Place AVCA votes)
Volleyblog
Seattle
This Week
Last Week
1
1
1
1
Texas (41)
3
2
2
2
2
Penn St (14)
2
3
3
3
4
Washington (5)
1
4
4
4
5
Southern Cal
4
5
5
5
3
Florida
7
6
6
7
7
Stanford
5
7
7
6
6
Missouri
6
8
8
8
15
San Diego
10
9
10
9
10
Minnesota
9
10
9
10
20
Colorado St
11
11
11
11
8
Nebraska
8
12
13
12
16
Hawai’i
13
13
14
13
22
Michigan St
NR
14
16
16
30
Purdue
NR
15
18
15
14
Duke
14
16
15
14
13
Wisconsin
17
17
17
18
25
Michigan
NR
18
20
17
21
Florida St
15
19
12
19
28
North Carolina
16
20
19
20
12
Kentucky
18
21
21
NR
24
BYU
12
22
22
NR
29
California
NR
23
24
NR
47
Cal St Northridge
NR
24
NR
NR
17
Kansas
19
25
NR
NR
33
Iowa St
NR
NR
23
NR
37
Oregon
NR
NR
25
NR
19
Oklahoma
NR
NR
NR
NR
58
Central Arkansas
20
NR
NR
NR
40
Ohio St
NR
NR
NR
NR
27
Arizona
NR
NR
NR
NR
9
Creighton
NR
NR
NR
NR
11
Marquette
NR
NR
NR
NR
18
Utah
NR
NR
NR
NR
23
Illinois
NR

Others Receiving Votes and appearing on two or more AVCA ballots: Oregon 43; St. Mary's (CA) 36; Oklahoma 27; Marquette 26; Western Kentucky 25; Ohio 14; Colorado 12; Illinois 7; Arizona State 6; Northwestern 3; Arizona 2 
Others receiving Volleyball Magazine votes: BYU, California, CS Northridge, Kansas, Central Arkansas
Volleyblog Seattle is one of ten national voters in the weekly Volleyball Magazine Division 1 Women’s Volleyball Poll.




Photos courtesy Shutter Geeks Photography


4 comments:

  1. Seems the authors forgot that Michigan returned all but one starter from its 2012 Final Four team. More importantly, in terms of matches against ranked opponents this season Michigan has fared well. Besides the sweep of Michigan State (when it was #10) mentioned in this blog article, Michigan also defeated Oregon when it was #12, Wisconsin when it was #15, and Ohio when it was #24. How does this blog neglect those key Michigan wins? By the way, Michigan also played to 5 sets against Florida State when it was #16 (losing by 2 points in the 5th set). In losses against ranked opponents I think it is helpful to look at the box scores. You will find that Michigan has dealt Penn State, Nebraska, Minnesota and Purdue their most lopsided set losses of 2013 where Michigan's margin of victory in those sets was 9, 15, 10, and 12 points respectively against those opponents. I think that says plenty about why Michigan has received significant votes through this past Monday and deserves to be at #17.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. With its loss tonight to Illinois (11-12), Michigan has dropped 3 of 4 and 4 of its last 6, to bring its conference record to 5-8 ...

      Delete
  2. You make some solid points. Voters did, however, hang on to Ohio State far too long, and we'll watch whether they make the same mistake if the Michigan/Michigan State losses continue to mount. Thanks for your analysis.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Rankings are so subjective. The huskies are playing well and should remain focused on getting to Key Arena and not rankings.

    ReplyDelete

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