NCAA | Washington volleyball stays near top of weekly RPI and coaches’ rankings

Huskies benefit as teams they’ve defeated keep winning

For the first time this season, Washington has cracked the top three of the NCAA’s RPI ranking. And the Huskies can thank, in part, Cal State Northridge, Illinois and Seattle University.

Washington’s 17-1 record is certainly the main reason it’s ranked among the elite by both poll voters and RPI number crunchers. But half of the RPI’s formula depends upon the win/loss record of its opponents, and another 25% on the record of its opponent’s opponents.

Washington's Jenna Orlandini digs against Stanford
-photo by Shutter Geeks Photography

Therefore, when Northridge improved its record to 17-4 with a win over #13 Hawai’i, Washington’s RPI rose. When Illinois (9-11) upset #15 Wisconsin, the Huskies got another bump. It also helped when Seattle University recently won 7 of 8 matches in the WAC. All three teams played—and lost to—Washington.

The RPI is the most important of the tools used by the NCAA selection committee to decide which 64 teams (out of 328) qualify for the postseason, and which 16 of those 64 will host the first two rounds of the six-round tournament. The Final Four this year will be at Seattle's Key Arena.

In the AVCA Coaches Poll, it was a relief to see voters finally let go of Ohio State. The Buckeyes won their first 13 in a row—against less-than-inspiring nonconference competition—but went on to lose 8 of their next 9. Even so, they hung around in the Top 25 until, at last, their most recent two losses (bringing their current losing streak to 6). Those losses convinced most—but not all—voters to give other teams a little poll love.

Is the Big Ten overrated? Consider that only one conference member—Penn State—is among the top 9 (the Pac-12, by comparison, has 3 teams in the top 6). Michigan State has dropped four in a row—including at home Sunday to lowly Indiana—yet remains at #14. Michigan has lost 2 of 3 and is 4-6 in the Big Ten (14-7 overall) … but remains at #17.

By comparison, Utah is 17-5 (6-4 in the Pac-12) and has won 4 of its last 5, including wins over Cal (#22 this week) and Arizona (#25 last week).

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

WEEK TEN

AVCA Coaches		RPI	School (First Place votes)	Volleyblog Seattle
This Week	Last Week
1	1	1	Texas (43)	3
2	2	2	Penn St (11)	2
3	3	4	Washington (6)	1
4	4	8	Southern Cal	4
5	5	3	Florida	8
6	6	5	Stanford	5
7	11	6	Missouri	6
8	9	18	San Diego	11
9	12	21	Colorado St	12
10	7	11	Minnesota	10
11	13	10	Nebraska	9
12	14	20	North Carolina	7
13	8	15	Hawai’i	14
14	10	23	Michigan St	15
15	16	9	Wisconsin	17
16	21	30	Purdue	NR
17	17	25	Michigan	NR
18	23	12	Duke	16
19	15	13	Kentucky	18
20	18	34	Florida St	19
21	19	26	BYU	13
22	NR	27	California	NR
23	20	38	Oregon	NR
24	NR	42	Cal St Northridge	NR
25	NR	19	Oklahoma	NR
NR	NR	61	Central Arkansas	20
NR	22	16	Kansas	NR
NR	24	37	Ohio St	NR
NR	25	24	Arizona	NR
NR	NR	7	Creighton	NR
NR	NR	14	Marquette	NR
NR	NR	17	Utah	NR
NR	NR	22	Illinois	NR

Others Receiving Votes and appearing on two or more AVCA ballots: Kansas 85; Iowa State 67; Ohio State 43; St. Mary's (CA) 38; Western Kentucky 22; Creighton 20; Utah 20; Illinois 12; Ohio 11; Colorado 10; Marquette 8; Northwestern 4

see also: What we learned from Washington volleyball’s victory over USC

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Photos courtesy Shutter Geeks Photography