College | Pac-12 volleyball nonconference schedule revealed

Wisconsin ends agreement to play Washington and USC

National marquee matchup: Oregon @ Washington

#15 Oregon visits #3 Washington tonight, and there’s a good argument that it’s the marquee matchup of the weekend.

• Both teams are 11-1; both losses were to Top Ten teams (Oregon to #10 Minnesota; Washington to #5 USC)

• Both teams have wins against top ten teams (Oregon over #9 Penn St.; Washington over #2 UCLA)

• If Oregon wins, it will retain undisputed first place in the Pac-12; If Washington wins, there will likely be a four way tie at the top between Washington, Oregon, UCLA and USC (with Cal and Stanford likely one game back.) Oregon State is still hanging around, too.

My pick: Washington over Oregon, 3-1.

Other Pac-12 matchups:

#6 Stanford and #4 Cal should cruise against Arizona and Arizona State. Ditto for #2 UCLA and #5 USC as they travel to Utah and Colorado. Anything other than 3-0 for all these matches will be a surprise, unless Arizona steals a set from Stanford.

The contest to watch is Oregon State at Washington State. The Beavers are 11-3 overall and 3-1 in conference play, though their league wins are against teams at the bottom of the standings. WSU is 9-5 overall and 1-3 in the Pac-12, but could match up well at home with the Beavers. I’m guessing OSU over WSU, 3-2.

In the Top 20:

The other argument for national marquee match is Saturday’s contest between #1 Illinois at #12 Purdue. Illinois is ranked too high, and neither team has played Penn State or Nebraska. A toss-up.

Earlier this week, #25 Oklahoma beat #8 Texas; the Longhorns already have four losses this season.

Volleyball in the Pac-16?

If you’re a college volleyball fan, then the Seattle Times headline Coming Soon: The Pac-16 may have started your gears turning. What happens if Texas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State join the Pac-12? (Does the idea turn your gears or turn your stomach?)

Although the Seattle Times' Bud Withers only mentions the possible impact on football (one early football idea: four four-team divisions), other team sports would also need some sort of divisional split. In particular, there are not enough weeks in the season to play home-and-home volleyball matches with the other 15 teams in a 16-team conference.

To me, it raises the exciting possibility of reconstructing the old Pac-8 conference, comprised of teams in states which actually border the Pacific Ocean. The remaining 8—desert, mountain and prairie states—would join the eastern division.

Each school, we suppose, would play every other team in its own division home-and-home, and play those in the other division once a season, alternating the home team every other year. We also assume the conference would still employ travel partners; Washington and WSU might travel one season to Arizona/ASU and to Oklahoma/OSU, facing Utah/Colorado and Texas/Texas Tech at home … then doing the opposite the next season.

Of course, a Pac-8 (western) volleyball division would be a killer: 6 of its teams (UW, Cal, Stanford, UCLA, USC & Oregon) are currently ranked in the top 15, including 3 of the top 4. The non-ocean (eastern) division would have 800-pound gorilla Texas, plus a decent Oklahoma program. The imbalance would be worse than the current unevenness in Major League Soccer.

So what would you do? Here’s my west/east idea … what’s your plan if the conference adopts four more orphans? And what would you call them? Mine might be Blue State/Red State!

Pac-16 West		Pac-16 East
California		Arizona
Oregon		Arizona State
Oregon State		Colorado
Stanford		Oklahoma
UCLA		Oklahoma State
USC		Texas
Washington		Texas Tech
Washington State		Utah

Have your friends discovered Volleyblog Seattle? Why not share this post via Facebook/Twitter/Google+! Just click the convenient link, below ... Your comments are always welcome, too …

Washington remains at #4 in coaches' poll

Little change in this week’s AVCA coaches’ poll:

·         Oregon and USC moved up a spot; UCLA dropped one place.

·         #12 USC seems under-ranked: They beat #9 Minnesota and #4 Washington, and barely lost to #5 Penn State.

·         #3 Illinois seems overrated: They once again needed five sets to beat a lesser team (Louisville) at home.

·         Seven of the Big-10’s twelve schools are in the top 24.

·         Six Pac-12 teams in the top 15 … all six were members of the old Pac-8!

·         If #8 Texas and #25 Oklahoma join a Pac-16, as rumored …

Rank	School (First-Place Votes)	Total Points	2011 Record	Last Week
1	California (58)	1498	13-0	1
2	Stanford (1)	1424	8-1	2
3	Illinois (1)	1378	11-0	3
4	Washington	1226	9-1	4
5	Penn State	1160	7-3	5
6	Florida	1127	8-2	7
7	UCLA	1114	9-2	6
8	Texas	1032	6-3	8
9	Minnesota	1014	5-2	9
10	Nebraska	993	7-1	10
11	Hawai'i	932	10-1	11
12	Southern California	877	7-3	13
13	Purdue	799	11-0	14
14	Northern Iowa	708	12-1	15
15	Oregon	640	9-1	16