Upsets and unpredictable outcomes gave our VolleyballMag Super 16 Media pollsters plenty to consider last week, and while Pittsburgh and Nebraska remained 1-2, Louisville moved up a spot to No, 3 and Creighton did the same up to No. 4.
Penn State, which lost to now-No. 6 Wisconsin, dropped two spots to fifth. No one dropped out, but Georgia Tech is back in at a tie with Minnesota at No. 16.
The poll and voter comments follow.
Rank, Team, Points, First-Place Votes, Previous ranking
1. Pittsburgh (188 points, 9 first-place votes, 1)
2. Nebraska (183, 3 first-place votes, 2)
3. Louisville (161, 4)
4. Creighton (148, 5)
5. Penn State (146, 3)
6. Wisconsin (139, 7)
7. Stanford (118, 8)
8. Arizona State (1-07, 9)
9. SMU (81, 10)
10. Purdue (79, 11 )
11. Oregon (60, 12)
12. Kansas (59, 6)
13. Texas (52, 13)
14. Kentucky (46, 15)
15.. Dayton (33, 15)
Tie-16. Minnesota (7, 14)
Tie-16: Georgia Tech (7, NR)
Also receiving votes: Utah, TCU, Florida, Missouri, Baylor
Dropped out: None
The voters
Lincoln Arneal (@Lincoln_VB) — Nebraska beat writer for Huskers Illustrated and co-host of the Volleyball State podcast
Abby Benton (@numberonevolleyball) — played at DII Catawba and DIII William Peace and has 54K Instagram followers and more than 116K on TikTok
Michella Chester (@michellachester) — THE volleyball voice of NCAA.com
Shelby Coppedge (@shelbycoppedge) — ESPN and Volleyball World TV analyst, Fan Duel Reporter; former Texas A&M-Corpus Christi DS
Emily Ehman @emilyehman) — Big Ten Network, ESPN, Volleyball World TV analyst; former Northwestern DS
Lee Feinswog (@VBMagazine) — editor of VolleyballMag
Daniel Gillman (@DanielGillman/@SixRotations) — host of Six Rotations for the AVCA, national play-by-play for multiple sports
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 USA Olympic coach
Amy Pauly (@acpauly10) — Head coach of the Orlando Valkyries of the Pro Volleyball Federation and the team’s vice-president of volleyball operations; former assistant coach at USC, head coach at UAB; libero at Alabama
Dennis Punzel (@DennisPunzel) — Wisconsin beat writer for the Wisconsin State Journal, author of Point! Wisconsin
Ed Strong (@VBMagazine) — VolleyballMag super Tweeter
Voter comments
Gillman: Welcome to the top 16 to Utah! Biggest drop: Minnesota and Kansas, brutal week for the Jayhawks. Arizona State enters the top eight, while Wisconsin jumps Penn State (Badgers just love playing on NBC don’t they?).
Ho hum, Pitt & Nebraska are very good.
Haley: Kansas had a rough week with the Arizonas. Speaking of Arizona State, they are steady and just keep winning. Missouri, currently in second place in the SEC, will be tested by Florida this week. All serious teams should be well-oiled and ready to make a run.
Punzel: I feel good about my top three with Nebraska over Pitt by a strength-of-schedule smidge and Louisville back a notch at No. 3. After that it gets confusing and I switched teams around a lot down to Purdue at No. 9. After that I didn’t want to put anyone at 10th. But I finished the list and added Florida at 15 because I don’t think anyone wants to play it in the tournament. Minnesota drops out.
Ehman: My 1-8 remained the same with Nebraska on top still. Much more big wins than Pitt. Kansas dropped a few after two losses, and Arizona State moved up a few after taking down the Jayhawks. Nos. 14-16 have been very, very hard every week. Dayton gets No. 14 for me because still just a one-loss team. Followed by TCU who has good wins and no bad losses. Rounded out by Minnesota, who I debated taking out, but their wins over Texas and Wisconsin keep them in it for me. High ceiling.
Pauly: We’re at the time of year where teams either start peaking or start losing their mojo. This week we saw some teams that I thought were peaking take some big hits. Out of the following three I’m not sure what was most surprising: Kansas losing to an unranked opponent on the road, Minnesota not even pushing their opponents to five in two huge home losses, or Penn State absolutely folding at Wisconsin. Luckily, every team still has quality opponents left on their schedule. Trending up for me is Kentucky. I feel like they are playing with great rhythm and have put themselves in a position to secure another SEC championship.
Arneal: Wisconsin shook up the top of the rankings with its dominant sweep of Penn State. The Badgers played their best match of the year and jumped back into the top five. The quartet of Louisville, Creighton, Wisconsin and Penn State are all on the second tier of teams and are slightly interchangeable. (Pitt and Nebraska remain a notch above everyone). Kansas and Minnesota had rough weeks, losing twice, taking a tumble down, and out in the Gophers’ case. Utah avenged its loss against BYU, and Texas rejoined as other teams in its tier also suffered losses.
Strong: Had the chance to see Nebraska in person this week and the Huskers certainly lived up to the billing. Nebraska/Pitt remain 1A/1B. Thought about putting Creighton into the top four, as they’ve been more consistently strong than Penn State, even when taking strength of schedule into account, but the lack of top-end wins keeps them at 5 for now. There’s a significant gap for me after No. 8 ASU before No. 9 Purdue. Kentucky has quietly been really, really good for a while now — the weak non-conf resume limits their upside, but that’s a dangerous team. I was shocked by how poorly Minnesota played this week as I thought they would have a good shot for a pair of quality wins at home. Texas sneaks back in at the end of my ballot to replace the Gophers. Considered: TCU, Baylor, USC, Florida, Missouri
Benton: Another crazy week of upsets. I moved Wisconsin all the way up to No. 5 after a huge win against Penn State. Arizona State moves up to No. 8 after an impressive win against Kansas. Besides moving Minnesota out and adding Baylor, everyone else is around the same spot.
Feinswog: I punked out last week and didn’t vote South Dakota State at No. 16 and, wouldn’t you know it, the Jackrabbits lost, so there goes that … And, no, I didn’t consider Southeastern Louisiana, which has the nation’s longest winning streak, 22 matches, or Western Kentucky, which has won 19 in a row. But I did move Dayton up to No. 11 because the Flyers are legit and have won 19 in a row.
My top three stayed the same, Pitt-Nebraska-Creighton, but I put Louisville No. 4 and moved Wisconsin up to fifth, Arizona State to No. 6 and dropped Penn State to seventh.
