The top six teams stayed the same in this week’s VolleyballMag Super 16 Media Poll, but Wisconsin and Kansas each moved up a spot, Dayton made it in and Kentucky returned.
The poll and voter comments follow.
Rank, Team, Points, First-Place Votes, Previous ranking
1. Pittsburgh (191 points, 11 first-place votes, 1)
2. Nebraska (181 1 first-place vote, 2)
3. Penn State (164, 3)
4. Louisville (154, 4)
5. Creighton (140, 5)
6. Stanford (132, 6)
7. Wisconsin (126, 8)
8. Kansas (102, 9)
9. Texas (92, 7)
10. Purdue (71, 10 )
11. SMU (70, 11)
12. Oregon (69, 12)
13. Arizona State (57, 13)
14. Minnesota (32, 15)
15. Dayton (15, NR)
16. Kentucky (11, NR)
Also receiving votes: TCU, North Carolina, USC, Georgia Tech, Utah, BYU, Texas A&M
Dropped out: USC, TCU
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
Haley: Looking at the statistics, Pitt and Nebraska are superior, the only other school holding their own is Creighton. Therefore, they deserve a top-four seed.
Pauly: The big jump for me this week was Wisconsin. I moved them up to No. 5 because of two very convincing wins, and they look to be playing their best volleyball of the season. Ranking anyone after spot 13 continues to be a carousel, so I went with consistency and who didn’t take any bad losses this weekend and finally put UNC in the mix. I expect this area of the rankings to continue to change on a weekly basis. We’re getting to a point where several teams are playing for hosting opportunities and I’m excited to see who comes in clutch over the next few weeks!
Gillman: Biggest jump: Wisconsin, they have been unstoppable since the loss to Minnesota and will face Nebraska on Friday! Pitt is still so so good! Epic match vs Louisville, who I have at No. 3. The Big 12 is extremely close, and I cannot wait for Arizona State-BYU on Thursday and Saturday.
Emily: I actually had a decent amount of movement this week. Pitt overtook Nebraska at No. 1. The Louisville win + eye test solidified that for me. Wisconsin moved up to No. 7 followed by SMU then Texas, who dropped after the Texas A&M loss. Numbers 13-16 is still just such a toss-up, but I had Minnesota, Arizona State, TCU and Utah. USC dropped out for me after a two-loss week, including to unranked Michigan State. Heck of a week. This is where things get fun.
Punzel: Top-10 teams are the same with a little shuffling — Texas down, Wisconsin up. Four of my bottom six from last week lost matches, with USC losing twice. So the Trojans and TCU drop out; North Carolina and Texas A&M move in.
Benton: My top six remain the same. I moved Wisconsin up to No. 7 after their huge win against Purdue and expect them to continue to rise as the season goes on. Texas moves down a little to No. 9 after their five-set loss to Texas A&M. The Big 12 trio of Baylor, TCU and Utah keep beating each other up, so I’ve decided that UNC will round out my top 16 this week.
Arneal: Pitt moves back to No. 1 as they’ve added more good wins and now match Nebraska’s wins over Louisville and Stanford. The Cardinals stay at No. 4 as their losses are to the top three teams. Creighton stays in front of Stanford, but needs to keep winning in the Big East and hope for chaos ahead of them. Texas’s loss to Texas A&M opens the door for Wisconsin and Kansas to climb back up into the top eight. USC’s bad loss to Michigan State knocks them out and welcomes Dayton at No. 16. The Flyers keep winning but have zero margin for error.
Strong: Nebraska and Pitt have been 1A/1B for me for a while now, but Pitt pairing a convincing win over Stanford with a top-five win vs Louisville gives them back the No. 1 spot for me … for now. Nebraska could flip that right back with a strong win over Wisconsin this week. Texas losing was a stunner: After convincing sweeps at Kentucky and Florida, it seemed like the Longhorns had fully hit the gas in an SEC that otherwise lacked elite teams. SMU stays at No. 13 despite their loss because they were at the back of a cluster last week, so they had some room to give. Considered: Kentucky, North Carolina, TCU, Baylor.
Michella: I kept Louisville in the top four after the thrilling five-set match against Pitt. Pitt stays at No. 1, especially after ranking up more top-10 wins. Texas drops a few spots with the loss to Texas AM.
Feinswog: I was so, so, so tempted to put South Dakota State (20-0) at No. 16. But I didn’t … go Jackrabbits. Creighton stays at No. 3 and I continue to give props to Dayton.
