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Post by midwestrener on Apr 17, 2007 23:03:13 GMT -5
Last year Minnesota, Dayton and Texas seemed to play a very strong schedule.
It looks like Stanford has a tough schedule overall for the coming season. So does Notre Dame and Hawaii. Ohio University has one of the toughest I've seen...they have Stanford, Minnesota, San Diego, Notre Dame, Louisville, College of Charleston, Alabama and Long Beach State on their non conference schedule.
Who else out there has put together a strong non conference schedule? Other than a few conferences it seems to be a huge factor when looking for at large bids.
Who has a weak non conference schedule that might get hurt by it?
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Post by bucky415 on Apr 18, 2007 0:38:53 GMT -5
I am not a huge fan of Wisconsin's non-conference schedule, given that they should have pretty high expectations for the season. They have a home tournament where Wisconsin-Milwaukee looks to be the toughest opponent, a tournament at Loyola Marymount where the home squad is probably the only major challenge, and a pretty solid tournament at BYU with the Cougars, Northern Iowa, and American. I would have liked a top ten opponent, especially at home, but maybe that just wasn't possible. Also, there is a weekend off, maybe due to the trips to Utah and LA the weekends before. I am not putting down those opponents, some of whom could beat the Badgers (especially BYU, remembering what they did to Stanford last year), but I think that it isn't great that Wisconsin will probably face Minnesota and Penn State (perhaps Purdue as well) with those teams being the best teams they have played up to that point. The loss to Texas to start last year wasn't pretty, but I do think it was a good wake up call for the team (okay, it took about half of the Ohio match the next day for it to fully kick in). I really hope that Madison gets a regional so I can see some of the very best teams in the country. It was great that the Badgers made it to the regional final in Green Bay in 2004, but I was planning on going to the final anyway. It is still good volleyball, no matter who is playing. I am glad I got to see Nnamani and Gordon in person that season, although it was painful seeing them torch the Badgers.
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Post by theskate on Apr 18, 2007 3:06:14 GMT -5
Last season Cal Poly had Texas, Pepperdine, Minnesota, Nebraska, Louisville, and Hawaii. From what I have seen, their preseason will include BYU, Stanford, Nebraska, and Penn State this coming fall.
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Post by wiscvball on Apr 18, 2007 8:48:08 GMT -5
Also, there is a weekend off, maybe due to the trips to Utah and LA the weekends before. I am not putting down those opponents, some of whom could beat the Badgers (especially BYU, remembering what they did to Stanford last year), but I think that it isn't great that Wisconsin will probably face Minnesota and Penn State (perhaps Purdue as well) with those teams being the best teams they have played up to that point. I really hope that Madison gets a regional so I can see some of the very best teams in the country. It was great that the Badgers made it to the regional final in Green Bay in 2004, but I was planning on going to the final anyway. I agree that the schedule is a bit disappointing. I think that the weekend off in September is because the Badgers start Big Ten play on Wednesday this year - @ Illinois. Had they not started the conference season until Friday they likely would have had a tournament the weekend before. I also think that the Badgers have a pretty good shot of hosting a regional. Typically the NCAA gives them to teams that have senior laden squads and draw good crowds... the Badgers meet both of those criteria and haven't hosted in 3 years. Does anyone know when the regional sites get announced? |
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Post by ugopher on Apr 18, 2007 17:51:10 GMT -5
MN has Notre Dame, Stanford, Ohio University, Cal, and San Diego on the schedule. Their opening tournament has Stanford, Ohio U, and San Diego. That should be fun to watch.
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Post by calivb on Apr 18, 2007 18:15:09 GMT -5
The tournament in Minnesota with Stanford, San Diego, and Ohio will probably be more competitive than the AVCA showcase this year, especially with the transfers at Utah. I am looking forward to this tournament. I am also looking forward to watching Minnesota's incoming freshmen class. They should help out the team a lot this season.
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Post by GatorVball on Apr 18, 2007 22:12:02 GMT -5
Saw where Florida State released their schedule. Non conference is pretty good with matches against Florida, Washington, Long Beach, Kansas, Michigan State, Missouri State, all away from home.
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Post by BOTE on Apr 19, 2007 11:10:32 GMT -5
Heard that Penn State has Nebraska and Texas among others on their preseason schedule.
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