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Post by Barefoot In Kailua on Aug 27, 2015 16:44:01 GMT -5
You can get to the final four by avoiding teams that can exploit your weakness, which is what Texas did last year. That said, they did beat a good Tar Heel team with an exceptional libero last year. But the knock on Texas is they never can pass or ball handle, yet only PSU is doing more winning then they are. Evidently they are avoiding teams that can exploit those weakness every year for the last 6-7 years. You're the only one talking about the last 6-7 years, I was talking about last year.
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Post by WahineFan44 on Aug 27, 2015 16:46:09 GMT -5
Texas can win with Subpar passing because theyve had people like Webster, Hooker, Eckerman, Faucette to bail them out. When you have hitters of their caliber, not many teams can beat you.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 27, 2015 16:48:09 GMT -5
Penn State, Texas, Nebraska, and Florida. Penn State a near lock. I don''t buy that at all. Stanford, Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota, Florida St, UNC could knock at least 3 of those four teams off in a one-off situation, no question about it. i agree, every top team has big questions this year. We should revisit this in 6 weeks. Penn state - setting, passing? Nebraska - middles, setting? Stanford - Inky gone, other injuries Texas - top freshman out, ebony not at 100%
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Post by ay2013 on Aug 27, 2015 17:01:49 GMT -5
Frankly, I think there is a decent chance that PSU and Nebraska end up in the same regional. *IF* The seeding committee doesn't have an agenda, and doesn't favor Nebraska based on them hosting the final four, I can easily see a PSU/Nebraska 4/5 matchup. The big 10 will be more competitive this season and neither team, IMO, will have a particularly high SOS. Texas and Florida will likely be top 4 seeds based on the fact that they probably won't lose very much, and the Pac-12 is down this year and if Stanford can pick up those preseason wins against everyone not named PSU (a big If considering the injuries), given their strong SOS, they probably get seeded higher than PSU/Nebraska.
Just some food for thought. Consider that PSU and Wisconsin were 4/5 this past year. Can easily happen again.
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Post by Disc808 on Aug 27, 2015 17:04:25 GMT -5
I don''t buy that at all. Stanford, Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota, Florida St, UNC could knock at least 3 of those four teams off in a one-off situation, no question about it. i agree, every top team has big questions this year. We should revisit this in 6 weeks. Penn state - setting, passing? Nebraska - middles, setting? Stanford - Inky gone, other injuries Texas - top freshman out, ebony not at 100% Also for some other teams Florida-passing, setting, inconsistent middles Wisconsin- Replacing hitters North Carolina- loses 2 key players in McAdoo and Nelson Washington- no Vansant, new coach, no Nelson
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Post by Disc808 on Aug 27, 2015 17:08:09 GMT -5
Frankly, I think there is a decent chance that PSU and Nebraska end up in the same regional. *IF* The seeding committee doesn't have an agenda, and doesn't favor Nebraska based on them hosting the final four, I can easily see a PSU/Nebraska 4/5 matchup. The big 10 will be more competitive this season and neither team, IMO, will have a particularly high SOS. Texas and Florida will likely be top 4 seeds based on the fact that they probably won't lose very much, and the Pac-12 is down this year and if Stanford can pick up those preseason wins against everyone not named PSU (a big If considering the injuries), given their strong SOS, they probably get seeded higher than PSU/Nebraska. Just some food for thought. Consider that PSU and Wisconsin were 4/5 this past year. Can easily happen again. Based on your presumptions I can see that happening. Would probably be a pretty crazy regional. In that case I won't mind if Stanford loses a couple games so they stay out of that side of the bracket should they make it that far...
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Post by superfan1 on Aug 27, 2015 17:21:16 GMT -5
I don't follow UNC, but it surprises me how confident people are that they'll be in the upper echelon this year. IMO Taner is a HUGE loss for them and I wasn't sold on Andrew's production. Do they have players (either bench or freshmen) who can step into those roles?
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Post by ay2013 on Aug 27, 2015 17:29:04 GMT -5
Frankly, I think there is a decent chance that PSU and Nebraska end up in the same regional. *IF* The seeding committee doesn't have an agenda, and doesn't favor Nebraska based on them hosting the final four, I can easily see a PSU/Nebraska 4/5 matchup. The big 10 will be more competitive this season and neither team, IMO, will have a particularly high SOS. Texas and Florida will likely be top 4 seeds based on the fact that they probably won't lose very much, and the Pac-12 is down this year and if Stanford can pick up those preseason wins against everyone not named PSU (a big If considering the injuries), given their strong SOS, they probably get seeded higher than PSU/Nebraska. Just some food for thought. Consider that PSU and Wisconsin were 4/5 this past year. Can easily happen again. Based on your presumptions I can see that happening. Would probably be a pretty crazy regional. In that case I won't mind if Stanford loses a couple games so they stay out of that side of the bracket should they make it that far... Why would a PSU/Nebraska matchup be a crazy regional? SOMEONE has to play those teams. Is that any less crazy than a Nebraska/Texas or Nebraska/Stanford regional?
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Post by vbnerd on Aug 27, 2015 17:54:19 GMT -5
Texas won't lose after Sept 5 so they are top 4. Florida could fall all the way to the 4-5 game with 3 losses if they lose at Hawaii and Oregon. I don't see either dropping a match in conference.
Penn State by comparison could have 3 home losses before they figure out who their setter is.
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Post by Barefoot In Kailua on Aug 27, 2015 17:55:15 GMT -5
I don't follow UNC, but it surprises me how confident people are that they'll be in the upper echelon this year. IMO Taner is a HUGE loss for them and I wasn't sold on Andrew's production. Do they have players (either bench or freshmen) who can step into those roles? Taner is the biggest loss. I think UNC's ceiling this year is a regional semi final.
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Post by vbfanantic on Aug 27, 2015 17:56:04 GMT -5
I would say that Nebraska penn state is a slightly less likely regional match up because they are in the same conference. If penn state and Nebraska are one and two in the conference, I think they likely to be placed in different regions but not necessarily.
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Post by Barefoot In Kailua on Aug 27, 2015 17:57:11 GMT -5
Based on your presumptions I can see that happening. Would probably be a pretty crazy regional. In that case I won't mind if Stanford loses a couple games so they stay out of that side of the bracket should they make it that far... Why would a PSU/Nebraska matchup be a crazy regional? SOMEONE has to play those teams. Is that any less crazy than a Nebraska/Texas or Nebraska/Stanford regional? C'mon, ay. You have been around long enough to know that the Committee isn't going to risk losing Nebraska before the final four by putting them in the same regional bracket as Penn State.
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Post by leftypower on Aug 27, 2015 18:17:54 GMT -5
I would say that Nebraska penn state is a slightly less likely regional match up because they are in the same conference. If penn state and Nebraska are one and two in the conference, I think they likely to be placed in different regions but not necessarily. Why? They did last year with Penn St and Wisconsin. It could easily happen again this year!
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Post by southie on Aug 27, 2015 18:23:41 GMT -5
We return the same passers and defensive players from last season, and they were good enough to reach the Final Four; no losses in that area. But no gains either. Texas lucked out a bit in the tourney draw last year. UNC was Texas' only real challenge (no offense to ASU and CSU). Southie, I am a fan of the Longhorns but their ball control is pedestrian with Neal and McCoy as the best passers on the team. Here we go again. You play the draw you're dealt. No excuses either way. Matches against CSU and UNC were on a truly neutral court, and Texas delivered. McCoy was only a freshman last year, and we are definitely expecting an even better sophomore season from her. Neal has moments of inconsistency receiving serve, but she is now a senior, and she will need to be consistent in all areas, as well as a good leader. Gaining Nwanebu in the offseason is a true bonus; with the injury to Micaya, it's even more critical that she chose Texas. Bedart-Ghani cannot replace all that Eckerman and Bell provided (as seniors), but she could very well produce like they did as freshmen; that's all I can ask.
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Post by Disc808 on Aug 27, 2015 18:27:28 GMT -5
Based on your presumptions I can see that happening. Would probably be a pretty crazy regional. In that case I won't mind if Stanford loses a couple games so they stay out of that side of the bracket should they make it that far... Why would a PSU/Nebraska matchup be a crazy regional? SOMEONE has to play those teams. Is that any less crazy than a Nebraska/Texas or Nebraska/Stanford regional? By crazy I mean a really good match to watch, especially since they are both Big 10 and the FF is in Nebraska.
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