Post by ud69 on Dec 1, 2015 21:55:00 GMT -5
Some if this is just posturing. PSU is still very good this year. I would say that some their fans just don't grasp that *most* teams usually face teams in the second round that at least remotely pose a threat. Because of geography and the NCAA travel policies, PSU is not used to that idea.
By second round NCAA tournament standards...no, that is not a tough draw for a seeded team, even if it is better than they are used to. Granted, it's better than what Minnesota has at their place, but compared to the others?
USC - San Diego (#30 in Rich Kern, receiving votes in AVCA, 20 in Pablo
Creighton - at North Carolina (25 in Rich Kern, 23 in AVCA, 28 Pablo)
Kansas - Missouri (26 in RK, 32 in Pablo, 25 in AVCA)
Stanford - Colorado St (AVCA 13, RK 13 Pablo 12)
Washington - Mich St or Ark St (RK rec votes, Pablo 27 - 30)
Ohio St - Kentucky (Pablo 30, RK 24, AVCA 22)
BYU - Arizona (AVCA rev votes, RK 21, Pablo 26)
Nebraska - Wich St (Pablo 38, AVCA rec votes)
Texas - Purdue (AVCA 17, RK 14 Pablo 22)
UCLA - Michigan (RK 19, AVCA rec votes, Pablo 25)
Florida - Az St or Fla St (Pablo 17, AVCA 19, RK 22)
Wisconsin - Oregon in the FIRST round (RK 29, Pablo 20)
TAMU - Hawaii
Louisville - Illinois (Pablo 19, AVCA 21, RK 18)
So Penn St and Minnesota are the only teams that don't face anyone at least receiving votes. Nebraska is the closest with Wich St at #38 in Pablo.
As subregionals go, this is not tough.
What Pablo, RPI, and RKPI all don't tell you is that Dayton only lost 1 match all year (Baylor in 5) with their conference setter of the year healthy and playing. Their first 4 matches were all losses - 3 of which they were playing with 2 setters that had never worn a Flyer uniform. The fourth match was her first match back.
I might add that when a team wins 24 in a row and has a 23 RPI and the above noted injury and you have not lost a match since the first part of September and you get no AVCA or Rich Kern votes, then you might question the polls more than the team.
Now, can we hang with PSU? I have no idea. Right now, all I care about is Nova. Can we hang with them? Nothing is a given.