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Post by rampageripster on Aug 29, 2016 18:33:33 GMT -5
Wooo... another year, another chance for me to be totally wrong a mess this all up. I know that it's only 3 matches in, but this is a weekly thing d@mnit and I will speculate wildly on a small sample size if I want to. Without further ado, I present my rankings so far this season... which are not actually rankings
Tier 1:
Nebraska (2-0,0-0): Hello, my name is rampageripster and I have Maysophobia. I wake up with GBR ringing in my ears and every time I look into a bottle of beer that horrific inflatable nightmare is staring blankly back at me.... Huskers get the whole tier to themselves since they just went and thoroughly dismantled 2 Top 10 teams.
Tier 2:
Minnesota: (1-1, 0-0): Eh... nothing really here. Loss @ Stanford is respectable and they took care of business against USD. Tough weekend in the Gulf coming up. Get two good wins there and we can talk about Tier 1.
Wisconsin: (3-0, 0-0): I really wanted to put y'all in Tier 1... but Hawaii has all sorts of issues and I'm not ready to put too much stock in that win. Next week is cream-puff, so unless Hawaii and Arizona do something awesome next week, you're stuck here for the time being... until that brutal end to the OCC... oy.
Tier 3:
Ohio St (3-0, 0-0): Kicked the crap out of marshmallows and then had to scratch and scramble for a 5-setter over TAMU. Good win, but I want to see something more to overcome my pre-season thoughts especially because Sandbothe had to go full out beast-mode or else we would have had ZERO offense against the Aggies. Beat BYU and Wyoming this weekend and I'll be more intrigued.
Penn St: (2-1, 0-0): Maybe stop scheduling the Tar Heels? That would be solid advice. I think this team has more potential and I'm not ready to dance on the grave yet. Stanford and Colorado next week... gotta get a W there.
Tier 4:
Illinois: (2-1, 0-0): WTF Illini?!?! That's a rough loss. A the end of last season I thought they may take a step back. The sweep of X is solid... and I guess I can't get too wrapped up in an opening weekend loss to a decent mid-major, but ugh...
Purdue: (2-1, 0-0): Two good wins in Wyoming and WSU and a close loss to a decent Kentucky team. The Boilers may have something to work with here, but they're gonna have to work their way up the tiers.
Tier 5 (the creampuff zone)
Michigan (3-0, 0-0): Play someone with a pulse
Michigan St (3-0, 0-0): See above
Northwestern (3-0, 0-0): Same
Maryland (3-0, 0-0): I guess the Terps would be thrilled to say this... like those guys
Iowa (3-0, 0-0): This is getting boring
Indiana (3-0, 0-0): Ok... this is just pathetic guys
Tier 6 (the lose to the creampuff zone... also known as Rutgers)
Rutgers (3-1, 0-0): SO CLOSE!!!!
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Post by ballvolley on Aug 30, 2016 2:04:17 GMT -5
Nice assessment.
NEBRASKA is just crazy loaded -- reminds me of Penn State in '08 with All-Americans at every position. Unfair! Will be interesting to see how Cook gets the freshmen some experience since they are such a veteran team. But I imagine they will stampede over many teams, opening the door for lots of playing time.
MINNESOTA just needs to balance out the Daly hole. A tough battle vs. a very talented (and HUGE) Stanford team. They will make noise.
WISCONSIN had a hot opener, but curious how Haggerty will live up to the hype. She proved to be unstoppable and a hitting liability over the course of 2 matches. #2 feels too high, but I'm sure Carlini is hungry enough to keep them top 4.
PENN STATE of late is reminding me of the 2000-02 teams that came after the magical run of the 90s squads culminating in the '99 championship. Some absolute studs, but I think the setting back-and-forth will be disruptive, and Washington needs a strong supporting cast to really shine. Frantti had a rough sophomore campaign, and not sure they have a powerful pin terminator who can put up consistent numbers and hit above .275 all season.
OHIO STATE needs to make sure they can stay in system to feed Sandbothe -- without her hot hand, they become much less dynamic.
MICHIGAN seems like they will do what they always do -- cruise through an easy pre-conference, go .500 or so in B1G, get an at-large, then battle to the Sweet 16. Cole could be he difference maker.
ILLINOIS is peculiar -- tons of top recruits, but they have been sloppy the last couple of seasons, with a post-season berth coming down to the wire. Curious to see how much Poutler can elevate them, much like Carlini was able to do early on in her career. Last season was mediocre vs. expectations, even with a big gun on the left to carry them, and I fear this season may be a repeat unless they can clean up the rough edges.
NORTHWESTERN could be interesting. I like Shane Davis and think he already has the team more disciplined and confident vs. Chan's erratic teams of the past. It will be really interesting when he gets his own players on board -- hearing he's doing well on the recruiting trail. Taking care of business vs. UT-C, Dayton, and Xavier will prove if they have turned the long awaited corner or will be a typical .500 pre-conference team.
MARYLAND will be fun to watch, namely to see how well Gia Milana can adjust to college and give them a big time pin hitter.
THE REST (Michigan State, Purdue, then Indiana, Iowa, & poor Rutgers)... uninspiring so far, but a LONG road ahead with lots of room for surprises.
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Post by HappyVolley on Aug 30, 2016 2:20:37 GMT -5
NEBRASKA is just crazy loaded -- reminds me of Penn State in '08 with All-Americans at every position. Unfair! Will be interesting to see how Cook gets the freshmen some experience since they are such a veteran team. But I imagine they will stampede over many teams, opening the door for lots of playing time. Do you really want to compare Nebraska '16 to Penn State '08? |
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Post by SportyBucky on Aug 30, 2016 7:55:58 GMT -5
NEBRASKA is just crazy loaded -- reminds me of Penn State in '08 with All-Americans at every position. Unfair! Will be interesting to see how Cook gets the freshmen some experience since they are such a veteran team. But I imagine they will stampede over many teams, opening the door for lots of playing time. Do you really want to compare Nebraska '16 to Penn State '08? Oh god. Get over it. They're already good (i.e. won national championship) and picked up an AA MH. Go away sad PSU fan. |
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Post by volleycoach75 on Aug 30, 2016 9:18:43 GMT -5
Do you really want to compare Nebraska '16 to Penn State '08? Oh god. Get over it. They're already good (i.e. won national championship) and picked up an AA MH. Go away sad PSU fan. Nebraska is good... Very good. They had a fantastic 2015 run and should set themselves up to go deep and possibly repeat. But to compare them to a team that didn't drop a set until the final four, had 6 all region, and literally had their starting 6 earn All-American (4 first team and 2 second team All-Americans) - of which 4 are national team players and 2 are Olympians. This isn't a PSU homer talking but Nebraska 2016 doesn't not equal PSU 2008. |
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Post by durtpile on Aug 30, 2016 9:21:23 GMT -5
Oh god. Get over it. They're already good (i.e. won national championship) and picked up an AA MH. Go away sad PSU fan. Nebraska is good... Very good. They had a fantastic 2015 run and should set themselves up to go deep and possibly repeat. But to compare them to a team with a team the do my drop a set until the final four, 6 all region, and literally had their starting 6 earn All-American (4 first team and 2 second team All-Americans) - of which 4 are national team players and 2 are Olympians. This isn't a PSU homer talking but Nebraska 2016 doesn't not equal PSU 2008. Yep. Far too early to be crowning the Huskers with glory. Lot of volleyball left to play. |
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Post by SportyBucky on Aug 30, 2016 9:28:39 GMT -5
Nebraska is good... Very good. They had a fantastic 2015 run and should set themselves up to go deep and possibly repeat. But to compare them to a team with a team the do my drop a set until the final four, 6 all region, and literally had their starting 6 earn All-American (4 first team and 2 second team All-Americans) - of which 4 are national team players and 2 are Olympians. This isn't a PSU homer talking but Nebraska 2016 doesn't not equal PSU 2008. Yep. Far too early to be crowning the Huskers with glory. Lot of volleyball left to play. Also far too early to be dismissing them. I'm not AT ALL a NE fan, but if they ran the table and only drop a set to the first team they played, what would you say? I'd also propose vb has come a long way in 8 years. More girls playing. More athletes playing. Parity. |
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Post by cardinalvolleyball on Aug 30, 2016 9:34:37 GMT -5
I was reading this as national rankings and was getting excited.
Thxs Rampager for getting my hopes up just to squash them
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Post by durtpile on Aug 30, 2016 10:01:57 GMT -5
Yep. Far too early to be crowning the Huskers with glory. Lot of volleyball left to play. Also far too early to be dismissing them. I'm not AT ALL a NE fan, but if they ran the table and only drop a set to the first team they played, what would you say? I'd also propose vb has come a long way in 8 years. More girls playing. More athletes playing. Parity. "....if they ran the table and only drop a set to the first team they played, what would you say?" I'd say they were a crazy great team, maybe the best evah. That said, it is far too early to be crowning the Huskers with glory. Lot of volleyball left to play.......but I repeat myself. |
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Post by huskergeek on Aug 30, 2016 10:22:10 GMT -5
NEBRASKA is just crazy loaded -- reminds me of Penn State in '08 with All-Americans at every position. Unfair! Will be interesting to see how Cook gets the freshmen some experience since they are such a veteran team. But I imagine they will stampede over many teams, opening the door for lots of playing time. Do you really want to compare Nebraska '16 to Penn State '08? "Reminds me of" does not equal "the same as". I don't think anyone is saying that Nebraska is that Penn State team. I sure don't think anything like that and I am completely happy to view the world through Scarlet and Cream colored goggles. Finding similarities between two things does not preclude finding differences as well. Nor does it preclude the possibility that they are structured the same but to vastly different degrees and outcomes. Why is anything in that quote a big deal? |
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Post by secsportsfan on Aug 30, 2016 10:32:27 GMT -5
Do you really want to compare Nebraska '16 to Penn State '08? "Reminds me of" does not equal "the same as". I don't think anyone is saying that Nebraska is that Penn State team. I sure don't think anything like that and I am completely happy to view the world through Scarlet and Cream colored goggles. Finding similarities between two things does not preclude finding differences as well. Nor does it preclude the possibility that they are structured the same but to vastly different degrees and outcomes. Why is anything in that quote a big deal? Thank you. Took the words out of my mouth. People on this board are so petty. Makes me think half of this board are high school students. |
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Post by SportyBucky on Aug 30, 2016 10:33:18 GMT -5
Also far too early to be dismissing them. I'm not AT ALL a NE fan, but if they ran the table and only drop a set to the first team they played, what would you say? I'd also propose vb has come a long way in 8 years. More girls playing. More athletes playing. Parity. "....if they ran the table and only drop a set to the first team they played, what would you say?" I'd say they were a crazy great team, maybe the best evah. That said, it is far too early to be crowning the Huskers with glory. Lot of volleyball left to play.......but I repeat myself. And far too early to be dismissing them |
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Post by NebraskaVBfan93 on Aug 30, 2016 10:35:01 GMT -5
Yep. Far too early to be crowning the Huskers with glory. Lot of volleyball left to play. Also far too early to be dismissing them. I'm not AT ALL a NE fan, but if they ran the table and only drop a set to the first team they played, what would you say? I'd also propose vb has come a long way in 8 years. More girls playing. More athletes playing. Parity. IF we had some ham we could have some ham and eggs, IF we had some eggs. Way WAY to early to be making such lofty comparisons IMO. They've played two matches to this point. Yes, they looked very good, but there were times last year when they looked very good one night and not so much the next. Of course I hope they deserve such comparisons to great teams of the past at the end of the season, but there's just not enough evidence to base that on at this point. They've just left the starting gate. Let's see what they look like at the finish line. p.s. I appreciate your ability to be subjective regarding a team you're not a fan of. Very admirable!! |
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Post by SportyBucky on Aug 30, 2016 10:35:08 GMT -5
Also far too early to be dismissing them. I'm not AT ALL a NE fan, but if they ran the table and only drop a set to the first team they played, what would you say? I'd also propose vb has come a long way in 8 years. More girls playing. More athletes playing. Parity. "....if they ran the table and only drop a set to the first team they played, what would you say?" I'd say they were a crazy great team, maybe the best evah. That said, it is far too early to be crowning the Huskers with glory. Lot of volleyball left to play.......but I repeat myself. "Protect the Queens' turf at any cost," said Russ Rose. And with that, all Lion minions dutifully scampered to this chat board to ensure the legacy of Rose and his Queens was intact. Good job, durtpile. Good job, indeed. |
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Post by HappyVolley on Aug 30, 2016 10:49:51 GMT -5
Do you really want to compare Nebraska '16 to Penn State '08? "Reminds me of" does not equal "the same as". I don't think anyone is saying that Nebraska is that Penn State team. I sure don't think anything like that and I am completely happy to view the world through Scarlet and Cream colored goggles. Finding similarities between two things does not preclude finding differences as well. Nor does it preclude the possibility that they are structured the same but to vastly different degrees and outcomes. Why is anything in that quote a big deal? BS. ballvolley made a qualitative comparison. |
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