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Post by Deleted on Feb 28, 2015 14:33:05 GMT -5
I'm glad we have a shot at UNC...wish it would be week 4 though.
and wish this schedule was a bit stronger..no?
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Post by c4ndlelight on Feb 28, 2015 14:35:03 GMT -5
I'm glad we have a shot at UNC...wish it would be week 4 though. and wish this schedule was a bit stronger..no? It'll look really good on the RPI, especially the first and last weekends. Looks like Sheff paid attention. |
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Post by bkedane on Feb 28, 2015 15:07:28 GMT -5
Is it still just "speculation" that Wisconsin has pulled out of the Pac12/B1G event? When I shared this information back when it happened that's what the Wisconsin fans told me.
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Post by wishconsin on Feb 28, 2015 15:25:37 GMT -5
Since there was a write up in the State Journal this morning with an explanation from Coach Sheffield, I am pretty sure it's accurate. Rainbow Badger has the link to the article. The rest of the schedule will be released in a few weeks. I like the two home weekends and the competition. While the preseason is not quite as hard, the BIG schedule will be a challenge. I hope he can get them ready to play.
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Post by BadgerAce42 on Feb 28, 2015 17:22:06 GMT -5
Excited about the sched; Cook is an a-hole... he should also find inner-squad drama a joke since he's all about joking; happy birthday, Lauren!
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Post by Wiswell on Feb 28, 2015 18:42:04 GMT -5
So who is thinking about driving to Omaha? *raises hand.
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Post by bucky415 on Feb 28, 2015 19:07:07 GMT -5
You do realize that Omaha is all of the way across Iowa, right? I could maybe work it into a trip to see my friends in Northwest Missouri, but it is a long, boring drive.
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Post by badgerbreath on Feb 28, 2015 19:31:33 GMT -5
I think this OOC schedule is a good one. There are some reliably good teams (WKU, Kansas State, Louisville, Creighton) and UNC is a good tough early season challenge. Win these and RPI will be OK. Would like to see us play more heavyweights like UW and USC, but with the young squad this schedule has the right balance. I also love the idea of the alumni weekend -- especially with all these new kids coming in, building a sense of history and tradition and family is important.
Do we believe that the main problem with the Pac12 challenge was the B1G schedule? I can believe it was a factor, but it seems too nebulous to be the main concern. I get the feeling Sheff apparently did not like what happened with all of those tough games in a row right before the conference season, and was afraid of what might happen with a younger squad that early in the year. The experiment basically failed in his mind. The uncertainty with the B1G schedule seems just an added concern.
I like Sheff's idea for organizing conferences better than Cook's-- although the even-odd idea still makes one conference by definition weaker, and punishes success by forcing the higher ranked teams into the somewhat better conference. The other way (by geography) is arguably worse than what we have now since it institutionalizes inequities rather having them pop up arbitrarily based on the vagaries of scheduling. Not getting into the Cook discussion, but it's good to hear Sheff call out the hypocrisy openly. It really is unseemly.
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Post by rainbowbadger on Mar 1, 2015 0:13:32 GMT -5
At this point I am thinking the Rainbows will be in either Louisville or Omaha, maybe even both. We're crazy like that.
As far as our coming preconference opponents, I've taken the liberty of arranging them by 2014 record, with RPI. North Carolina is the only 2014 top 25 team. If the top teams on this list do as well as they did last year, we will have a decent strength of schedule.
We have to win, of course.
School: 2014 Record / RPI
North Carolina: 29-3 (.906) / 7
Western Kentucky: 30-6 (.833) / 40
Creighton: 25-9 (.735) / 34
Kansas State: 22-9 (.710) / 30
College of Charleston: 23-10 (.697) / 89
Colgate: 15-11 (.577) / 220
Kent State: 17-14 (.542) / 166
Arkansas: 15-14 (.517) / 83
Louisville: 15-15 (.500) / 99
Georgia: 14-17 (.452) / 125
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Post by Deleted on Mar 1, 2015 0:19:19 GMT -5
Preconference schedule announced! Weekend 1 (Madison): Badger Invitational, hosting Western Kentucky, Colgate, and College of Charleston. Weekend 2 (Louisville): B1G/ACC Challenge, playing Louisville and North Carolina. Weekend 3 (Madison): Badger Alumni Invitational, hosting Georgia, Kent State, and Georgetown. Weekend 4 (Omaha): Creighton Invitational, playing Creighton, Arkansas, and Kansas State. m.host.madison.com/sports/college/volleyball/badgers-volleyball-uw-will-face-four-ncaa-tournament-teams-in/article_6e058194-6ace-50b2-8c43-c6acb31d46bd.html?mobile_touch=trueNotre Dame is no longer in the B1G/ACC event. North Carolina replaces them. We did pull out of the B1G/Pac-12 tourney, with Sheffield citing lingering uncertainties about the conference schedule. Apparently the B1G coaches could not agree on a conference season schedule format, so the ADs will decide. Sheff had some choice words about Cook's comments re: last season's schedule. Discuss! Looks pretty weak. |
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Post by ballervolley on Mar 1, 2015 3:43:55 GMT -5
She was bump setting many balls she'd normally get under. She wasn't jumping and pulling a block. She wasn't blocking. She wasn't covering the floor on defense. Not sure what these is here to argue about. I would have kept Carlini in as well but it wasn't because she was the best option because of her setting; she was the best option because no one else played with the first team, Thomas was our go-to hitter, no setter had match experience, etc... We can agree to disagree. Carlini still played a hell of a match with one ankle, and contributed way, way more than you suggest. Thomas was able to be effective because of her setter, not the other way around. Also, Carlini finished with 10 digs and 3 blocks, all in the last three sets... Regardless, Carlini's performance had nothing to do with Wisconsin losing the match.  |
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Post by rainbowbadger on Mar 1, 2015 9:14:50 GMT -5
Preconference schedule announced! Weekend 1 (Madison): Badger Invitational, hosting Western Kentucky, Colgate, and College of Charleston. Weekend 2 (Louisville): B1G/ACC Challenge, playing Louisville and North Carolina. Weekend 3 (Madison): Badger Alumni Invitational, hosting Georgia, Kent State, and Georgetown. Weekend 4 (Omaha): Creighton Invitational, playing Creighton, Arkansas, and Kansas State. m.host.madison.com/sports/college/volleyball/badgers-volleyball-uw-will-face-four-ncaa-tournament-teams-in/article_6e058194-6ace-50b2-8c43-c6acb31d46bd.html?mobile_touch=trueNotre Dame is no longer in the B1G/ACC event. North Carolina replaces them. We did pull out of the B1G/Pac-12 tourney, with Sheffield citing lingering uncertainties about the conference schedule. Apparently the B1G coaches could not agree on a conference season schedule format, so the ADs will decide. Sheff had some choice words about Cook's comments re: last season's schedule. Discuss! Looks pretty weak. It's definitely not as aggressive as last year. But I get why he dialed it back. He's being cautious. In order to schedule as aggressively as he did last year and still be confident that it's not going to hurt you in the long run even if you lose a few, you have to be absolutely certain of the RPI math. That is not possible this year, with everything up in the air about the conference schedule. The preconference schedule tells me he thinks that there is a very real possibility that football-oriented ADs won't want to be bothered by having to actually THINK about volleyball for more than 5 minutes, and will just shove our sport into the same divisions as football. That will make it so that Wisconsin has to play Minnesota, Nebraska, Purdue, and Illinois twice, a SOS boost that will more than make up for having Colgate and Georgetown on the schedule. The preconference schedule also tells me that he acknowledges that this coming year's team is going to be very, very different from the teams he's had the last two years, at least at the outset. 14 players, 50% of them freshman, plus one transfer hitter who is making a long, slow recovery from a nasty knee injury, and who has, to date, played only a single point of B1G volleyball. There were certain assumptions that Sheffield could make about resiliency with last year's team that he absolutely cannot make going forward. He doesn't know these players. Not the way he did the seniors. He doesn't know how they will react under pressure. I'm sure he has a very good idea, but he can't be certain. I might point out that Russ Rose did not schedule a particularly aggressive preconference last year when he had a full slate of freshman. This is not really that different. |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 1, 2015 11:14:50 GMT -5
I am waiting for pelc's suggested schedule for the 7 freshmen. The only one I would swap would be Georgetown. I also think Georgia will be a little better this year. Is Bayer still with them. The Kuzmas will be highly conflicted! Is he planning to start all 7 freshmen? |
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Post by urkillinmesmalls on Mar 1, 2015 11:30:53 GMT -5
I am waiting for pelc's suggested schedule for the 7 freshmen. The only one I would swap would be Georgetown. I also think Georgia will be a little better this year. Is Bayer still with them. The Kuzmas will be highly conflicted! In the article, "Georgetown will play in the meet but will not face UW." |
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Post by rainbowbadger on Mar 1, 2015 11:57:09 GMT -5
I am waiting for pelc's suggested schedule for the 7 freshmen. The only one I would swap would be Georgetown. I also think Georgia will be a little better this year. Is Bayer still with them. The Kuzmas will be highly conflicted! In the article, "Georgetown will play in the meet but will not face UW." Good eye. I've updated my list above. So at this point, the only school I'd eliminate would be Colgate, who barely scraped together a winning record against not-so-hot competition last year. |
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