2003 MB

[aaronic]

I'm bored.

[Jalap]

All of those teams had surprising years, but I gave my vote to Georgia Tech because when they beat Nebraska at Nebraska I was kind of shocked. Also when they came to Hawaii and played us really close I was surprised again, not because they challenged us, but because they really played like a top 4 team.

[gtdon]

I too voted for GT, but for obvious reasons. I thought in the preseason first poll they were ranked 12, that they would have their work cut out for them to maintain that ranking. They started so strong, but after the Nebraska win they played fairly sloppy at times. I did not have a good feeling going into the NCAA's, but we did get a good draw for the first two rounds.....but Florida A&M was very dangerous. Going to Hawaii to play Cal and UH, I just hoped not to be embarassed. I was very proud of how GT played in Hawaii. If I had to vote for another team, it would be Purdue. Purdue was in contention in the Big Ten until they lost their freshman right side. They had a tough time after that injury. I picked Minnesota in the preseason to be final 4, so that was not a real big surprise when they beat Pepperdine and Washington to get to the big dance. A lot of teams had great seasons too, it was a fun season for me and I have enjoyed it immensely.

[Psychopotamus]

There was already a preseason hub bub on this board about Georgia Tech, so it was only a half shock they were as good as they were.

To me the biggest surprise was a young UCLA team playing themselves into the top 5 this season.

[GatorVball]

I voted for Minnesota. They were surprising on 2 different levels. They were expected to be good, but I think a lot of people were surprised when they started out 0-4 and when they lost their first 2 Big 10 matches to Purdue and Indiana. Then, they were seeded 13th in the NCAA tourney, and weren't expected to do much, yet they again surprised everyone and made the final 4.

[USAFAN]

I voted for Minnesota as well. They were ranked #6 in the preseason and they had really high hopes and when they came to Hawaii and got absolutely spanked, even I thought they were overrated. They struggled at times, but man what a post season they had with back to back 5 game wins over Pepperdine and Washington who we all thought they would beat them, and they made it to their first final four ever. Georgia Tech did have a great team, but I was expecting more out of them because Moster was an All American last year and they were really a program on the rise. Georgia Tech and Minnesota both had great seasons but I was much more suprised by Minnesota.

[Barefoot In Kailua]

I'd have to go with UCLA. I thought the Bruins would stink this season. They did stink, just not as bad as I thought they would. ;D

[kolohekeiki]

I voted for Georgia Tech, because I've never known Georgia Tech as a top team like that. The few times that I've seen them play they have been a mediocre team. Then when they came to Hawai`i and gave Hawai`i all that they could handle I realized actually how good Georgia Tech is.

But I totally didn't think about how surprising Minnesota was. Yes I saw them in pre-season and thought they were way overrated after going through the Wahine Classic 0-3.

Then when I heard that they made it into the final four I was absolutely stunned that they made it that far.

So Minnesota and Georgia Tech were both surprise teams for me this year.

[Wolfgang]

Here's the thing about sports and performance. As you know, there's the regular season and there's the postseason. It seems that most people judge the success of a team based on their performance in the postseason with some consideration of the regular season. If a 0.500 team makes it to the NCAAs and kick butt, many would consider their season a success.

Two examples come to mind. The 1983 NC State men's basketball team finished the season 18-15 (I think) and sqeaked into the NCAA's on the strength of the ACC. They stormed through and then beat demigod Phi Slamma Jamma Houston Cougars (Clyde Drexler, Michael Young, Hakeem Olajuwon) for the NCAA championship. A mediocre season became, all of a sudden, a very successful one. In the NFL, the 1983 Oakland Raiders finished the season 9-7 and qualified for the playoffs as a wild card. No wild card has ever won the Super Bowl, but that year, Oakland somehow managed to get past everybody and then eventually beat Philadelphia for the NFL crown.

A team like the Minnesota Gophers women's vb team is a surprise because they were surprisingly bad early on, mediocre in the middle part of the season, and awesome in the postseason. Prior to this season, everyone expected them to do well. Eventually, they did. Does that mean they're a surprise team? After all, they did as well (perhaps more) as everyone expected them to by penetrating deep into the NCAA's. On the other hand, they sucked in the early to middle part of the regular season.

Umm... so, in conclusion, I lost track of my point. Sorry.

[JT]

I'm most surprised with how accurate the pre-season poll was with regard to Minnesota.

[BeiBei]

I will go with GT, I am surprised at how good Eveland is.
I still think that Minnesota was lucky to be in Pepperdine's bracket as there was no way Minnesota will advance beyond the sweet 16 round if it faced SC, Hawaii or Florida.

Honestly what surprised me the most is Florida defeated Hawaii (I hated to rub it it) but without Jenkins, I gave Florida no chance of advancing into the finals

[Overlycheerful]

ucla said:

I still think that Minnesota was lucky to be in Pepperdine's bracket as there was no way Minnesota will advance beyond the sweet 16 round if it faced SC, Hawaii or Florida.

Well, sure. But you could say that about all the teams. The difference is that THREE of those teams were also fortunate to be in that bracket--Pepperdine, Washington and Stanford--and only Minnesota took advantage of the opportunity.

Minnesota also had a tougher 2nd round match than any of the top 16 seeds.

So, "lucky" wouldn't be my choice of words to describe the Gophers.

[kolohekeiki]

ucla said:

I will go with GT, I am surprised at how good Eveland is.
I still think that Minnesota was lucky to be in Pepperdine's bracket as there was no way Minnesota will advance beyond the sweet 16 round if it faced SC, Hawaii or Florida.

Honestly what surprised me the most is Florida defeated Hawaii (I hated to rub it it) but without Jenkins, I gave Florida no chance of advancing into the finals

Honestly, yes Eveland is good, but I didn't like the way her sets came out. I would say that almost half of them looked really ugly coming out. But she ran an awesome offense. Probably the best I've seen.

[cbrown1709]

I guess it depends on what part you are talkin about. If your talkin about: i think GT was the season surprise but the tournament suprise was Minnesota, no one thought they would get that far.

[Jalap]

I agree, Eveland's delivery wasn't the prettiest, but man did she run a damn fast offense. Even though the sets weren't that pretty it was still a beauty to watch the Techies play.