VOLLEYTALK TOP 25 preseason ranking 8/06

[vbprisoner]

For the 2018 season a couple of us thought it would be fun to put together a Volleytalk Top 25 weekly ranking and see how it compares to AVCA poll and any other polls that come out. An unofficial committee was formed to decide the best way to represent the Volleytalk community for the weekly top 25 rankings. We got recommendations from many of you to put together a committee of 30 voters (+ 2 back up voters) with representation from 9 conferences. We also made sure there was representation from the east, mid-west, south, southwest, and west. 

Each week starting 8/26 the 30 voters will submit their top 25 rankings and they will be tabulated into the Volleytalk Top 25. Below are 32 volleytalkers that were selected as 30 voters and 2 back up voters because of their love for the game, spending to much time following college volleyball, and also having a decent knowledge of D1 volleyball nationally. 

ay2013 , Barefoot In Kailua , bayarea , @brandonl10 , bluepenquin , bruinsgold , BuckysHeat
c4ndlelight , Cruz'n , donut , eastcoastopp , hammer , Hawk Attack , huskergeek   
huskerjen , jasonr , jcvball22 , lionsfan , Millennium , n00b , Northern lights , permagrin rainbowbadger , @ruffda , @allamerican11 , sunsuphornsup , trojansc , vballfreak808  
vbprisoner , vbshrink , vup , WahineFan44

Volleytalk Preseason Top 25 rankings
(team, point total, (#) first place votes
 
1. Stanford         737 pts. (19)
2. Nebraska        715 pts. (10)
3. Minnesota       631 pts. (1)
4. Texas             622 pts.
5. Wisconsin       614 pts.
6. BYU               596 pts.
7. Kentucky        584 pts.
8. Florida           532 pts.
9. USC               489 pts.
10. Penn St.       466 pts.
11. Illinois          431 pts.
12. Oregon         407 pts.
13. UCLA            399 pts.
14. Colorado       368 pts.
15. Baylor           351 pts.
16. Creighton      240 pts.
17. Washington   239 pts.
18. Pittsburgh     195 pts.
19. San Diego     161 pts.
20. Michigan       132 pts.
21. Cal Poly        127 pts.
22. Iowa St.       109 pts.
23. Marquette      99 pts.
24. Louisville        72 pts.
25. Colorado St.   70 pts.
25. Purdue           70 pts.

next 5 up - Missouri 63, Utah 54, Washington St. 46, Hawaii 40, Wichita St. 33
(there were 13 teams that received votes but did not meet the minimum of appearing on 5 ballots)


OK, let the debate begin!

[Northern lights]

Interesting how little the loss of Lexi Sun has done to people's opinion of Texas.

[bprtbone]

Honestly, this is far better sourced than the coach's poll.

[trojansc]

We've made our move. Now you AVCA:

[Deleted]

The amount of talent across the country is unreal. College volleyball has never been as deep as it is today.

[Deleted]

Aug 6, 2018 21:33:33 GMT -5 trojansc said:

We've made our move. Now you AVCA:

if any of you step outside that ugly blue carpet, you are dead

[Northern lights]

How come you let (R)uffda! vote for Minnesota as #1?

[vbprisoner]

Aug 6, 2018 21:29:19 GMT -5 Northern lights said:

Interesting how little the loss of Lexi Sun has done to people's opinion of Texas.

Having Logan Eggleston coming in early was a pretty big present!

IMHO I think Sun going to Nebraska was a big reason they did not drop to #5 or #6. They lost Hunter, Holman, Albrecht, etc., and adding Sun to go along with Feocke makes them a top team. It doesn't hurt to have the #1 setter recruit backfill Hunter though!

[vbprisoner]

Aug 6, 2018 21:39:22 GMT -5 Northern lights said:

How come you let (R)uffda! vote for Minnesota as #1?

That wasn't (R)uff that did that. They will come forward if they choose. He's either a genius or was drunk! (it wasn't me either) LOL

[bballnut90]

Aug 6, 2018 21:24:45 GMT -5 vbprisoner said:

For the 2018 season a couple of us thought it would be fun to put together a Volleytalk Top 25 weekly ranking and see how it compares to AVCA poll and any other polls that come out. An unofficial committee was formed to decide the best way to represent the Volleytalk community for the weekly top 25 rankings. We got recommendations from many of you to put together a committee of 30 voters (+ 2 back up voters) with representation from 9 conferences. We also made sure there was representation from the east, mid-west, south, southwest, and west. 

Each week starting 8/26 the 30 voters will submit their top 25 rankings and they will be tabulated into the Volleytalk Top 25. Below are 32 volleytalkers that were selected as 30 voters and 2 back up voters because of their love for the game, spending to much time following college volleyball, and also having a decent knowledge of D1 volleyball nationally. 

ay2013 , Barefoot In Kailua , bayarea , @brandonl10 , bluepenquin , bruinsgold , BuckysHeat
c4ndlelight , Cruz'n , donut , eastcoastopp , hammer , Hawk Attack , huskergeek   
huskerjen , jasonr , jcvball22 , lionsfan , Millennium , n00b , Northern lights , permagrin rainbowbadger , @ruffda , @allamerican11 , sunsuphornsup , trojansc , vballfreak808  
vbprisoner , vbshrink , vup , WahineFan44

Volleytalk Preseason Top 25 rankings
(team, point total, (#) first place votes
 
1. Stanford         737 pts. (19)
2. Nebraska        715 pts. (10)
3. Minnesota       631 pts. (1)
4. Texas             622 pts.
5. Wisconsin       614 pts.
6. BYU               596 pts.
7. Kentucky        584 pts.
8. Florida           532 pts.
9. USC               489 pts.
10. Penn St.       466 pts.
11. Illinois          431 pts.
12. Oregon         407 pts.
13. UCLA            399 pts.
14. Colorado       368 pts.
15. Baylor           351 pts.
16. Creighton      240 pts.
17. Washington   239 pts.
18. Pittsburgh     195 pts.
19. San Diego     161 pts.
20. Michigan       132 pts.
21. Cal Poly        127 pts.
22. Iowa St.       109 pts.
23. Marquette      99 pts.
24. Louisville        72 pts.
25. Colorado St.   70 pts.
25. Purdue           70 pts.

next 5 up - Missouri 63, Utah 54, Washington St. 46, Hawaii 40, Wichita St. 33
(there were 13 teams that received votes but did not meet the minimum of appearing on 5 ballots)


OK, let the debate begin!

Really good list. Thanks for putting this together. The top 3 appear to be slam dunks for being title threats, after that there are a number of teams with great potential but with question marks as well:
-Much of Wisconsin's success depends on how effective Haggerty will be
-Texas is as talented as anyone but still has unproven passing and setting
-BYU appears to be strong but will need to prove themselves against strong opponents. Playing in the WCC isn't going to help them.
-Kentucky loses its middles and libero but has good talent on the outside and Lilley coming back
-Florida replaces a lot but gets a huge stud in Thayer Hall
-USC looks good on paper but has a new coaching staff
-Penn State looks completely different, but talent wise they could be a Final Four team

[Hawk Attack]

To me, Lexi Sun going from Texas to Nebraska makes both squads stronger than they would’ve been otherwise in 2018.

[BuckysHeat]

Disappointed that so many picked Creighton so high and Marquette so low. Otherwise this i svery good.

[vbprisoner]

Aug 6, 2018 21:33:33 GMT -5 trojansc said:

We've made our move. Now you AVCA:

When does the AVCA preseason poll usually come out?

We probably should have waited until the same day because how many coaches just might say to themselves.... hey those nutjobs on volleytalk just sit around and watch volleyball so they probably have a pretty good poll and I will just copy that one to send as mine to start the season!

[Gladys Kravitz]

Aug 6, 2018 21:29:19 GMT -5 Northern lights said:

Interesting how little the loss of Lexi Sun has done to people's opinion of Texas.

We all love Lexi and you know what we want for her.

[Deleted]

For the record, I picked Minnesota #4.

Also for the record, I voted a top 30. Proving I can't follow directions and should not be allowed to vote.