Big Ten Fall 2021

[Deleted]

Jun 22, 2021 16:59:39 GMT -5 @madden54 said:

Jun 22, 2021 16:57:28 GMT -5 @firstjedi said:

Possibly (probably).  We will never really know what the B1G teams could have been, if they had a regular season.  Based on where they were as teams when the tournament started, there is no doubt that the 2 best teams squared off in the title match.  I don't think it's a coincidence, though, that they came from 2 of the conferences that actually got to play the most "normal" regular season of all conferences.  The B1G season was a total mess.  So was the PAC.  

I would say each of Nebraska, Minnesota, Penn State, Purdue and Ohio State had a lot of untapped potential in the 2021 spring season that they simply couldn't reach due to their disjointed seasons.  Teams, even really experienced ones, grow a lot as a season progresses.  Wisconsin and Minnesota just couldn't.  Stanford couldn't.  

Maybe but I just don’t think any of the teams in the big ten save maybe Wisconsin would have been able to compete with Texas or Kentucky. Especially Kentucky. Kentucky had elite passing, elite setting, and elite attacking. Truly a perfect storm of all of those plus great coaching and chemistry. I don’t think any amount of practice from the big ten teams was going to make them be able to beat UK and Texas rolled through the big ten in the tournament

Yeah, I do think Wisconsin was the cream of the B1G crop.  And, as luck would have it, their season was the most screwed up of all of them.  I have my doubts about whether they would have gotten their serve/pass/transition game to a point where they could have beaten UK.  Maybe not Texas either. 

They would have probably been better by tournament time than they were, though.  Just not sure how much.  Not often that you get to a national semifinal and have Texas out ball control you.  And, now we will never actually know even though much of the team will be back.

[Deleted]

Jun 22, 2021 18:50:00 GMT -5 @bulldog24 said:

Regarding Wisconsin’s tough season, I consider that karma.

For?

[nevollfan]

The Kentucky-Texas final was great volleyball. Very, very high caliber. Texas played great, better than I thought they would. But I didn’t watch them once last year. So ignorance is bliss. Kentucky was fantastic. They excelled in so many phases. IMO, the two best teams for sure and a final with the quality of the match the best I’ve seen in years.

[Kingsley]

Welcome to the party. We missed you.

[Kingsley]

The absence of Pitt has me bitterly disappointed.

[greatlakesvballer]

Jun 22, 2021 19:27:33 GMT -5 @firstjedi said:

Jun 22, 2021 18:50:00 GMT -5 @bulldog24 said:

Regarding Wisconsin’s tough season, I consider that karma.

For?

For having been 2019 and 2020-21 B1G champions, of course.

[Kingsley]

OP updated for Stivrins.

[trojansc]

I like the Georgia Tech/St. John's/UCF/Penn State tournament. Could be fun!

[jwvolley]

So the B1G trifecta is officially returning

[huskersrule95]

Jun 28, 2021 17:17:51 GMT -5 Kingsley said:

OP updated for Stivrins.

Stivrins is returning?! Where did you see that ?

[c4ndlelight]

Jun 28, 2021 17:41:26 GMT -5 jwvolley said:

So the B1G trifecta is officially returning

[vergyltantor]

Jun 28, 2021 18:06:02 GMT -5 huskersrule95 said:

Jun 28, 2021 17:17:51 GMT -5 Kingsley said:

OP updated for Stivrins.

Stivrins is returning?! Where did you see that ?

volleyballmag.com/nebraska-john-cook-062821/

[Kingsley]

I’m pretty close to sketching some previews of these teams. A lot of the offseason stuff has now run its course.

I have a preliminary set of match replays to sift through. I’ll probably cram through some more club footage and finalize who I think the impact freshmen are.

[jiml]

Jun 22, 2021 23:54:16 GMT -5 nevollfan said:

The Kentucky-Texas final was great volleyball...

And as a bonus, we finally got someone new as national champion. I was really tired of repeats by the usual suspects!

[Deleted]

I feel like the Penn State vs LSU will be a tight match.