B1G TEN

[volleyaudience]

Looking forward, IMO it seems to me that Wisconsin, Nebraska and Minnesota will most likely end in the top half of the Big Ten each of the next five years. IMO, it would not surprise me if Indiana, Iowa, Rutgers and Michigan do not appear in the top half over that time. That leaves, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan State, Northwestern, Ohio State, Penn State, and Purdue fighting it out to end in the top half.

May 3, 2022 You can certainly disagree with anything and all of what I've said. 

Ignoring what I've said, which seven teams do you see spending the most time in the upper half of the Big Ten over the next five years? And why?

I'm interested in your opinions and your reasons. For those who want to, there is a poll attached.

Facts and opinions change. Feel free to come back and change your votes.

[mervynpumpkinhead]

MN, WI, NE, Purdue, IL because of tradition, track record, coaching, etc.

Ditto Ohio State.

Penn State because I don't see them being overtaken consistently by anyone outside these seven except for maybe Michigan. The Wolverines get great recruits so they always have a shot. If Penn State and Illinois are 6 and 7, Michigan is 7a.

[Riviera Minestrone]

May 3, 2022 15:38:51 GMT -5 volleyaudience said:

Looking forward, IMO it seems to me that Wisconsin, Nebraska and Minnesota will most likely end in the top half of the Big Ten each of the next five years. IMO, it would not surprise me if Indiana, Rutgers and Michigan do not appear in the top half over that time. That leaves, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan State, Northwestern, Ohio State, Penn State, and Purdue fighting it out to end in the top half.

You can certainly disagree with anything and all of what I've said. 

Ignoring what I've said, which seven teams do you see spending the most time in the upper half of the Big Ten over the next five years? And why?

I'm interested in your opinions and your reasons. For those who want to, there is a poll attached.

Despite the revisionist smugness of certain PSU posters after their recent portal-frenzy, they certainly lost more than they gained. Most other knowledgeable VTers agree! Prognosticating this far into the future, not knowing the full effect of NIL in Women's VB, is a tricky-wicket. I picked six out of the top seven in the poll so far.

Edited to add: the one team I picked that's not top-7 within 5 years is now eighth.

[knapplc]

The interesting thing about five years for the sake of this poll is where is John Cook in year five? Still at Nebraska's helm or comfortably retired.

If he's retired, who replaces him? And can that coach maintain what Pettit & Cook have built? Maintaining their place in the top half of the top conference would be an amazing feat.

I also voted for Ohio State, Minnesota and Wisconsin. I'm pretty confident with their A) trajectory, B) coaching, or C) both that I'd put them up there.

The rest is guesswork.

[volleyaudience]

I'm wondering if Michigan State doesn't have a better chance to crack the upper tier than Michigan? Michigan State was a fixture in the upper half from 2011 thru 2017. It should be quite a battle between the teams that want to break into or stay in the top group.

I'm thinking that Coach Cook will probably be gone in five years. It will be interesting to me to see if he does the one year overlap introduction that he was given. I always thought that was a brilliant move by Coach Pettit, especially since he had to decide to leave earlier than he really would have liked to.

[AmeriCanvbdad]

I'm interested to see how the new coaches at Michigan State and Iowa will fare.
Maryland has one more year with Rainelle Jones and Sydney Dowler will be really strong this year.

Are any of them top 7 ready? Probably not yet, but I will be noting their progression.

[AmeriCanvbdad]

May 3, 2022 15:54:16 GMT -5 knapplc said:

The interesting thing about five years for the sake of this poll is where is John Cook in year five? Still at Nebraska's helm or comfortably retired.

If he's retired, who replaces him? And can that coach maintain what Pettit & Cook have built? Maintaining their place in the top half of the top conference would be an amazing feat.

If the stars align, I think DBK will keep things humming just fine.

[knapplc]

May 3, 2022 16:05:08 GMT -5 AmeriCanvbdad said:

May 3, 2022 15:54:16 GMT -5 knapplc said:

The interesting thing about five years for the sake of this poll is where is John Cook in year five? Still at Nebraska's helm or comfortably retired.

If he's retired, who replaces him? And can that coach maintain what Pettit & Cook have built? Maintaining their place in the top half of the top conference would be an amazing feat.

If the stars align, I think DBK will keep things humming just fine.

She seems like the obvious choice, and she seems more than qualified. I could see her stepping in smoothly and perpetuating the machine. My only hedge on that is that it's historically unlikely. The bar is "hall of fame coach," and to have back-to-back coaches is exceedingly rare. Back-to-back-to-back? Vanishingly rare.

[AmeriCanvbdad]

May 3, 2022 16:12:36 GMT -5 knapplc said:

May 3, 2022 16:05:08 GMT -5 AmeriCanvbdad said:

If the stars align, I think DBK will keep things humming just fine.

She seems like the obvious choice, and she seems more than qualified. I could see her stepping in smoothly and perpetuating the machine. My only hedge on that is that it's historically unlikely. The bar is "hall of fame coach," and to have back-to-back coaches is exceedingly rare. Back-to-back-to-back? Vanishingly rare.

A lot could happen by the time Cook is ready to leave.
She's still my odds on favorite to be the first female head coach to win a National title.
That might sweeten the pot.

[trojansc]

Love how even Rutgers and Maryland get a vote but Indiana has none.

#Cancelled

[hornshouse23]

Is it anyone besides the usual suspects? I guess I could see Penn Stare falling and Michigan State making it into the top half, but that’s a long shot for me. I think Penn State will knock off a couple of the top teams in Happy Valley. I would LOVE for Maryland to score a couple signature wins, just to make the top standings more exciting.

[bbg95]

So Wisconsin, Nebraska, Minnesota, Ohio State, Purdue, Penn State and Illinois are running away with this. Sounds about right.

[PostPrime]

Over the next 5 years we will see what new coaches step up.
New: Michigan St, Penn State, Iowa.

Next is the returning coaches trying to crack the top half: Maryland, Northwestern, Rutgers, Indiana.

Do any of these 7 replace the other 7?
Hard to guess that.

[bbg95]

May 3, 2022 17:19:49 GMT -5 PostPrime said:

Over the next 5 years we will see what new coaches step up.
New: Michigan St, Penn State, Iowa.

Next is the returning coaches trying to crack the top half: Maryland, Northwestern, Rutgers, Indiana.

Do any of these 7 replace the other 7?
Hard to guess that.

I think Penn State will be fine unless they made a bad hire. Which is possible, I guess. But I'd still bet on them being in the top half.

[volleyaudience]

May 3, 2022 17:19:49 GMT -5 PostPrime said:

Over the next 5 years we will see what new coaches step up.
New: Michigan St, Penn State, Iowa.

Next is the returning coaches trying to crack the top half: Maryland, Northwestern, Rutgers, Indiana.

Do any of these 7 replace the other 7?
Hard to guess that.

Of course you are right. It's a long way out. There are regularly new coaching teams. Lots of things happen every year. And fighting your way into the top half of the league is brutally hard.

To be fair, we should acknowledge that while they have a new head coach and new assistants, Penn State has for well more than a decade been a consistent card carrying member of the upper half.

IMO it's great fun to watch the annual battles in the Big Ten.