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Post by uofaGRAD on Mar 7, 2023 10:59:41 GMT -5
I’ll just never bet against Kansas missing the tourney lol. I think they’ll be fine. A lot of returners and picked up a pin I believe in Reagan Cooper. They were eerily close to knocking out Nebraska last year and much of the team is still there. didn’t they also pick up Mykayla Myers from TCU? Idk if she’ll be a game changer but she definitely adds some depth at MB for the Jayhawks. I think so but I couldn’t remember 100% when I was writing it. I originally wrote “a pin and a middle” but then got paranoid when I didn’t immediately see something on the Kansas thread about a middle so then I changed it to just the pin (Reagan)😭
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Post by AmeriCanvbdad on Mar 7, 2023 11:44:54 GMT -5
McKenna Melville is the reason they made 5 tournaments in a row. Just like Jordan Thompson took Cincinnati to NCAA Tournaments and they have been a mess since. Those are one-of-a kind players (especially Thompson) that aren't easy to replace, we're talking 6-7 points per set players. UCF had a little more talent around Melville in her time compared to the Cincinnati/JT teams. Melville took 1300 swings last year - next highest total was 497. Not only that, but her passing, defense, blocking were lights out. I guess it just depends on what you mean by 'very competitive'. Maybe they have some big transfer(s) coming in, but I don't recall any game-changers. McKenna is a huge loss - I don't think they will be as good as last year. But, unlike Cincinnati after they lost Thompson - I believe UCF has been doing a decent job of recruiting and may be able to transition into a decent team this year. They will need Lauren Clark to be very good. Is that Lauren Clark who was FGCU and Penn State?
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Post by PostPrime on Mar 7, 2023 12:30:02 GMT -5
UH and UCF will learn what it’s really like to be in a P5 conference. They will take multiple losses and and it will steam roll on them. Dropping to the bottom half of the conference bruised. No tourney for either of them. Lol. Houston did pretty well last year against P5 competition and they are only getting better. As for UCF - they swept at Kansas last year... (but I do think UCF will be a mess next year) They just got two very good P5 transfers (Mbonu and Sauer) to compliment Abbie Jackson. It's actually exactly what Houston needed - Abbie Jackson and Georgiades are great ball control players so adding some terminal hitters and demanding less of Jackson will make her even better. Houston's weakest spot will definitely be at middle, we'll see how good they are there. I would be pretty surprised if Houston misses the tournament. Agree that UH could be very good. BUT they pulled out a lot of close matches in the AAC. They surely lose those in the Big 12. And then it snowballs. They do have the coaching and talent to give it a run but we will see. UCF no chance to be 6 or better.
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trojansc
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Post by trojansc on Mar 7, 2023 13:22:23 GMT -5
Lol. Houston did pretty well last year against P5 competition and they are only getting better. As for UCF - they swept at Kansas last year... (but I do think UCF will be a mess next year) They just got two very good P5 transfers (Mbonu and Sauer) to compliment Abbie Jackson. It's actually exactly what Houston needed - Abbie Jackson and Georgiades are great ball control players so adding some terminal hitters and demanding less of Jackson will make her even better. Houston's weakest spot will definitely be at middle, we'll see how good they are there. I would be pretty surprised if Houston misses the tournament. Agree that UH could be very good. BUT they pulled out a lot of close matches in the AAC. They surely lose those in the Big 12. And then it snowballs. They do have the coaching and talent to give it a run but we will see. UCF no chance to be 6 or better. A lot of close matches? Meh. They swept over half and went 5 a couple of times. The Tulane 1:30pm Wednesday match (wtf?) was the real question mark for me last year when they went 5 with a bad Tulane team. But, they beat Wichita State twice, one sweep and one of those being the close match you described above they won in 5 sets. If that was Iowa State — you’re right they would definitely have lost…. But you know who Iowa State did lose to….. Wichita State!
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Post by madden55 on Mar 7, 2023 13:33:56 GMT -5
Agree that UH could be very good. BUT they pulled out a lot of close matches in the AAC. They surely lose those in the Big 12. And then it snowballs. They do have the coaching and talent to give it a run but we will see. UCF no chance to be 6 or better. A lot of close matches? Meh. They swept over half and went 5 a couple of times. The Tulane 1:30pm Wednesday match (wtf?) was the real question mark for me last year when they went 5 with a bad Tulane team. But, they beat Wichita State twice, one sweep and one of those being the close match you described above they won in 5 sets. If that was Iowa State — you’re right they would definitely have lost…. But you know who Iowa State did lose to….. Wichita State! also isnt Houston gonna ve better this year
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Post by horns1 on Mar 7, 2023 13:46:45 GMT -5
Playing every opponent home and away made for a perfectly balanced conference schedule. 13 teams since Okie State does not field volleyball. Makes sense that we'll follow a similar format to what the 13-team SEC played (non-COVID years). 18 game schedule makes sense. Would be hard to play 20 since there will still be byes in conference play (thanks Okie State). 18 game schedule would mean 6 home/away and 6 single game opponents. I'm guessing the Texas home/away will be the 4 other Texas schools, OU, and a coinflip for the 6th (guessing one of the new schools - perhaps BYU). Football made sure all the existing Texas member schools and newcomer Houston faced each other this coming Fall; not a coincidence. Same could happen for volleyball like you stated. For volleyball, I would think Texas/Iowa State and Texas/OU would be a home-and-away setup. ISU packs in the fans for Texas at Hilton Coliseum. No offense to KSU, KU, and WVU but I don't think their volleyball fans as a whole would be upset if they only had to play Texas only once in 2023.
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bluepenquin
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Post by bluepenquin on Mar 7, 2023 14:04:58 GMT -5
Can someone give a quick rundown on who Houston looses from last year? 6 of their 9 players that played the most were listed as Seniors (curious which ones are coming back for one more year):
Isabel Theut (MB) Abbie Jackson (OH) Rachel Tullos (MB) Kennedy Warren (OH) Morgan Janda (S) Kortlyn Henderson (OH)
Kellen Morin (MB), Annie Cooke (S), and Kate Georgiades (L) are all valuable players. Add in Sauer (OH) and Mbonu (MB) and this becomes to look pretty good. Add in a couple from above (but looks like they are bringing in up to 6 freshmen, so not sure if any of those above are coming back)?
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bluepenquin
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Post by bluepenquin on Mar 7, 2023 14:10:25 GMT -5
18 game schedule makes sense. Would be hard to play 20 since there will still be byes in conference play (thanks Okie State). 18 game schedule would mean 6 home/away and 6 single game opponents. I'm guessing the Texas home/away will be the 4 other Texas schools, OU, and a coinflip for the 6th (guessing one of the new schools - perhaps BYU). Football made sure all the existing Texas member schools and newcomer Houston faced each other this coming Fall; not a coincidence. Same could happen for volleyball like you stated. For volleyball, I would think Texas/Iowa State and Texas/OU would be a home-and-away setup. ISU packs in the fans for Texas at Hilton Coliseum. No offense to KSU, KU, and WVU but I don't think their volleyball fans as a whole would be upset if they only had to play Texas only once in 2023. My sense - the football schedule had huge scrutiny - I am afraid that may not exist for volleyball? Also - Football has a championship game (not in volleyball). The B12 should want a schedule that they believe will best hold the sanctity of the conference champions. As such - Texas and BYU needs to play twice, and teams that could realistically win the conference shouldn't have a significantly harder/easier schedule.
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Post by jwvolley on Mar 7, 2023 14:13:33 GMT -5
Can someone give a quick rundown on who Houston looses from last year? 6 of their 9 players that played the most were listed as Seniors (curious which ones are coming back for one more year): Isabel Theut (MB) Abbie Jackson (OH) Rachel Tullos (MB) Kennedy Warren (OH) Morgan Janda (S) Kortlyn Henderson (OH) Kellen Morin (MB), Annie Cooke (S), and Kate Georgiades (L) are all valuable players. Add in Sauer (OH) and Mbonu (MB) and this becomes to look pretty good. Add in a couple from above (but looks like they are bringing in up to 6 freshmen, so not sure if any of those above are coming back)? Jackson, Tullos, and Janda are all back.
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Post by bbg95 on Mar 7, 2023 14:30:51 GMT -5
Football made sure all the existing Texas member schools and newcomer Houston faced each other this coming Fall; not a coincidence. Same could happen for volleyball like you stated. For volleyball, I would think Texas/Iowa State and Texas/OU would be a home-and-away setup. ISU packs in the fans for Texas at Hilton Coliseum. No offense to KSU, KU, and WVU but I don't think their volleyball fans as a whole would be upset if they only had to play Texas only once in 2023. My sense - the football schedule had huge scrutiny - I am afraid that may not exist for volleyball? Also - Football has a championship game (not in volleyball). The B12 should want a schedule that they believe will best hold the sanctity of the conference champions. As such - Texas and BYU needs to play twice, and teams that could realistically win the conference shouldn't have a significantly harder/easier schedule. It seems to me that the best course would be to make sure all the top teams play each other twice and all the worst teams play each other twice (obviously, there's a bit of guessing with that, but no one expects Texas to not be a top team, for example). And then do whatever with the middling teams to fill out the rest of the schedule. That would give the best teams more opportunities for quality wins and less opportunities for bad losses.
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trojansc
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Post by trojansc on Mar 7, 2023 14:43:01 GMT -5
What about a 16-game schedule with a conference tournament? Play 8 teams once, 4 teams twice.
I know there would be some vastly unequal conference schedules.
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Post by stevehorn on Mar 7, 2023 14:48:08 GMT -5
What about a 16-game schedule with a conference tournament? Play 8 teams once, 4 teams twice. I know there would be some vastly unequal conference schedules. I'll stick with a 18 game schedule and no tournament. Just not a fan of conference tournaments.
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trojansc
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Post by trojansc on Mar 7, 2023 14:52:54 GMT -5
What about a 16-game schedule with a conference tournament? Play 8 teams once, 4 teams twice. I know there would be some vastly unequal conference schedules. I'll stick with a 18 game schedule and no tournament. Just not a fan of conference tournaments. I have mixed feelings. Conference tournaments are cool, but I understand why top teams and conferences don’t like (or need/want) them.
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Post by stevehorn on Mar 7, 2023 15:06:07 GMT -5
I'll stick with a 18 game schedule and no tournament. Just not a fan of conference tournaments. I have mixed feelings. Conference tournaments are cool, but I understand why top teams and conferences don’t like (or need/want) them. I've just always felt that the regular season champion is the legit one that should get the NCAA bid. I know occasionally the champ might have a bit of luck or a fortunate break or two, but that same thing happens far more often in conference tournaments.
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Post by horns1 on Mar 7, 2023 15:08:22 GMT -5
Football made sure all the existing Texas member schools and newcomer Houston faced each other this coming Fall; not a coincidence. Same could happen for volleyball like you stated. For volleyball, I would think Texas/Iowa State and Texas/OU would be a home-and-away setup. ISU packs in the fans for Texas at Hilton Coliseum. No offense to KSU, KU, and WVU but I don't think their volleyball fans as a whole would be upset if they only had to play Texas only once in 2023. My sense - the football schedule had huge scrutiny - I am afraid that may not exist for volleyball? Also - Football has a championship game (not in volleyball). The B12 should want a schedule that they believe will best hold the sanctity of the conference champions. As such - Texas and BYU needs to play twice, and teams that could realistically win the conference shouldn't have a significantly harder/easier schedule. I forget when the schedule comes out, but there could be significant incoming/outgoing transfers and injuries occurring after the schedule is released which could make that effort all for not.
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