Purdue will be good test for Pablo's rankings

[chipNdink]

If one were to use the coach's poll, Purdue should lose both away matches this weekend to Ohio State and Penn St.; but Pablo's rankings predict Purdue will spank Ohio State and just barely lose to Penn St. only because of Penn St.'s HCA (home court advantage).

[bucky415]

I think Purdue has a good chance to beat OSU (I would have expected them to if not for Wischmeier's injury) but I don't see them beating Penn State in Really Unhappy Valley (for opponents). I think that Tortorello is a better setter than Dargan (probably 1-2 in the conference-I never know how to rank Bowman), which negates an advantage Purdue has over most teams, and PSU just has more talent and the home court advantage.

[The Bofa on the Sofa]

bucky is right here.

Oddly enough, despite being #4 this week, it won't be that great of a test for Pablo. Purdue could beat Ohio St, and lose to Penn St, and all be consistent with Pablo, and end up dropping this week to something like 10 so that next week, it's different.

Yes, there is a difference between Pablo and the AVCA poll, but I tell you, I've put Pablo head-to-head against the AVCA in the past and Pablo passed with flying colors.

Like bucky, with Wischmeier I was expecting Purdue to beat Ohio St, and I don't think it would be that interesting, myself. It is more interesting now, but I think it is far from obvious. Purdue's strength is the depth of its weapons. I refuse to speculate on things that can be done, but I will say that Purdue has run about 20 different lineups this fall (because they could given their performance) with players in a lot different places. I don't think any are quite as strong as the one with Leah in the mix, but there is not a huge dropoff. Even just running Kelli Miller all the way around (like they did at the end against Tennessee) isn't a bad way to go.

With Wischmeier, I would have liked to see that Penn St match. Don't know if Purdue would win, but it's not as lopsided as one might think. Penn St would be an upset. But I'd really like that upset...

[Deleted]

Jackie Simpson is a very good setter (talking about Big10 setters).