How many matches does the Sun Belt win in the tournament?

[trojansc]

The Sun Belt is one of the hotter topics from the Bracket as well. They got a league record 4-teams into the tournament.

So, how many do they win?

South Alabama vs. (#5) Georgia Tech
Texas State vs. (#7) SMU
Coastal Carolina vs. (#6) Western Kentucky
(#7) James Madison vs. Baylor

I think I'm most interested with Coastal and think they have the best chance. They have a stud freshman who is a triple-double machine, plus Jasmine Rivest has been really huge for them. One of South Alabama's star OH's was injured and didn't play in the conference tournament (not sure of her status) but if she is still out I don't see how they have any chance against GA Tech. Texas State's heavy on a couple pins: KJ Johnson and Wunsch. I also like their libero (Ortega). JMU is interesting. Sophie Davis is great but their setting has been inconsistent. Davis can also be a little slow and not close blocks at all either. Veldman is great, but, I wonder if she can produce against a team like Baylor.

I think Coastal is the strongest team in the conference - but has had some weird scenarios all around including awful losses in the non-conference.

And there are some that say the Sun Belt didn't deserve 4 teams in - is there a minimum number of matches they would need to win for someone to feel like they are better than they expected?

[twkpwrbtmlib]

🙈

i advanced three in my bracket but all out in the second round.

[JJVb]

I honestly dont get how 4 teams got in.

[Cruz'n]

I'm thinking goose eggs. But we'll see.

[bbg95]

They very well could get zero. I voted for one, but I'm not sure which one.

[bbg95]

Nov 28, 2023 0:11:17 GMT -5 trojansc said:

And there are some that say the Sun Belt didn't deserve 4 teams in - is there a minimum number of matches they would need to win for someone to feel like they are better than they expected?

Honestly, they're the underdogs in all four matches, so even if they go 0-for-4, that wouldn't necessarily change my opinion on how many teams they got in. You had them getting four in your final version of bracketology, so that makes me think the four bids were legitimate. No SFA here. And in other sports, there were teams that probably shouldn't have gotten in who went to the Final Four. But that didn't make their pre-selection resumes better.

[VolleyballMag]

I went to the Sun Belt quarterfinals. Throughly enjoyed it. Do any of those teams that got into the NCAA Tournament pass the eyeball test when compared to P5 powers? No, mostly because they're undersized. That's why they're in the Sun Belt. But they played outstanding volleyball, the top teams were quick and strong defensively, obviously well coached and there were some big-time players. Specifically, if you've never seen them, you will enjoy Coastal's Rivest and Stout (one of the more exciting, versatile players in the college game who could set for any team in the country), JMU middle Sophie Davis, and South Alabama's Hannah Maddux (a pin who could have played for almost anyone). Texas State has a setter, Ryann Torres, who is really, really good with a complete game and who has waited four years for her turn. Anyway, not saying they did or did not deserve four teams, but am glad for the Sun Belt and I think you will enjoy watching them play.

[vbnerd]

Pablo says they'll win zero, and there is nothing wrong with that. I hope Pablo is discounting them because of their conference as much as some VT posters have been, but we'll see.

[pcll0718]

Zero, not sure they will win a combined 3 games/sets.

[volleyball303]

Not knowing who were the 4 from the sun belt I just looked and I had them going 0-4 on my bracket.

[volleyball303]

Nov 28, 2023 9:19:31 GMT -5 vbnerd said:

Pablo says they'll win zero, and there is nothing wrong with that. I hope Pablo is discounting them because of their conference as much as some VT posters have been, but we'll see.

I just see the 5-7th best teams in the power 5 conferences beating these 4 teams on a consistent basis. I understand conference winner getting in but the other 3? I understand why they got in using RPI but that means the selection committee needs a revamp. The goal should be to have the best At Large teams into the tournament which is not the case this year.

[trojansc]

Nov 28, 2023 9:48:42 GMT -5 volleyball303 said:

Nov 28, 2023 9:19:31 GMT -5 vbnerd said:

Pablo says they'll win zero, and there is nothing wrong with that. I hope Pablo is discounting them because of their conference as much as some VT posters have been, but we'll see.

I just see the 5-7th best teams in the power 5 conferences beating these 4 teams on a consistent basis. I understand conference winner getting in but the other 3? I understand why they got in using RPI but that means the selection committee needs a revamp. The goal should be to have the best At Large teams into the tournament which is not the case this year.

Well, the 4th place Big-12 team got torched by Texas State.

txst.com/sports/womens-volleyball/stats/2023/houston/boxscore/9966

[noreaster]

Nov 28, 2023 9:48:42 GMT -5 volleyball303 said:

Nov 28, 2023 9:19:31 GMT -5 vbnerd said:

Pablo says they'll win zero, and there is nothing wrong with that. I hope Pablo is discounting them because of their conference as much as some VT posters have been, but we'll see.

I just see the 5-7th best teams in the power 5 conferences beating these 4 teams on a consistent basis. I understand conference winner getting in but the other 3? I understand why they got in using RPI but that means the selection committee needs a revamp. The goal should be to have the best At Large teams into the tournament which is not the case this year.

I don't know about going 4 deep, but it seems to me that if you had a chance of winning the national title, you wouldn't be 9th in the SEC. Blown calls, travel problems, injuries - it's easy for a team to drop a couple matches but if you lose 8 matches in your conference I'm comfortable saying that you are not the best team in the country and have no problem leaving you home. If you are P5 with all the resources that come with that, and we have to wonder if you are more deserving than a team that reuses shoe laces, then again, I'm fine leaving you home.

Some sports (baseball most notably) the last team in can win it all, but I think most people have a hard time making a case for more than 10 teams in the volleyball tournament. After the Conference winners, and those 10 contenders, the rest of the invites are just to be polite.

[oldnewbie]

Nov 28, 2023 9:48:42 GMT -5 volleyball303 said:

Nov 28, 2023 9:19:31 GMT -5 vbnerd said:

Pablo says they'll win zero, and there is nothing wrong with that. I hope Pablo is discounting them because of their conference as much as some VT posters have been, but we'll see.

I just see the 5-7th best teams in the power 5 conferences beating these 4 teams on a consistent basis. I understand conference winner getting in but the other 3? I understand why they got in using RPI but that means the selection committee needs a revamp. The goal should be to have the best At Large teams into the tournament which is not the case this year.

Pretty simply, either RPI works or it doesn't. It should be very easy to go back over previous years and look for all the tourney matches were there is disagreement between RPI, KPI, figstats, Pablo, Massey, etc, and see which was the best predictor.

[trojansc]

Nov 28, 2023 10:20:22 GMT -5 oldnewbie said:

Pretty simply, either RPI works or it doesn't. It should be very easy to go back over previous years and look for all the tourney matches were there is disagreement between RPI, KPI, figstats, Pablo, Massey, etc, and see which was the best predictor.

I think we know RPI isn't great - but, I still think just using a predictive measure could be problematic. I remember when Stanford beat USC both times in the PAC-12 but USC won in the tournament, then, USC beat Cal both times in the PAC-12 but lost in the tournament...

I still don't mind the way NET does it. Your own ranking doesn't matter, but how you perform against others matters. That way the results are still the most important.