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Post by Montour Meteor on Apr 13, 2024 21:53:37 GMT -5
I saw Big Ten Basketball journalist Andy Katz already released a pre-season Men’s Basketball poll for a season that begins in about nine months, so I thought it was reasonable to post a volleyball prognostication..,
1. Wisconsin 2. Nebraska 3. Penn State 4. Purdue 5. Oregon 6. Minnesota 7. USC 8. Ohio State 9. UCLA 10. Indiana 11. Illinois 12. Washington 13. Maryland 14. Northwestern 15. Michigan 16. Michigan State 17. Iowa 18. Rutgers
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Post by jwvolley on Apr 13, 2024 21:58:36 GMT -5
Nebraska will repeat as conference champs
Also, where is the upside for UCLA that you're putting them multiple spots above someone like Washington?
I like Illinois' chances to take a step forward this year and try to give Terry a tournament bid for her final year.
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Post by badgerbyproxy on Apr 13, 2024 22:04:58 GMT -5
I was actually thinking of this the other day. Here’s my Pre-May Portal Pre-Season Ranking:
1. Wisconsin 2. Nebraska 3. Penn State 4. Purdue 5. Minnesota 6. USC 7. Oregon 8. Indiana 9. Ohio State 10. Illinois 11. Michigan State 12. UCLA 13. Washington 14. Maryland 15. Michigan 16. Rutgers 17. Iowa 18. Northwestern
Will explain my logic if asked.
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Post by babyhusker on Apr 13, 2024 22:07:28 GMT -5
I agree with most. Will be interesting to see what Oregon does, especially adding Morris. Hoping the new schools all integrate smoothly. Especially interested to see how programs like Indiana and Illinois do this year. Min and USC are the biggest question marks to me.
Not sure how I feel about Penn State over Purdue, only because Penn State has so many new pieces in the mix and most of Purdue’s are proven at this level. Their only real question mark is the libero. Purdue also beat them both times they played last year. But with Penn State getting such a touted setter, Jurevicius, and Mendelson and keeping Mruzik, it will be interesting to see how they measure up.
The NE v Wisky debate came up in the B1G 2024 thread and I’m not the first to say this, but idk how WI is over NE. They lose their setters, their leaders and captains and are most likely transitioning out of the 6-2 they’ve been playing for the last few years. Fuerbringer is ranked highly, and rightly so, but freshman setters in general have some kinks to work out. Especially knowing she’ll have to adjust to setting players at 6’9 and 6’7 for the first time. NE returns everyone from their runner up squad and adds some huge arms. In a head to head matchup I wouldn’t be surprised if WI beats them at least once this season, but using all the benchmarks we have to determine preseason rankings, NE is 1.
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Post by texasfight on Apr 13, 2024 23:29:59 GMT -5
I was actually thinking of this the other day. Here’s my Pre-May Portal Pre-Season Ranking: 1. Wisconsin 2. Nebraska 3. Penn State 4. Purdue 5. Minnesota 6. USC 7. Oregon 8. Indiana 9. Ohio State 10. Illinois 11. Michigan State 12. UCLA 13. Washington 14. Maryland 15. Michigan 16. Rutgers 17. Iowa 18. Northwestern Will explain my logic if asked. indulge me
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Post by badgerbyproxy on Apr 13, 2024 23:39:45 GMT -5
I was actually thinking of this the other day. Here’s my Pre-May Portal Pre-Season Ranking: 1. Wisconsin 2. Nebraska 3. Penn State 4. Purdue 5. Minnesota 6. USC 7. Oregon 8. Indiana 9. Ohio State 10. Illinois 11. Michigan State 12. UCLA 13. Washington 14. Maryland 15. Michigan 16. Rutgers 17. Iowa 18. Northwestern Will explain my logic if asked. indulge me Where would you like me to start?
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Post by texasfight on Apr 13, 2024 23:41:00 GMT -5
Where would you like me to start? Minnesota to Washington mainly built I’ll take them all if you feel like it 💀
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Post by badgerbyproxy on Apr 14, 2024 0:13:11 GMT -5
Where would you like me to start? Minnesota to Washington mainly built I’ll take them all if you feel like it 💀 The middle is definitely a mess but here’s my thought process: 1. Wisconsin - there is some bias based on Wisconsin being my fav team, but I do think they have a good chance of taking the title back. They return the NPOY along with three other All-Americans. While they are losing both setters/captains, Fuerbringer is a big upgrade, and having an extra week of pre-season training will help build the connections with the Badger giantesses. Not much depth at OH, but we won a natty and three conference titles with Loberg so it’s realistic. 2. Nebraska - bring back nearly all of their starters and bring in some great transfers, but I have concerns with 1) ego and 2) Cook getting in his own way. Nebraska looked rough during the second half of Big 10 play this year, and a lot of teams are making upgrades this year. 3. Penn State - massive upgrade at setter and raided the Nebraska bench. 4. Purdue - one of the best OH duos and a great blocking team, but concerns at opposite and who can fill Schermerhorn’s jersey. 5. Minnesota - their roster’s thin in a lot of places (middle & L/DS), but based on their spring play so far and K Cook’s familiarity with the PAC 12 teams, I think they’ll be in good shape (especially if they run Swenson at setter). 6. USC - I don’t know as much about their roster, but I think they’ll perform the best of the PAC 12 schools. If they are bringing in Kahahawai as rumor has it, they could be a top 5 threat. 7. Oregon - great team last year, but pretty much all their starters save Colyer graduated. They’re supposed to have good talent on the bench and I’ll trust that, but I don’t see them being as much of a powerhouse as last year. 8. Indiana - they’ve been on an upward trajectory the last few years, and I think they’re going to work as hard as they can to get Haworth to an NCAA tournament in her final year. I think they’ll win the matches they should, but I don’t see them causing too many upsets. 9. Ohio State - last year’s roster was very young and went through some major growing pains, but a year of experience plus having Londot and Rader back will be a boon to their chances. And hopefully JFO schedules a smarter pre-conference. 10. Illinois - Terry’s gonna carry, but I don’t see them doing better than middle of the pack if they don’t figure out their passing woes. 11. Michigan State - I liked last year’s team and think Leah Johnson had them on the right track, but I don’t know if they’ll have the talent to break out of the middle. 12. UCLA - I don’t follow them as closely, but only being in their second year under a new coach, I think it’ll take a bit of time to climb up the ranks. 13. Washington - see UCLA, but I put UCLA above Washington based on their head-to-head from last year. 14. Maryland - Glad that Csire and Dowler are returning cuz otherwise they’d be closer to Iowa. 15. Michigan - they’ll have their coach there for all their matches and Jacobs will be back for her final year. They’ll certainly be better than last year at least. 16. Rutgers - I don’t think Rutgers will ever fully climb out of the basement, but Schweihofer has moved them up from the bottom of the Big 10 barrel. 17. Iowa - would be last but Northwestern’s off-season has been tragic. 18. Northwestern - bless this mess.
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Post by ilalum92 on Apr 14, 2024 1:34:42 GMT -5
ILLINOIS is going to surprise people. DeBoer is healthy & a nice 6’4” OH on the outside ito take the load off Raina. Bohm & Mosher with another year of experience. Two talented frosh at OH & MB. Added 2 at the DS/L to help with passing. And 2 big OPP’s who can hold it down and block.
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Post by texasfight on Apr 14, 2024 5:15:43 GMT -5
Minnesota to Washington mainly built I’ll take them all if you feel like it 💀 The middle is definitely a mess but here’s my thought process: 1. Wisconsin - there is some bias based on Wisconsin being my fav team, but I do think they have a good chance of taking the title back. They return the NPOY along with three other All-Americans. While they are losing both setters/captains, Fuerbringer is a big upgrade, and having an extra week of pre-season training will help build the connections with the Badger giantesses. Not much depth at OH, but we won a natty and three conference titles with Loberg so it’s realistic. 2. Nebraska - bring back nearly all of their starters and bring in some great transfers, but I have concerns with 1) ego and 2) Cook getting in his own way. Nebraska looked rough during the second half of Big 10 play this year, and a lot of teams are making upgrades this year. 3. Penn State - massive upgrade at setter and raided the Nebraska bench. 4. Purdue - one of the best OH duos and a great blocking team, but concerns at opposite and who can fill Schermerhorn’s jersey. 5. Minnesota - their roster’s thin in a lot of places (middle & L/DS), but based on their spring play so far and K Cook’s familiarity with the PAC 12 teams, I think they’ll be in good shape (especially if they run Swenson at setter). 6. USC - I don’t know as much about their roster, but I think they’ll perform the best of the PAC 12 schools. If they are bringing in Kahahawai as rumor has it, they could be a top 5 threat. 7. Oregon - great team last year, but pretty much all their starters save Colyer graduated. They’re supposed to have good talent on the bench and I’ll trust that, but I don’t see them being as much of a powerhouse as last year. 8. Indiana - they’ve been on an upward trajectory the last few years, and I think they’re going to work as hard as they can to get Haworth to an NCAA tournament in her final year. I think they’ll win the matches they should, but I don’t see them causing too many upsets. 9. Ohio State - last year’s roster was very young and went through some major growing pains, but a year of experience plus having Londot and Rader back will be a boon to their chances. And hopefully JFO schedules a smarter pre-conference. 10. Illinois - Terry’s gonna carry, but I don’t see them doing better than middle of the pack if they don’t figure out their passing woes. 11. Michigan State - I liked last year’s team and think Leah Johnson had them on the right track, but I don’t know if they’ll have the talent to break out of the middle. 12. UCLA - I don’t follow them as closely, but only being in their second year under a new coach, I think it’ll take a bit of time to climb up the ranks. 13. Washington - see UCLA, but I put UCLA above Washington based on their head-to-head from last year. 14. Maryland - Glad that Csire and Dowler are returning cuz otherwise they’d be closer to Iowa. 15. Michigan - they’ll have their coach there for all their matches and Jacobs will be back for her final year. They’ll certainly be better than last year at least. 16. Rutgers - I don’t think Rutgers will ever fully climb out of the basement, but Schweihofer has moved them up from the bottom of the Big 10 barrel. 17. Iowa - would be last but Northwestern’s off-season has been tragic. 18. Northwestern - bless this mess 2. Nebraska- the shade is sending me!! I LIVE! 4. Purdue- I think Purdue's L will be fine with either Hornung or McAleer 5. Minnesota- I could see Minnesota top 5 but I could also see them somewhere in the 8-10 range. Shaff will likely run the offense again (even though that doesn't make sense with my fantasy) which will likely cause their middle production to be a tad underwhelming. Z could be a very solid replacement at L but replacing Murr's defense is no short task. Also replacing Landfair is no short task either. I could see this year being better for the gophers but I could also see it being similar if the pieces aren't clicking. Personally I'd like to see them back in the FF but only time will tell. 6. USC- Without Fields this team is a mess tbh. Passing is sus at best. IIRC Anyanwu is injured (to what extent I don't know) so if she isn't healthy come fall this causes another wrinkle for the Women of Troy. Adding Batenhorst could help but she was rather meh in terms of her ability to terminate for the huskers. Hopefully that changes come 2024. As far as Kahahawai goes, it's pretty much the same story as Bathenhorst. Not to mention she lost the starting OH2 spot to Wenaas who as we all know... to put it nicely... had her own struggles. And I love my girl DK DOWN but something hasn't clicked for her on this level just yet, what it is idk but if she does end up at USC I hope Keller and co can fix it. Either way Tuaniga, Ariail and Wijay have a tall task cut out for them this season. 6th seems appropriate but I can also see them having some losses to teams in the 9-14 range. 7. Oregon- Lord let the holy hands of our mother Saint Pukis shine down on Cline this coming season. But in all seriousness I agree with you. This team has a lot of work to do but adding Morris at L and some bench depth at the pins and setter will definitely help solidify them as a top end team for the B1G. Personally (and maybe its delusion) but I see them in the top 5 10. Illinois- what ilalum92 said 12. UCLA- I'm still mad Reft wasted Mullen's redshirt on that mess of a 5-2/6-2/whatever it was last season. Pak ended up being great for the Bruins but Mullen should still have 4 years of eligibility left imo... but I digress. Losing Ndiaye and Becker is a huge blow but they return almost everyone else of substance. The additions of Victoria and L Dodson should help lighten the blow plus their 2024 recruits but I'm hesitant to say it's a for sure fix. After what I'd consider an adjustment year I think this could be an up swing for the Bruins. 13. Washington- First season under Gabriel was an adjustment but the pieces are there. They return almost everyone and bring in some solid recruits for 2024. They'll only be replacing Pertofsky and Zilbert IIRC who were solid but not game changers for the huskies. I think they have the potential to surprise some people. 17. Iowa- Losing all (I think) their starters might just be the best thing for this team. Either these transfers and freshmen are going to shock some people or it's going to be the same story as last season. I'm choosing delusion and going with they'll surprise some people. Ammeraal, Davis and Whittingstall all appear to be improvements. Add in Garcia and Marquardt and we could see the Hawkeyes shake somethings up in the lower tier of the BIG (possibly even middle tier) but we'll see what the newbies can do in the B1G. Being as the Hawkeyes were 8-24 this past season there's really only one way but up. (I hope)
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Post by badgerbyproxy on Apr 14, 2024 8:34:49 GMT -5
The middle is definitely a mess but here’s my thought process: 1. Wisconsin - there is some bias based on Wisconsin being my fav team, but I do think they have a good chance of taking the title back. They return the NPOY along with three other All-Americans. While they are losing both setters/captains, Fuerbringer is a big upgrade, and having an extra week of pre-season training will help build the connections with the Badger giantesses. Not much depth at OH, but we won a natty and three conference titles with Loberg so it’s realistic. 2. Nebraska - bring back nearly all of their starters and bring in some great transfers, but I have concerns with 1) ego and 2) Cook getting in his own way. Nebraska looked rough during the second half of Big 10 play this year, and a lot of teams are making upgrades this year. 3. Penn State - massive upgrade at setter and raided the Nebraska bench. 4. Purdue - one of the best OH duos and a great blocking team, but concerns at opposite and who can fill Schermerhorn’s jersey. 5. Minnesota - their roster’s thin in a lot of places (middle & L/DS), but based on their spring play so far and K Cook’s familiarity with the PAC 12 teams, I think they’ll be in good shape (especially if they run Swenson at setter). 6. USC - I don’t know as much about their roster, but I think they’ll perform the best of the PAC 12 schools. If they are bringing in Kahahawai as rumor has it, they could be a top 5 threat. 7. Oregon - great team last year, but pretty much all their starters save Colyer graduated. They’re supposed to have good talent on the bench and I’ll trust that, but I don’t see them being as much of a powerhouse as last year. 8. Indiana - they’ve been on an upward trajectory the last few years, and I think they’re going to work as hard as they can to get Haworth to an NCAA tournament in her final year. I think they’ll win the matches they should, but I don’t see them causing too many upsets. 9. Ohio State - last year’s roster was very young and went through some major growing pains, but a year of experience plus having Londot and Rader back will be a boon to their chances. And hopefully JFO schedules a smarter pre-conference. 10. Illinois - Terry’s gonna carry, but I don’t see them doing better than middle of the pack if they don’t figure out their passing woes. 11. Michigan State - I liked last year’s team and think Leah Johnson had them on the right track, but I don’t know if they’ll have the talent to break out of the middle. 12. UCLA - I don’t follow them as closely, but only being in their second year under a new coach, I think it’ll take a bit of time to climb up the ranks. 13. Washington - see UCLA, but I put UCLA above Washington based on their head-to-head from last year. 14. Maryland - Glad that Csire and Dowler are returning cuz otherwise they’d be closer to Iowa. 15. Michigan - they’ll have their coach there for all their matches and Jacobs will be back for her final year. They’ll certainly be better than last year at least. 16. Rutgers - I don’t think Rutgers will ever fully climb out of the basement, but Schweihofer has moved them up from the bottom of the Big 10 barrel. 17. Iowa - would be last but Northwestern’s off-season has been tragic. 18. Northwestern - bless this mess 2. Nebraska- the shade is sending me!! I LIVE! 4. Purdue- I think Purdue's L will be fine with either Hornung or McAleer 5. Minnesota- I could see Minnesota top 5 but I could also see them somewhere in the 8-10 range. Shaff will likely run the offense again (even though that doesn't make sense with my fantasy) which will likely cause their middle production to be a tad underwhelming. Z could be a very solid replacement at L but replacing Murr's defense is no short task. Also replacing Landfair is no short task either. I could see this year being better for the gophers but I could also see it being similar if the pieces aren't clicking. Personally I'd like to see them back in the FF but only time will tell. 6. USC- Without Fields this team is a mess tbh. Passing is sus at best. IIRC Anyanwu is injured (to what extent I don't know) so if she isn't healthy come fall this causes another wrinkle for the Women of Troy. Adding Batenhorst could help but she was rather meh in terms of her ability to terminate for the huskers. Hopefully that changes come 2024. As far as Kahahawai goes, it's pretty much the same story as Bathenhorst. Not to mention she lost the starting OH2 spot to Wenaas who as we all know... to put it nicely... had her own struggles. And I love my girl DK DOWN but something hasn't clicked for her on this level just yet, what it is idk but if she does end up at USC I hope Keller and co can fix it. Either way Tuaniga, Ariail and Wijay have a tall task cut out for them this season. 6th seems appropriate but I can also see them having some losses to teams in the 9-14 range. 7. Oregon- Lord let the holy hands of our mother Saint Pukis shine down on Cline this coming season. But in all seriousness I agree with you. This team has a lot of work to do but adding Morris at L and some bench depth at the pins and setter will definitely help solidify them as a top end team for the B1G. Personally (and maybe its delusion) but I see them in the top 5 10. Illinois- what ilalum92 said 12. UCLA- I'm still mad Reft wasted Mullen's redshirt on that mess of a 5-2/6-2/whatever it was last season. Pak ended up being great for the Bruins but Mullen should still have 4 years of eligibility left imo... but I digress. Losing Ndiaye and Becker is a huge blow but they return almost everyone else of substance. The additions of Victoria and L Dodson should help lighten the blow plus their 2024 recruits but I'm hesitant to say it's a for sure fix. After what I'd consider an adjustment year I think this could be an uphill swing for the Bruins. 13. Washington- First season under Gabriel was an adjustment but the pieces are there. They return almost everyone and bring in some solid recruits for 2024. They'll only be replacing Pertofsky and Zilbert IIRC who were solid but not game changers for the huskies. I think they have the potential to surprise some people. 17. Iowa- Losing all (I think) their starters might just be the best thing for this team. Either these transfers and freshmen are going to shock some people or it's going to be the same story as last season. I'm choosing delusion and going with they'll surprise some people. Ammeraal, Davis and Whittingstall all appear to be improvements. Add in Garcia and Marquardt and we could see the Hawkeyes shake somethings up in the lower tier of the BIG (possibly even middle tier) but we'll see what the newbies can do in the B1G. Being as they Hawkeyes were 8-24 this past season there's really only one way but up. (I hope) 2. I’m always down for shading America’s favorite horse girl, John Cook 🤠 4. Purdue definitely has good options in the wings, but the on-court leadership that Schermerhorn brought will also be a hard void to fill. 5. I’d also like to se them back in the FF (I always prefer a strong Big 10). Based on the threads for their spring matches (shoutout to their fans for all of the updates and analyses), it does sound like they’ve established better slide connections (with Minatee especially), Hanson’s made a strong transition to Landfair’s spot, and Z is stepping up at libero. Granted it is spring, but it sounds more hopeful than last season’s Hawai’i spring trip. 6. Fields is a HUGE hole to fill, but adding an experienced Vatenhprst on the left and DK on the right would make for a very capable pin trio for USC. I’m still baffled that Wenaas beat out Kahahawai most of the season for the OH2 spot, but I feel like a part of that could have just been due to Elliot wanting to save her as a blocking/Phillips sub. If DK transfers elsewhere (I don’t see a scenario where someone that talented is content riding the bench a third year), then USC drops into that 9-14 range. 7. Some may say delusion, but we’ll call it wishful thinking 😉 I always like seeing Oregon do well. If the PAC 12 was still alive, Oregon would have a much easier time in a rebuild year, but the Big 10 is too stacked of a conference to really surge in when losing nearly all starters (see OSU last year or Wisconsin in 2017). 10. I want nothing for the best for Illinois; they’re in my top 3 Big 10 teams outside of Wisconsin, so I really hope ilalum92 is right and Terry & Co surprise some people (ideally Nebraska & Penn State 😝). I’m mostly just concerned with how their back court and passing looked last year. They have arms to compete, but the defense needs to step up. 12. I don’t follow UCLA as closely, but I support your grievances for wasting a red shirt. With the roster pickups it could definitely be an uphill swing. It’s just hard to know where they’ll fair in a new, 18 (!) team conference. Someone’s gotta be number 12 at the end of the day 😭 13. Again, it’s an 18-team conference, and it’s hard to see where Washington fares compared to the teams around them. I really like Bays as a libero and hope for her sake that the Huskies do well. 17. Agreed on all of this. Iowa has nowhere to go but up at this point, and Northwestern being an athletics tragedy should bump them out of last at least.
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Post by bbg95 on Apr 14, 2024 8:41:12 GMT -5
I don't know why Wisconsin over Nebraska is so crazy when they're like 11-1 against Nebraska recently. I think it could go either way.
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Post by dbro1970 on Apr 14, 2024 9:07:18 GMT -5
The last go round for Robinson, Franklin, Crawford, Orzol, and Smrek will be highly motivated.
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Post by superfan1 on Apr 14, 2024 9:20:38 GMT -5
I really think NE vs WI for #1 is a tossup but it's wild to me that a lot of NE fans are using the "freshman setter" logic when they just saw what Bergen did for their team this past season
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Post by huskersoftroy on Apr 14, 2024 9:25:37 GMT -5
I think the biggest X factor for USC’s success this season is the impact a healthy Adonia can have on this team. Opposite was a glaring hole in 2023 and hopefully she can take some of the load off of Ally B/Wijay. Also the 24’s are no joke, yeah Favor gets all the hype but I wouldn’t be surprised to see Douglas get significant playing time this year. I’m biased but I’d probably take them over Minnesota.
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