WEBVTT

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Hi, volleyball fans, and welcome back to Volley

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Talk, the podcast created for volleyball lovers

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who want to dig deep into what is going on in

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NCAA and international volleyball. I'm your host,

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Sarah Pavan. I'm an Olympian, beach volleyball

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world champion, former Nebraska Cornhusker, and

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longtime pro, both indoor and on the beach. And

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I'm Adam Schultz, former indoor player, international

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volleyball coach, and the show's resident stat

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guy. As promised last week, this episode is going

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to focus predominantly on the NCAA. We know you

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NCAA fans have been waiting for this transition

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to happen. So international season's over. Pro

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leagues overseas are still in preseason or are

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just starting up. So we're going to be discussing

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what has happened. During the college preseason

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and how conference play has started, do a bit

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of a conference breakdown prediction session.

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You know we love that stuff. We have a special

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guest joining us this episode to break things

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down and forecast what the rest of the season

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will look like that I know listeners will be

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excited about. By popular demand. By popular

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demand. Okay, can you guess who it is? You're

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probably right. Okay, let's get started. Alright,

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our highlights for the week. We understand that

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the rankings probably have changed since... this

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has come out, but we'll keep you posted anyway.

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So last week, Texas A &M went up to nine from

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13. Baylor went up to 15 from 20. Then we saw

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BYU take a dip down to 19 from 14 and Florida

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go down to 23 from 19. Obviously a lot has happened

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since then. So we're going to see more changes,

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but those were the biggest movers last week.

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We also had some surprising things happen in

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gameplay. We had number 10 Minnesota lose to

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Michigan in four. That was a little shocking.

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18 Kansas beat Baylor in five. And then West

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Virginia, who is unranked, beat number 19 BYU

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in five. And BYU is going to keep dropping. BYU

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is going to keep plummeting. So if you haven't

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guessed it yet, the special guest is Paul. He

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is back again. By popular demand. By popular

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demand. Although I will say you took a little

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bit of flack for your USA over Turkey pick, but

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his ego has recovered. He's back and he's willing

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to engage with us again. So yeah, going back

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to Purdue reverse sweeping UCLA. Am I surprised

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that they beat them? No. Am I surprised, however,

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that UCLA gave up three match points in set three,

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four match points, and then proceeded to just

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lose the rest? That's unfortunate. I think it

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pays to mention that I think we both thought

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Purdue was not going to be very good this year.

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They lost five players, including both their

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middles and both their very good left sides in

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Eva Hudson and Chacoin to other programs. I think

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Coach Shondell, from what I heard, was on the

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verge of quitting after those things happened

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because they had such a good program, and I just

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didn't expect them to be very good after being

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decimated by the transfer portal. So to see them

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in this match, which we'll talk about, it's a

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feel -good story for Purdue. You know, a bounce

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back from devastating losses. I also expected

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them to be pretty bad this year, not going to

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lie. And when they had the 13 ranking, I was

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like, okay, what is this about? The one attacker,

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Wallard, went off. And she played well in both

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matches against UCLA and USC, in which they won

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both those games. And she's going to be a really

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good player for them. What are your takes on

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that match? Did you watch that match? I did watch

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the match. I actually watched both matches. You

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know, my surprise, I can't really say I'm surprised.

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I look at Purdue and I look at UCLA and I look

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at USC, same as I watch so many other teams.

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Everybody seems the same to me right now. I don't

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know if we're just being spoiled when we watch

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a full roster that can play and everybody has

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pieces. USC. seem to me to be very physical especially

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just oh they're insane in the middle but they

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nobody seems to have a whole package except the

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odd team maybe Texas and Nebraska for sure you're

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looking at this thinking what has happened over

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the course of a year has the fact that the portal

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has come into play and nobody can build a program

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anymore and a cohesive unit starting to hurt.

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And it almost seems like that's what's starting

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to happen right now. Well, okay, we can add in

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Indiana into this discussion because Indiana

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came to LA and they beat UCLA and USC as well.

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I have a thought and I want to get both of your

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takes on this. I'm starting to see a pattern

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with UCLA where... they'll win the first set,

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they'll win the first two sets, and then they

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lose matches. If you listen to the broadcast

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with Purdue and UCLA, UCLA had a very specific

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game plan to start. They wanted to hit the ball

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down the line and they wanted to run the middle,

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which they did very effectively to the tune of

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having four match points in the third set. Now,

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adjustments were made by Purdue. I think Coach

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Shondell does... an amazing job with his team

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to see their defensive game plan to see the adjustments

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they make Purdue while they don't have any studs

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is a well -oiled machine they understand their

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defensive responsibilities they're in the right

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place they dig a ton of balls they're aggressive

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in transition I'm starting to see UCLA have good

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game plans for the first part of matches and

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then not making adjustments after that no but

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like that's my question is that a Purdue thing

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was Purdue that good or did UCLA just completely

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vacate what had been working for them who counteract

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or who changed first? Shondell their team changed

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and UCLA didn't match them and I think in my

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mind Purdue out coached UCLA in that match so

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UCLA won the first set against Indiana and then

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lost three straight and I didn't watch that match

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but I'm starting to see a pattern where I think

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UCLA has good game plans to start and they're

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not making in -match adjustments. I would tend

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to agree with you. I have a lot of respect for

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what... Shondell is doing and yes it was mentioned

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on the broadcast that he considered stepping

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away from coaching after losing the players he

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lost but then gave himself a little time and

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said no now it's not the time and he came back

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he does a great job prepares his teams very very

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well you watch what happened yesterday and against

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USC and they're not spectacular that's the thing

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they're not spectacular they're Woolner's good

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or Wooler I guess her name is she's really good

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I don't see them getting to a final four, even

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maybe a final eight. I don't know. So I don't

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see it, but you know, are they going to compete

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for third, fourth, fifth place in the big 10?

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I think so. I don't think anybody's really in

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the discussion for winning except maybe four

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teams this year. I feel in particular, you've

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got like a very small group that can even be

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in the discussion. And then the rest are just.

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there you know what i mean one thing i saw from

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purdue that i wanted to highlight watching this

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match in terms of the coaching which you want

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to talk about is so their right side Purdue.

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I believe her name is Grace Haney. I don't love

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her arm swing. She doesn't get her elbow back.

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She holds her elbow in front of her and she doesn't

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have a full swing. And I'm 100 % positive that

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they've tried to change her arm swing at some

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point, but it's just not happening. Somebody

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has tried to change her arm swing. It happens

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all the time. So what do they do? They run her

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a super fast flat ball because her hand is already

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there and she just moves the ball around and

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scores. And to me, that's a prime example of

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a coach looking at the athletes they have. and

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saying, okay, here's the adjustment we're going

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to make to take advantage of the things. And

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in this case, it's, in my opinion, a deficiency,

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and we're going to turn it into a strength. Watching

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Purdue play like that, you can just see. Shondell's

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hand in all of those decisions and what they

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do. And I was super impressed to watch them play

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this weekend. And I just I wanted to say that.

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And I agree with you, Adam. I just look at that's

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a sign of a really good coach, by the way, is

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that some coaches come into things looking at

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this is what I run and this is what I'm going

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to do. And it doesn't matter. We're going to

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we're going to do this. And it's impossible.

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And I think Dave is looking at. his athletes

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and understands what their strengths and weaknesses

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are and coaches to those strengths and weaknesses

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weaknesses and i think that's just a real a sign

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of a really good coach doing the best he can

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to get the most that he can that he can out of

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his athletes and good for him so what are we

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thinking about the indiana situation here because

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i don't think anybody would have predicted that

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indiana is going to come to la and beat both

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of these teams historically no not a chance you

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look at ucla And USC, you're talking about the

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Blue Blitz, right? Back in my era, they were

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outstanding. In recent years, like, not so much.

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But still, they're ranked 17 and 24 in the country.

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Well, right now they are. We'll see how long

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that lasts. Not for long. Well, UCLA is heading

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towards not making the tournament for the third

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straight year. I don't know if I'd go that far,

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Adam. I still think... they're in that number

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that's 64 i think i think they can hang on to

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that only because i don't think the rest of the

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league is so powerful they're going to drop that

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far really because i agree with you i think all

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the teams a lot of teams are missing pieces when

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you have teams that don't have studs and they're

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incomplete, it comes down to coaching. It comes

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down to execution. It comes down to the details.

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And so far, I haven't seen that from UCLA. They've

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blown leads. You can't have four match points

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against a conference rival and blow that match

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in a reverse sweep. And then you can't come in

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and, I mean, kudos to Indiana, but you can't

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lose that match at home, no less. I remember

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back in August when I was on the first time.

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Sarah specifically asked you and I a question.

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You don't have UCLA in the equation? And both

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of us said, nah, no, not at all. And guess what?

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We were right on that one because I don't see

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them being in the equation either. Preseason

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Big Ten number four. I'm curious to see what

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happens with USC because They have outstandingly

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physical middles. I think there's a ton of potential

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there. Their outsides are also incredibly physical,

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but they're one -dimensional now. They don't

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do anything other than hit hard right in front

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of them. So I'm curious to see if they can turn

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that program around because they do have athletes,

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but they need some volleyball work. And hence,

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that's where you had Dave Shondell serving the

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ball short to make the middle, occupy the middle.

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I thought, brilliant. It's not brilliant, but

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he knew exactly what he wanted to do and they

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did it. Him as a coach had an outstanding weekend

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in California. The Indiana team showed up. They're

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like, hello, California. See you later. The last

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highlight we wanted to touch on, and I'm not

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sure I'd call it a highlight so much as a beatdown

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interest story was the absolute beatdown. we

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saw between Nebraska and Penn State. Set one

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was 25 -6, and then it was 15 -13. So before

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we talk about the match, I'm curious what everybody's

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expectation going in was. What did you think

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was going to happen? I thought Nebraska in three,

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but I didn't think they would do what they did.

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You didn't predict single digits? Oh, no. No,

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no, no, no. I thought, you know, maybe 18, 20,

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20, something like that. I thought that Kennedy

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Martin would definitely hit probably the 20 kill

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mark because they would set her enough to get

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that. After I looked at it, I thought it's obvious

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Nebraska came into that match and had on their

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mind the loss at the NCAA championship and were

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out to prove to everybody that not this time.

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And boy, did they ever. I had the same thought.

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I thought it was going to be three straight.

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But similar to you, I thought it was going to

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be like 18, 20, somewhat respectable. Six. That's

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tough to do. Well, and at Penn State. At Penn

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State. It's not like they went to Nebraska and

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got six. You got six at home in your own barn.

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That's embarrassing. That's embarrassing. I mean.

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Like you have to try to only score six points.

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Do you know what I mean? Especially when you

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have arguably the best or second best point score

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in the NCAA on your team. Agreed. Agreed. The

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reason Penn State was seven and five coming into

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that match, obviously, you know, they're relying

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on one horse right now. Let's face it. They're

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relying on Kennedy Martin to do everything and

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score as many points as she possibly can. And

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I think she's doing a great job. And she's trying

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to pull this team. Oh, she's doing outstanding.

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But I just don't see the others. I think they're...

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Selman, I expected more. Me too. I really did.

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I expected far more from her, and I don't see

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it happening. The other left side, you know,

00:14:08.009 --> 00:14:10.169
I think at some point, Schumacher's going to

00:14:10.169 --> 00:14:11.789
make a decision about whether she's going to

00:14:11.789 --> 00:14:14.950
go with Ewing or stick with Juravicious. The

00:14:14.950 --> 00:14:19.240
future is Ewing. i think but right now she she

00:14:19.240 --> 00:14:21.700
was she was overmatched she was 0 for 5 in the

00:14:21.700 --> 00:14:24.820
match i expected selman to develop a little bit

00:14:24.820 --> 00:14:27.740
like at ohio state you saw that she had potential

00:14:27.740 --> 00:14:31.100
but she wasn't like great by any means and i

00:14:31.100 --> 00:14:34.960
expected to see her develop a little bit more

00:14:34.960 --> 00:14:38.080
in the off season she's been a huge disappointment

00:14:38.080 --> 00:14:41.990
for me but also like My question for you guys

00:14:41.990 --> 00:14:45.769
is, even with Izzy Stark, do you think this Penn

00:14:45.769 --> 00:14:49.210
State team is composed in a way to have had success?

00:14:49.610 --> 00:14:52.149
I'm going to answer it this way. Izzy Stark doesn't

00:14:52.149 --> 00:14:54.639
pass the volleyball. Yep. Well, that's what I

00:14:54.639 --> 00:14:57.639
was thinking. I was like, okay, Penn State fans

00:14:57.639 --> 00:14:59.399
at the beginning of the season were talking about

00:14:59.399 --> 00:15:01.559
how good Penn State was looking. They were so

00:15:01.559 --> 00:15:03.960
excited for the season, blah, blah, blah. That's

00:15:03.960 --> 00:15:08.240
great. You lost arguably your best player in

00:15:08.240 --> 00:15:10.600
Izzy Stark. Granted, she's not a point scorer,

00:15:10.679 --> 00:15:14.429
whatever. But would things be different with

00:15:14.429 --> 00:15:17.570
her there still? I don't know. I think we all

00:15:17.570 --> 00:15:19.889
thought Emmy Selman was going to turn into something.

00:15:20.049 --> 00:15:22.230
I had the same. I was very high on her last year.

00:15:22.309 --> 00:15:24.190
I thought she was outstanding at Ohio State.

00:15:24.590 --> 00:15:26.610
I thought, man, the future is bright for this

00:15:26.610 --> 00:15:28.809
kid. She's going to be fantastic. I personally

00:15:28.809 --> 00:15:31.330
think she's had a regression at Penn State from

00:15:31.330 --> 00:15:34.309
what she showed at Ohio State. She had a couple

00:15:34.309 --> 00:15:36.570
really good matches at Ohio State. It's not like

00:15:36.570 --> 00:15:39.159
she was like... doing anything wild but i haven't

00:15:39.159 --> 00:15:41.639
i haven't seen any of those flashes here like

00:15:41.639 --> 00:15:44.399
i haven't seen her put together anything and

00:15:44.399 --> 00:15:46.840
i think all of us talk often about the same thing

00:15:46.840 --> 00:15:49.940
and it's basically you have to be able to run

00:15:49.940 --> 00:15:52.159
some middle to get the rest of the offense going

00:15:52.159 --> 00:15:56.919
their passing is so poor that they can't run

00:15:56.919 --> 00:15:58.899
the middle and when they can run the middle they

00:15:58.899 --> 00:16:01.840
actually do okay but it's just not happening

00:16:01.840 --> 00:16:05.139
enough for them to be able to sustain. So basically

00:16:05.139 --> 00:16:08.379
now they're sitting on Kennedy Martin and go

00:16:08.379 --> 00:16:09.940
ahead and do it. You're not going to beat Nebraska

00:16:09.940 --> 00:16:11.940
with one player scoring points. You're just not

00:16:11.940 --> 00:16:14.580
going to do it. But what was your plan? Well,

00:16:14.679 --> 00:16:17.919
I think Jurevicius showed some great character

00:16:17.919 --> 00:16:21.240
in the run last season. No, but Kennedy Martin

00:16:21.240 --> 00:16:24.659
signed later. Like Emmy Selman signed with Penn

00:16:24.659 --> 00:16:26.860
State right when the portal opened last year.

00:16:27.419 --> 00:16:30.419
Kennedy Martin was way after that. I feel like

00:16:30.419 --> 00:16:32.120
the original plan was to have Jurevicius play

00:16:32.120 --> 00:16:34.340
the right side. Who the heck were you planning

00:16:34.340 --> 00:16:36.639
on having on the left? Well, whoever it was should

00:16:36.639 --> 00:16:39.240
show up there soon because they need to do something.

00:16:39.360 --> 00:16:42.519
What was your plan here? I don't remember two

00:16:42.519 --> 00:16:47.200
teams of that historic quality, one team just

00:16:47.200 --> 00:16:49.799
getting absolutely decimated like that. I've

00:16:49.799 --> 00:16:54.360
never seen that. amongst teams like that? Well,

00:16:54.360 --> 00:16:56.580
here's another question that I was asked. Has

00:16:56.580 --> 00:17:01.120
it ever happened in NCAA that a team who wins

00:17:01.120 --> 00:17:03.700
the championship doesn't make the tournament

00:17:03.700 --> 00:17:07.400
the next year? Has that ever happened? I reached

00:17:07.400 --> 00:17:10.259
out to Avid Volley, you know, our source for

00:17:10.259 --> 00:17:11.980
a lot of information. Even they didn't know.

00:17:12.200 --> 00:17:15.119
I bet that is highly unlikely. Okay, so who do

00:17:15.119 --> 00:17:16.900
you think has a better chance of making the tournament,

00:17:17.039 --> 00:17:20.599
UCLA or Penn State? Didn't Penn State lose to

00:17:20.599 --> 00:17:23.480
UCLA? They did. Kennedy Martin had 35 kills in

00:17:23.480 --> 00:17:26.000
that match, I believe. Well, right now, it comes

00:17:26.000 --> 00:17:28.619
down to, I think UCLA probably has a better chance

00:17:28.619 --> 00:17:31.500
right now because Penn State is falling like

00:17:31.500 --> 00:17:33.880
a stone. I just looked at it a few minutes ago,

00:17:33.980 --> 00:17:38.019
and Penn State was beating... Maryland 2 -0.

00:17:38.160 --> 00:17:39.880
So it looks like they're going to move on to

00:17:39.880 --> 00:17:41.880
win that one. But at some point, you've got to

00:17:41.880 --> 00:17:44.700
beat somebody. The fact that we're happy that

00:17:44.700 --> 00:17:47.420
Penn State is up 2 -0 on Maryland, who would

00:17:47.420 --> 00:17:49.019
have thought that would have been a thing? That's

00:17:49.019 --> 00:17:51.359
wild. You know, Penn State can come out and say,

00:17:51.539 --> 00:17:53.819
hey, we lost our season because Izzy Stark screwed

00:17:53.819 --> 00:17:56.859
us. Or left. Take your pick about how you want

00:17:56.859 --> 00:17:58.640
to word that. But I think you're right, Sarah.

00:17:58.759 --> 00:18:00.799
I think they were going to be in trouble on the

00:18:00.799 --> 00:18:03.500
left side, regardless of whether Izzy was here.

00:18:03.700 --> 00:18:06.740
Mendelsohn can't get the ball. You have... one

00:18:06.740 --> 00:18:09.500
person who's being set, who's expected to carry

00:18:09.500 --> 00:18:12.200
all of the load. And even defensively, they don't

00:18:12.200 --> 00:18:15.720
look very good. They are disjointed. And it's

00:18:15.720 --> 00:18:19.319
actually a dichotomy for me. You have Penn State

00:18:19.319 --> 00:18:22.200
loses their player, and they seem like they're

00:18:22.200 --> 00:18:24.819
falling apart. They're not paying attention to

00:18:24.819 --> 00:18:27.039
the details. Purdue loses a whole bunch of their

00:18:27.039 --> 00:18:28.940
players, and they seem to have rallied around

00:18:28.940 --> 00:18:31.579
that. And they're doing the best they can with

00:18:31.579 --> 00:18:33.319
the athletes they have, and they're disciplined,

00:18:33.420 --> 00:18:37.690
and they're pushing teams. a choice in how you

00:18:37.690 --> 00:18:39.950
respond to these situations. And I understand

00:18:39.950 --> 00:18:42.910
it's not quite the same, but I think the theory

00:18:42.910 --> 00:18:45.170
and the principle of that applies. So here's

00:18:45.170 --> 00:18:47.390
a question that was submitted about this. As

00:18:47.390 --> 00:18:53.029
coaches and former player, what would your messaging

00:18:53.029 --> 00:18:56.490
be to the coaching staff or players on Penn State

00:18:56.490 --> 00:19:01.150
in how to navigate this situation with losing

00:19:01.150 --> 00:19:04.089
Stark? If you were in their shoes as coaches,

00:19:04.410 --> 00:19:06.829
what would your approach be? I can speak for

00:19:06.829 --> 00:19:10.069
me personally. After she left, you look at the

00:19:10.069 --> 00:19:12.829
team and you say teams are about the next man

00:19:12.829 --> 00:19:16.549
up mentality. Is this great? No, but we still

00:19:16.549 --> 00:19:19.109
have one of the best players in the country.

00:19:19.150 --> 00:19:22.250
We are still a storied. program. The expectation

00:19:22.250 --> 00:19:28.190
does not change. We take care of our details

00:19:28.190 --> 00:19:30.930
and we have to go out and play. You know what?

00:19:30.970 --> 00:19:33.309
Maybe you sulk about it for a week and then you

00:19:33.309 --> 00:19:35.450
get back to work. The attitude of the coaching

00:19:35.450 --> 00:19:39.049
staff and the head coach, I actually... didn't

00:19:39.049 --> 00:19:42.349
love her response to the question. It was cold.

00:19:42.549 --> 00:19:45.470
And I understand the emotion behind that, but

00:19:45.470 --> 00:19:47.569
you have to say that's her choice. This is our

00:19:47.569 --> 00:19:49.430
program. We're Penn State. We're going to keep

00:19:49.430 --> 00:19:51.309
going. Like that's at least the message that

00:19:51.309 --> 00:19:53.009
for me has to come out. That's our whole slogan.

00:19:53.089 --> 00:19:56.490
We are. That's the messaging that I would give

00:19:56.490 --> 00:19:58.349
as a coach. And then it's business as usual.

00:19:58.430 --> 00:20:00.470
Your preparation stays the same. Your attitude

00:20:00.470 --> 00:20:02.769
stays the same. Your expectations stay the same.

00:20:03.200 --> 00:20:05.960
They're underperforming, in my opinion. From

00:20:05.960 --> 00:20:08.019
my point of view, I think everybody's faced at

00:20:08.019 --> 00:20:09.359
some point that they're going to lose somebody

00:20:09.359 --> 00:20:11.039
important either through injury or something

00:20:11.039 --> 00:20:12.920
else. Something's going to happen. And you have

00:20:12.920 --> 00:20:15.539
to have a look at your team and decide, what

00:20:15.539 --> 00:20:18.019
do I have to do to give us the best opportunity

00:20:18.019 --> 00:20:20.799
to win? And right now with Penn State, yes, we

00:20:20.799 --> 00:20:23.420
have Kennedy Martin. Great. We have some middles.

00:20:23.500 --> 00:20:26.880
Great. What do we have to do and put on the floor

00:20:26.880 --> 00:20:29.539
to make sure that we get what we need out of

00:20:29.539 --> 00:20:33.849
this right now? Is non -passing left sides an

00:20:33.849 --> 00:20:38.009
answer? No. Now, the NCAA has enough subs that

00:20:38.009 --> 00:20:41.869
you can put defensive specialists in to bolster

00:20:41.869 --> 00:20:43.990
that passing as long as you have them on your

00:20:43.990 --> 00:20:46.650
roster. I don't know if they have that on their

00:20:46.650 --> 00:20:48.769
roster. But if you don't, shame on you because

00:20:48.769 --> 00:20:51.710
you have that many subs that you can use. They

00:20:51.710 --> 00:20:55.990
have Grimes. They've got the other girl who comes

00:20:55.990 --> 00:20:59.359
in to serve all the time. They've got a couple.

00:20:59.380 --> 00:21:01.819
They're not like a Nebraska DS heavy roster,

00:21:02.000 --> 00:21:04.819
but. But what they have has to be better than

00:21:04.819 --> 00:21:06.779
the passing they're getting currently. You know,

00:21:06.799 --> 00:21:09.400
it's really no different than talking like to,

00:21:09.619 --> 00:21:11.519
I'm going to be honest with you, talking today

00:21:11.519 --> 00:21:14.390
like with 14 -year -old girls and saying. We

00:21:14.390 --> 00:21:17.430
have to be the best at what we can do. If we

00:21:17.430 --> 00:21:20.230
can do that, we'll have success. Plain and simple.

00:21:20.390 --> 00:21:22.470
And then on the player's perspective, it's like,

00:21:22.490 --> 00:21:24.369
yeah, I can understand you might feel betrayed.

00:21:24.670 --> 00:21:28.349
You might feel upset. Completely understandable.

00:21:28.789 --> 00:21:30.569
But it's like, how are you going to approach?

00:21:30.750 --> 00:21:32.849
You still have the opportunity to get better

00:21:32.849 --> 00:21:36.759
every day. You have to have the pride. of being

00:21:36.759 --> 00:21:39.579
like, no, we are the reigning national champions.

00:21:39.660 --> 00:21:43.319
We are going to find a way. I think it's easy

00:21:43.319 --> 00:21:45.880
to kind of get wrapped up in things that happen

00:21:45.880 --> 00:21:50.460
to you instead of what am I going to do to make

00:21:50.460 --> 00:21:52.539
a change and make a difference? I thought that

00:21:52.539 --> 00:21:54.960
that question was interesting. I'm hoping that

00:21:54.960 --> 00:21:57.480
Schumacher Collie looks at this and says, okay,

00:21:57.500 --> 00:21:59.859
guys. Let's rally the troops here and figure

00:21:59.859 --> 00:22:02.339
out. We're in a position now that decisions are

00:22:02.339 --> 00:22:04.079
going to be made to give us the best chance to

00:22:04.079 --> 00:22:06.500
win. Everybody has to buy into this and you have

00:22:06.500 --> 00:22:09.339
to put the team first and whatever we have to

00:22:09.339 --> 00:22:11.920
do, we're going to do. You don't discount the

00:22:11.920 --> 00:22:13.859
whole season because you got blown out by Nebraska.

00:22:14.519 --> 00:22:17.240
You can get past that. But what do you do now?

00:22:17.839 --> 00:22:21.339
That's the key. What do you do now? My last question

00:22:21.339 --> 00:22:24.660
about this before we get into the NCAA conference

00:22:24.660 --> 00:22:30.210
breakdown is. Will Kennedy Martin transfer again?

00:22:31.069 --> 00:22:34.670
Or do you think she'll stick it out at Penn State?

00:22:34.769 --> 00:22:37.930
And if she does transfer, somebody sent in a

00:22:37.930 --> 00:22:40.309
question, could you see her going to Nebraska?

00:22:40.750 --> 00:22:44.470
Yes. Which part? Yes, transferring and yes to

00:22:44.470 --> 00:22:47.190
Nebraska? I believe, and I said this yesterday

00:22:47.190 --> 00:22:50.069
to my wife, and we were talking about this, and

00:22:50.069 --> 00:22:53.190
I said, if this does not improve and something

00:22:53.190 --> 00:22:57.059
doesn't walk in, She will pursue Nebraska, and

00:22:57.059 --> 00:22:59.819
they will take her. When does Olivia Babcock

00:22:59.819 --> 00:23:02.359
graduate? They're the same age. They're both

00:23:02.359 --> 00:23:04.480
juniors. Interesting. I think she will leave.

00:23:04.599 --> 00:23:08.960
I was thinking Kentucky over Nebraska purely

00:23:08.960 --> 00:23:12.880
because the Italian kid is finding her legs.

00:23:13.220 --> 00:23:16.660
She's starting to play better. Rightly or wrongly,

00:23:16.680 --> 00:23:19.619
I think Danny has a little bit of loyalty as

00:23:19.619 --> 00:23:22.400
a coach, and I also think that you— You can never—I'm

00:23:22.400 --> 00:23:26.259
sorry. That is never a bad thing, I don't think.

00:23:26.380 --> 00:23:28.019
No, I'm not saying that is a bad thing. You said

00:23:28.019 --> 00:23:30.099
rightly or wrong. I just wanted to say, in my

00:23:30.099 --> 00:23:32.799
perspective, having that loyalty is never a bad

00:23:32.799 --> 00:23:35.779
thing. But you also have her for four years.

00:23:36.410 --> 00:23:39.369
If you burn that bridge and bring somebody in

00:23:39.369 --> 00:23:43.029
for one year, I don't think it's a good long

00:23:43.029 --> 00:23:45.670
-term play for the program. Now, if it wins you

00:23:45.670 --> 00:23:48.289
a national championship, maybe, but I'm curious.

00:23:48.289 --> 00:23:50.769
But at what cost? Yeah, I'm curious to see how

00:23:50.769 --> 00:23:53.130
good she is by the end of the season because

00:23:53.130 --> 00:23:56.069
I think her and Bergen, I think she's finding

00:23:56.069 --> 00:23:59.470
her set. I think she played better against Penn

00:23:59.470 --> 00:24:02.390
State. I'm just not sure there'll be a difference,

00:24:02.490 --> 00:24:04.569
but I'm not sure how much of a difference there

00:24:04.569 --> 00:24:06.470
will be, and I think that she could make a better

00:24:06.470 --> 00:24:11.089
difference at Kentucky. Interesting. Yeah, you

00:24:11.089 --> 00:24:13.730
make a good point there, actually. Originally,

00:24:13.829 --> 00:24:16.470
when all this happened, I was like, no, she's

00:24:16.470 --> 00:24:19.670
not going to transfer because, I mean, I know

00:24:19.670 --> 00:24:22.690
it happens, and I know that people do jump around.

00:24:23.170 --> 00:24:26.130
I can't, she doesn't strike me as the type of

00:24:26.130 --> 00:24:29.690
person that would transfer again. But again,

00:24:29.809 --> 00:24:32.170
do I know her? Absolutely not. I don't know.

00:24:32.250 --> 00:24:35.289
I just, I had that feeling, but seeing this dumpster

00:24:35.289 --> 00:24:37.450
fire that the season has become, like, it's hard

00:24:37.450 --> 00:24:39.849
to say. I don't know. I posted a poll on Instagram

00:24:39.849 --> 00:24:42.609
yesterday and the majority of people said she

00:24:42.609 --> 00:24:44.869
would transfer again. Well, let's see how the

00:24:44.869 --> 00:24:47.529
season ends. I think that'll be the key to this

00:24:47.529 --> 00:24:49.849
whole thing. How does this end? And who comes

00:24:49.849 --> 00:24:51.849
in, right? Like they're going to, they're clearly

00:24:51.849 --> 00:24:53.930
going to go to the portal. If they get one more

00:24:53.930 --> 00:24:56.069
left side and a half decent setter, they're going

00:24:56.069 --> 00:24:58.410
to be a good team again. All right, that was

00:24:58.410 --> 00:25:04.109
our NCAA recap of the week. A couple very surprising

00:25:04.109 --> 00:25:07.250
things happening. But as I said, the rankings

00:25:07.250 --> 00:25:10.049
are for sure going to be flipping around like

00:25:10.049 --> 00:25:12.890
crazy this week. So I'm excited to see what happens

00:25:12.890 --> 00:25:15.890
moving forward. We finished non -conference play.

00:25:16.029 --> 00:25:19.509
We're a week behind actual conference play because

00:25:19.509 --> 00:25:23.289
of Men's World Championships. I wanted to take

00:25:23.289 --> 00:25:26.710
a look at the top four conferences. I wanted

00:25:26.710 --> 00:25:28.569
to talk about some of the teams that will be

00:25:28.569 --> 00:25:30.730
contending for the top of those conferences.

00:25:31.069 --> 00:25:33.809
Are we surprised? What did we think of their

00:25:33.809 --> 00:25:36.470
non -conference play? And where do we see them

00:25:36.470 --> 00:25:38.609
going for the rest of the season? So we're going

00:25:38.609 --> 00:25:41.650
to start with the SEC. Paul, give me your top

00:25:41.650 --> 00:25:45.829
four or five teams in an order, and then give

00:25:45.829 --> 00:25:51.289
me your dark horse team for that division. My

00:25:51.289 --> 00:25:58.430
top three are Texas, Kentucky, and Texas A &M,

00:25:58.549 --> 00:26:02.150
in that order. If I was to pick another team,

00:26:02.269 --> 00:26:08.309
possibly, right now I'm leaning toward Tennessee.

00:26:09.029 --> 00:26:12.750
Ooh, not a team we've talked about very often.

00:26:13.009 --> 00:26:18.019
I look at Tennessee, outstanding. I can't say

00:26:18.019 --> 00:26:20.619
they're outstanding, but they lost to Purdue

00:26:20.619 --> 00:26:23.559
3 -1. I don't know if that's a great loss, maybe

00:26:23.559 --> 00:26:27.539
at the time, but I just don't see the overall

00:26:27.539 --> 00:26:30.380
strength in the SEC to think that anybody's going

00:26:30.380 --> 00:26:32.980
to be any better. Florida may rally eventually.

00:26:33.619 --> 00:26:36.380
What about Missouri? Missouri's lost a lot of

00:26:36.380 --> 00:26:40.140
matches. They have. For some reason, they always

00:26:40.140 --> 00:26:43.259
hang around to me. I feel like they're always

00:26:43.259 --> 00:26:48.789
just around. Yeah. They do hang around. You're

00:26:48.789 --> 00:26:52.710
right. Will they make any noise? No. They fit

00:26:52.710 --> 00:26:55.910
into that group of teams that are decent but

00:26:55.910 --> 00:26:58.309
don't have a star. They're good defensively.

00:26:58.309 --> 00:27:01.430
They serve tough. They're a gritty team, but

00:27:01.430 --> 00:27:03.549
they can't score. There's a lot of those, and

00:27:03.549 --> 00:27:06.930
that's another one. I don't look at Missouri

00:27:06.930 --> 00:27:10.109
as really making any noise at all, to be honest

00:27:10.109 --> 00:27:14.269
with you. I just look at this thing and... I

00:27:14.269 --> 00:27:16.769
think it's pretty obvious that there's three

00:27:16.769 --> 00:27:19.190
teams that are just better than everybody else.

00:27:19.509 --> 00:27:22.329
What are your teams? I really like Texas. I think

00:27:22.329 --> 00:27:24.950
they're doing a good job. They've had their young

00:27:24.950 --> 00:27:27.309
players step up. They've gelled well. So I think

00:27:27.309 --> 00:27:30.089
they're going to be at the top. I agree. Kentucky

00:27:30.089 --> 00:27:34.130
is going to be number two. I also agree. I thought

00:27:34.130 --> 00:27:36.990
Texas A &M at the beginning of the season, but

00:27:36.990 --> 00:27:40.430
they have not looked good recently. They have

00:27:40.430 --> 00:27:44.470
a couple losses. They look... disjointed they

00:27:44.470 --> 00:27:48.190
haven't been able to find any defensive rhythm

00:27:48.190 --> 00:27:52.329
while they're relatively big it's just it's not

00:27:52.329 --> 00:27:55.549
clicking yet so I'm curious to see if they can

00:27:55.549 --> 00:27:58.849
get it on the rails I really like their coach

00:27:58.849 --> 00:28:02.289
I think he does a good job but this is potentially

00:28:02.289 --> 00:28:05.049
another situation where you know he's coached

00:28:05.049 --> 00:28:07.589
internationally he has a ton of experience I'm

00:28:07.589 --> 00:28:09.890
wondering if they're trying to do a little bit

00:28:09.890 --> 00:28:12.759
too much with the athletes that they have, but

00:28:12.759 --> 00:28:15.579
I think they will finish third just because they're

00:28:15.579 --> 00:28:19.220
well prepared, they're big, and the rest of the

00:28:19.220 --> 00:28:22.200
conference isn't super strong. I'm a little surprised

00:28:22.200 --> 00:28:25.460
at Florida. I thought they would be better, but

00:28:25.460 --> 00:28:28.250
I think they still have a shot to finish. fourth

00:28:28.250 --> 00:28:30.569
in that conference. And I think Missouri will

00:28:30.569 --> 00:28:33.410
finish fifth. I'm with you guys on the top two.

00:28:33.609 --> 00:28:37.990
Texas, Kentucky. I haven't loved watching Texas

00:28:37.990 --> 00:28:40.730
A &M. It's a similar situation to what we're

00:28:40.730 --> 00:28:43.829
seeing from Penn State. You're riding the Lednicki

00:28:43.829 --> 00:28:47.450
train as far as she'll take you. Their left sides

00:28:47.450 --> 00:28:51.369
do not impress me at all. Kossak -Paula, she's

00:28:51.369 --> 00:28:54.599
a really good blocker. I think they're very one

00:28:54.599 --> 00:28:57.440
-dimensional. So I'm going to take a flyer here

00:28:57.440 --> 00:28:59.460
and I'm going to put Florida at number three.

00:28:59.720 --> 00:29:02.079
Okay, I'm just going to say something because

00:29:02.079 --> 00:29:04.119
it's really important as we move on in this.

00:29:04.299 --> 00:29:08.200
What we're seeing here with Texas and Kentucky,

00:29:08.440 --> 00:29:11.039
there's other conferences that have the same

00:29:11.039 --> 00:29:15.000
issue. There's two powerhouse teams and then

00:29:15.000 --> 00:29:18.460
the cast of others. And you can flip a coin and

00:29:18.460 --> 00:29:20.180
you don't know what's going to happen. And this

00:29:20.180 --> 00:29:22.670
is what's happening here. adam asked for three

00:29:22.670 --> 00:29:25.289
i gave three and i think for me texas am not

00:29:25.289 --> 00:29:28.450
for you but there's two and then the other exactly

00:29:28.450 --> 00:29:32.710
exactly and i think you're seeing i hate to say

00:29:32.710 --> 00:29:35.170
it but you're seeing with like the nil and stuff

00:29:35.170 --> 00:29:39.970
it's creating more separation than parity and

00:29:39.970 --> 00:29:42.990
i think with the transfer portal with nil i think

00:29:42.990 --> 00:29:46.740
some discussion was around more teams have the

00:29:46.740 --> 00:29:49.200
opportunity to be good. It's going in the opposite

00:29:49.200 --> 00:29:52.420
direction. We're seeing just the cream rise to

00:29:52.420 --> 00:29:55.119
the top and everybody else is just in their own

00:29:55.119 --> 00:29:58.039
little mix. Well there's good competition from

00:29:58.039 --> 00:30:01.019
three to ten. Yeah so pre -season but I'm sorry

00:30:01.019 --> 00:30:03.960
pre -season should not be more exciting than

00:30:03.960 --> 00:30:06.660
conference play. It shouldn't be. The majority

00:30:06.660 --> 00:30:08.980
of your season is spent in conference. Did we

00:30:08.980 --> 00:30:12.660
peak like September 1st? I've said that all along

00:30:12.660 --> 00:30:14.960
about this portal. My whole take on the portal

00:30:14.960 --> 00:30:17.480
was everybody thought there's going to be a little

00:30:17.480 --> 00:30:20.579
more parity. Uh -uh, not a chance. You're going

00:30:20.579 --> 00:30:24.240
to have a Marquette, for instance, take this

00:30:24.240 --> 00:30:26.640
young kid that nobody wanted out of high school

00:30:26.640 --> 00:30:29.259
and develop her into something that turns into

00:30:29.259 --> 00:30:32.200
something special by her sophomore year. And

00:30:32.200 --> 00:30:35.000
that person's leaving Marquette, not for a worse

00:30:35.000 --> 00:30:38.000
team. They're going to get to Nebraska or Wisconsin

00:30:38.000 --> 00:30:41.059
or one of those. Well, look at Ramsey Gary for

00:30:41.059 --> 00:30:44.339
Texas. Ramsey Gary played for Indiana and now

00:30:44.339 --> 00:30:46.519
she's playing for Texas. Like, are you kidding

00:30:46.519 --> 00:30:49.400
me? And I'm sorry, but like this increased scholarship

00:30:49.400 --> 00:30:52.039
limit, while I think it's great, it just allows

00:30:52.039 --> 00:30:56.299
the really good teams to get more. players from

00:30:56.299 --> 00:30:59.079
everybody else. And the NIL is letting the really

00:30:59.079 --> 00:31:01.640
good teams find loopholes to be able to pay the

00:31:01.640 --> 00:31:03.299
difference for others. Like, it's just, it's

00:31:03.299 --> 00:31:05.619
wild to me. Absolutely. This doesn't surprise

00:31:05.619 --> 00:31:08.839
me in the slightest. Saw this coming. Well, Danny

00:31:08.839 --> 00:31:11.579
Busboom Kelly earlier, a few weeks ago, came

00:31:11.579 --> 00:31:14.220
out and said that she thinks that the SEC could

00:31:14.220 --> 00:31:16.720
be stronger than the Big Ten. Do we agree with

00:31:16.720 --> 00:31:19.150
this statement? After everything we just said

00:31:19.150 --> 00:31:22.829
about how there's two really good teams, three

00:31:22.829 --> 00:31:26.730
1Bs, as Adam likes to call them, and then everyone

00:31:26.730 --> 00:31:30.569
else. It's a battle. You think that they're similar

00:31:30.569 --> 00:31:33.789
strength of conferences? I think from top to

00:31:33.789 --> 00:31:37.609
bottom, I still think the Big Ten. But if you're

00:31:37.609 --> 00:31:40.970
looking at the top five or six, if they had a

00:31:40.970 --> 00:31:45.589
similar type of thing, a SEC versus Big Ten.

00:31:46.799 --> 00:31:49.839
I think you'd see a lot more parity than you'd

00:31:49.839 --> 00:31:52.019
think there. Okay, let's go to the Big Ten. Let's

00:31:52.019 --> 00:31:54.819
pick our top. Give me your top five in the Big

00:31:54.819 --> 00:31:57.000
Ten, and then we'll compare a couple of those.

00:31:57.220 --> 00:31:59.579
Top five? Oof. Yeah, we'll make it interesting.

00:31:59.940 --> 00:32:04.880
Okay, sure. Nebraska, Wisconsin, and it's funny

00:32:04.880 --> 00:32:07.200
because I have a bunch of them written down here.

00:32:07.619 --> 00:32:10.460
Then I have, take your pick of three, four, five

00:32:10.460 --> 00:32:13.660
here. Purdue, Minnesota, Indiana. You have Indiana.

00:32:14.339 --> 00:32:19.960
Yeah, maybe. Illinois, maybe. That's what I have

00:32:19.960 --> 00:32:23.579
right now. I don't see Penn State in this equation.

00:32:23.740 --> 00:32:25.619
Okay, so let me ask you this. Out of Indiana,

00:32:25.940 --> 00:32:29.579
Purdue, and Illinois, which of those teams beats

00:32:29.579 --> 00:32:32.819
Texas A &M? Purdue, maybe. I think it would be

00:32:32.819 --> 00:32:35.400
a decent match. If you look at Purdue, they have

00:32:35.400 --> 00:32:38.980
beaten Kansas and SMU, okay? So there's two good

00:32:38.980 --> 00:32:41.759
victories for them. They're proving that they

00:32:41.759 --> 00:32:44.200
can play with people, but can they beat them

00:32:44.200 --> 00:32:46.990
regularly? But they can play. So I don't think

00:32:46.990 --> 00:32:50.569
it's too far -fetched to think that Purdue wouldn't

00:32:50.569 --> 00:32:53.049
beat Texas A &M. I think that's fair. I think

00:32:53.049 --> 00:32:54.730
Purdue's winning that one. I'm not sure that

00:32:54.730 --> 00:32:58.950
I agree with Danny that the SEC is. I think at

00:32:58.950 --> 00:33:00.730
this point you could make the argument that the

00:33:00.730 --> 00:33:03.950
ACC is stronger than the Big Ten, but the SEC,

00:33:04.269 --> 00:33:07.210
I don't know about that. Well, if we can go back,

00:33:07.210 --> 00:33:09.450
if you look at what we were talking about, Texas

00:33:09.450 --> 00:33:13.660
A &M, Purdue. Texas A &M lost to SMU three straight.

00:33:13.900 --> 00:33:16.900
Gotta love that sport logic where I beat you

00:33:16.900 --> 00:33:18.519
and you beat them, so I'm going to beat you.

00:33:19.059 --> 00:33:22.400
If A is better than B and B is better than C,

00:33:22.480 --> 00:33:24.980
then A is better than C. But that I think is

00:33:24.980 --> 00:33:27.359
the point we're making is that once you get that

00:33:27.359 --> 00:33:30.319
pass to anybody can beat anybody. That's true.

00:33:30.460 --> 00:33:32.259
And the thing for me is like, if you're not in

00:33:32.259 --> 00:33:35.599
that legit conversation for a conference title

00:33:35.599 --> 00:33:38.859
or a national championship, then what are we

00:33:38.859 --> 00:33:41.579
doing? You know what I mean? Yeah. Who are your

00:33:41.579 --> 00:33:44.039
top five for the Big Ten? Nebraska, Wisconsin.

00:33:44.259 --> 00:33:48.019
I hate that. Okay, Wisconsin fans are going to

00:33:48.019 --> 00:33:50.740
hate me. Earlier at the beginning of the season,

00:33:50.779 --> 00:33:53.400
I was like, Wisconsin is just not it. They are

00:33:53.400 --> 00:33:55.640
going to be so much worse. They've taken such

00:33:55.640 --> 00:33:59.119
a dip. And I kind of hate that it's still like

00:33:59.119 --> 00:34:02.319
Nebraska, Wisconsin at the top. Not because I

00:34:02.319 --> 00:34:05.140
hate Wisconsin, but because I'm like, okay, here

00:34:05.140 --> 00:34:07.480
we are. I mean, I definitely think they're podcast

00:34:07.480 --> 00:34:10.449
from that. And we all said the same thing. It

00:34:10.449 --> 00:34:12.630
wasn't just unique to you. We all said the same

00:34:12.630 --> 00:34:14.570
thing. Fair, fair. I mean, don't get me wrong.

00:34:14.650 --> 00:34:17.710
Wisconsin took a step back for sure. They're

00:34:17.710 --> 00:34:20.469
not the same team as they were last year. I don't

00:34:20.469 --> 00:34:23.269
think many are. I feel like the overall level

00:34:23.269 --> 00:34:26.250
of the NCAA has kind of taken a decline. That's

00:34:26.250 --> 00:34:28.530
a hot take for you. That's another conversation.

00:34:28.750 --> 00:34:32.210
That's a hot take. You have many athletes who

00:34:32.210 --> 00:34:35.530
were able to play more years who have left. Yes.

00:34:35.690 --> 00:34:39.179
And there is a bit of a vacuum. in the ncaa right

00:34:39.179 --> 00:34:41.559
now with those players leaving so i mean that's

00:34:41.559 --> 00:34:44.079
not it's not a hot take in my opinion i would

00:34:44.079 --> 00:34:46.539
agree that the level has dropped a little bit

00:34:46.539 --> 00:34:48.639
because you had players who could play five years

00:34:48.639 --> 00:34:51.420
who could play six years for whatever reason

00:34:51.420 --> 00:34:54.460
and those two years make a huge difference so

00:34:54.460 --> 00:34:57.679
i don't think that's necessarily a hot take i

00:34:57.679 --> 00:35:03.170
am curious to see if Mimi Collier continues to

00:35:03.170 --> 00:35:06.469
have the season that she has already had. I don't

00:35:06.469 --> 00:35:08.510
have any reason to think that it won't happen,

00:35:08.630 --> 00:35:11.250
but she still has to do it because right now

00:35:11.250 --> 00:35:15.489
they are relying heavily on her to score points

00:35:15.489 --> 00:35:18.190
and to do those. So if she gets figured out or

00:35:18.190 --> 00:35:20.789
has some off matches, I think they're number

00:35:20.789 --> 00:35:23.369
two, but I don't think they're securely number

00:35:23.369 --> 00:35:26.369
two. They can be beat. I'm sticking with my top

00:35:26.369 --> 00:35:30.260
three. What I've seen in the last couple weeks

00:35:30.260 --> 00:35:33.360
when I've watched, I've been impressed by her

00:35:33.360 --> 00:35:37.039
ability to score. And Grace Egan, before she

00:35:37.039 --> 00:35:40.940
got injured, was doing a very good job. She got

00:35:40.940 --> 00:35:43.079
hurt, and they brought in this young girl, freshman

00:35:43.079 --> 00:35:46.460
named Maddie Quest, who's doing a good job. Booth

00:35:46.460 --> 00:35:48.820
is still putting up a good block. and they're

00:35:48.820 --> 00:35:51.219
using her more. They're doing what they have

00:35:51.219 --> 00:35:53.280
to do with the pieces they do. And I think that's

00:35:53.280 --> 00:35:55.579
what I just alluded to a few minutes ago, is

00:35:55.579 --> 00:35:57.820
you look at what you have and you do what you

00:35:57.820 --> 00:36:00.019
can with the pieces you have. Wisconsin's not

00:36:00.019 --> 00:36:02.340
nearly as physical as they used to be, but they're

00:36:02.340 --> 00:36:05.800
still more physical than most teams. And I think

00:36:05.800 --> 00:36:09.619
on any given night, that goes a long way. If

00:36:09.619 --> 00:36:12.079
you think about matching up against the Purdue,

00:36:12.360 --> 00:36:15.800
it's a long night for Purdue, given the size

00:36:15.800 --> 00:36:18.699
difference. with Wisconsin. And that gives them

00:36:18.699 --> 00:36:22.900
the edge. Purdue has to play at 90, 95 % of their

00:36:22.900 --> 00:36:25.340
capability to overcome that. Wisconsin can play

00:36:25.340 --> 00:36:27.920
at 80, 85 because they're going to be able to

00:36:27.920 --> 00:36:29.719
score some of those points just because they're

00:36:29.719 --> 00:36:32.059
a little more athletic. So that's always kind

00:36:32.059 --> 00:36:34.559
of the interesting give or take when you have

00:36:34.559 --> 00:36:37.599
athletes of different calibers on different teams.

00:36:38.139 --> 00:36:39.780
Well, that comes down to the same thing we were

00:36:39.780 --> 00:36:42.079
talking about a few minutes ago about Wisconsin

00:36:42.079 --> 00:36:46.760
have Collier, Texas A &M have Lednicki. And it's

00:36:46.760 --> 00:36:48.860
basically what do you have around you that's

00:36:48.860 --> 00:36:51.360
going to make the difference. I know I was just

00:36:51.360 --> 00:36:53.300
making fun of Wisconsin a little bit. I do have

00:36:53.300 --> 00:36:55.159
to give them credit. Their identity for the last

00:36:55.159 --> 00:36:58.000
six, seven years have been just blocking machines,

00:36:58.280 --> 00:37:02.139
really big, physical. And the fact that they've

00:37:02.139 --> 00:37:05.400
maintained. success while having to completely

00:37:05.400 --> 00:37:09.440
rework what they're about. I think they deserve

00:37:09.440 --> 00:37:11.559
credit for that. Kelly Sheffield deserves credit

00:37:11.559 --> 00:37:14.280
for that. Furbringer deserves credit. She has

00:37:14.280 --> 00:37:18.300
been good. They do deserve props for how they've

00:37:18.300 --> 00:37:20.440
evolved. But I'm going to put my top three as

00:37:20.440 --> 00:37:24.000
Nebraska, Wisconsin, Purdue. And then after that,

00:37:24.159 --> 00:37:27.889
no idea. I mean, Minnesota lost. Minnesota, I'm

00:37:27.889 --> 00:37:30.769
still, like, I was not a Minnesota fan last year,

00:37:30.809 --> 00:37:32.650
and I'm still not a Minnesota fan, and they've

00:37:32.650 --> 00:37:35.750
had some injuries again. So, yeah, no. Do we

00:37:35.750 --> 00:37:38.110
think Michigan State is going to keep upsetting

00:37:38.110 --> 00:37:41.809
teams? No. No. Hard no. Do we think Indiana is

00:37:41.809 --> 00:37:44.090
still going to keep upsetting teams? More likely,

00:37:44.230 --> 00:37:46.929
I think. I'm looking forward to seeing them.

00:37:47.320 --> 00:37:49.380
Yeah, I'm like, no, I need to tune in and pay

00:37:49.380 --> 00:37:51.940
closer attention. All right, so let's move on

00:37:51.940 --> 00:37:55.679
to the ACC, which might be the most interesting

00:37:55.679 --> 00:38:00.179
conference. I don't think you have, you still

00:38:00.179 --> 00:38:02.980
have top teams, but you don't have quite as much

00:38:02.980 --> 00:38:05.800
separation in this conference as you do in the

00:38:05.800 --> 00:38:07.780
previous two that we've talked about, in my opinion.

00:38:08.000 --> 00:38:12.900
So I'm very curious to hear what your guys' thoughts

00:38:12.900 --> 00:38:16.119
are about the top teams in the ACC. Pitt, Stanford,

00:38:16.260 --> 00:38:18.630
Louisville. You're putting Stanford above Louisville?

00:38:18.909 --> 00:38:24.070
Yep, I am. So I feel like the contenders or people

00:38:24.070 --> 00:38:28.050
who are in the discussion for me are Pitt, Stanford,

00:38:28.349 --> 00:38:32.409
Louisville, SMU. Maybe you could throw in a Miami.

00:38:32.730 --> 00:38:36.510
Maybe a North Carolina, maybe. Maybe a North

00:38:36.510 --> 00:38:38.969
Carolina. But when I'm looking at top three,

00:38:39.150 --> 00:38:42.530
I mean, SMU is always like in the discussion

00:38:42.530 --> 00:38:45.570
for top 10 or whatever, but I just don't think...

00:38:46.000 --> 00:38:49.579
that they are at the level of the pit stanford

00:38:49.579 --> 00:38:52.699
louisville i haven't loved what i've seen from

00:38:52.699 --> 00:38:55.519
louisville this year i think they're good when

00:38:55.519 --> 00:38:59.780
you can't set cara cressy though the wheels fall

00:38:59.780 --> 00:39:02.659
off so as soon as that pass makes the middle

00:39:02.659 --> 00:39:05.199
not good to run as soon as cressy gets to the

00:39:05.199 --> 00:39:08.519
back row They just bleed out on the court. That

00:39:08.519 --> 00:39:11.599
is a really tough position to be in. So I'm also,

00:39:11.679 --> 00:39:13.440
I'm going to agree with you. I'm going to do

00:39:13.440 --> 00:39:17.199
Pitt, then Stanford, then Louisville. The young

00:39:17.199 --> 00:39:19.639
athletes for Stanford have been like quite good.

00:39:19.900 --> 00:39:22.420
I'm going to take a flyer here. I think Stanford's

00:39:22.420 --> 00:39:24.420
going to win this conference this year. I think

00:39:24.420 --> 00:39:27.039
they're young. I think they're hungry. I think

00:39:27.039 --> 00:39:31.099
they're well coached. Pitt's been here. I equate

00:39:31.099 --> 00:39:33.039
Pitt, and for those of you who know I'm a hockey

00:39:33.039 --> 00:39:35.840
fan, I think Pitt's the, they're the Leafs. They

00:39:35.840 --> 00:39:38.159
know they're going to make the playoffs. And

00:39:38.159 --> 00:39:39.739
then they're going to just like blow it right

00:39:39.739 --> 00:39:42.900
away. And I think it's hard to stay motivated.

00:39:42.980 --> 00:39:46.260
I can see Pitt dropping one or two matches to

00:39:46.260 --> 00:39:49.340
a middle -ranked team where Babcock has an off

00:39:49.340 --> 00:39:52.900
night or is a little bit banged up. And I don't

00:39:52.900 --> 00:39:55.980
think they have a ton of depth on that team.

00:39:56.179 --> 00:39:59.320
Well, that's the thing with Pitt is if Olivia

00:39:59.320 --> 00:40:04.159
Babcock is not good, they are a completely different

00:40:04.159 --> 00:40:06.789
team. It's the same thing that we've talked about

00:40:06.789 --> 00:40:10.550
with Penn State, with Texas A &M. These three

00:40:10.550 --> 00:40:15.150
good opposites for these programs, the structure

00:40:15.150 --> 00:40:18.550
of the team around them is very similar, which

00:40:18.550 --> 00:40:22.719
is scary. Yeah, I just don't see. somebody else

00:40:22.719 --> 00:40:24.940
coming up if Babcock doesn't play all of the

00:40:24.940 --> 00:40:27.500
games. I don't think there's a ton around her.

00:40:27.539 --> 00:40:29.440
Now, they're obviously not bad players. They

00:40:29.440 --> 00:40:31.119
have good players around her, but who's going

00:40:31.119 --> 00:40:33.360
to score points? It's hard to be at the top.

00:40:33.440 --> 00:40:35.280
Everyone wants to knock off Pitt because of the

00:40:35.280 --> 00:40:37.760
success they've had. They need to be incredibly

00:40:37.760 --> 00:40:41.219
mentally tough to manage a season and the expectation

00:40:41.219 --> 00:40:43.460
where everybody is gunning for you. And on the

00:40:43.460 --> 00:40:45.719
flip side, Stanford's young. Those kids don't

00:40:45.719 --> 00:40:47.659
know any different. There's no pressure on them.

00:40:47.739 --> 00:40:50.699
There's no expectations. I mean, there's expectations

00:40:50.699 --> 00:40:53.139
because you're playing. for stanford but in terms

00:40:53.139 --> 00:40:57.500
of you know where that team has been and i think

00:40:57.500 --> 00:41:00.260
that that can be that can be huge i think they're

00:41:00.260 --> 00:41:01.860
gonna roll i think they're gonna have a ton of

00:41:01.860 --> 00:41:04.500
fun and when they play my money's on stanford

00:41:04.500 --> 00:41:06.940
i look at pitt's situation very similar to what

00:41:06.940 --> 00:41:10.539
you guys are saying with i see babcock kennedy

00:41:10.539 --> 00:41:14.679
martin okay what i see is two very good middles

00:41:14.679 --> 00:41:20.010
for pitt a better passing team than pitt And

00:41:20.010 --> 00:41:22.650
if you can get those middles. No, better than

00:41:22.650 --> 00:41:24.550
Penn State, yes. Pitt has better middles than

00:41:24.550 --> 00:41:27.489
Penn State. And better passing. But they pass

00:41:27.489 --> 00:41:30.070
better than Penn State. If you can get them involved,

00:41:30.250 --> 00:41:33.010
that opens up things for the other side a little

00:41:33.010 --> 00:41:36.050
bit more. I do think, you know, they don't have,

00:41:36.190 --> 00:41:39.969
like, Selman's okay. She's not proven herself

00:41:39.969 --> 00:41:44.710
yet. But she can be physical enough. But I think

00:41:44.710 --> 00:41:47.929
they can be the second left side. Probably right

00:41:47.929 --> 00:41:50.010
now better than Penn State's second left side.

00:41:50.070 --> 00:41:53.170
So I think there's a little more there. Stanford?

00:41:53.849 --> 00:41:56.309
Stanford's always good. Stanford's never bad.

00:41:56.530 --> 00:41:59.230
They're Stanford. Get that West Coast Ivy League

00:41:59.230 --> 00:42:02.449
education, kids. I'm banking on the fact that

00:42:02.449 --> 00:42:04.909
Olivia Babcock is going to show up when necessary.

00:42:05.530 --> 00:42:08.969
So that's why I have Pitt as number one. But

00:42:08.969 --> 00:42:12.130
what is your definition of necessary? Score all

00:42:12.130 --> 00:42:13.829
the points, duh. Yeah, but is she going to show

00:42:13.829 --> 00:42:16.889
up? against Miami is she going to show up against

00:42:16.889 --> 00:42:19.869
Louisville against SMU like all the teams the

00:42:19.869 --> 00:42:23.289
left sides for Pitt they're capable they're good

00:42:23.289 --> 00:42:27.489
players if the left sides falter is Olivia Babcock

00:42:27.489 --> 00:42:30.590
going to be able to carry the load that's what

00:42:30.590 --> 00:42:33.929
I mean when necessary because like she does draw

00:42:33.929 --> 00:42:36.170
enough attention that the left sides for Pitt

00:42:36.170 --> 00:42:38.289
have been able to kind of find their rhythm work

00:42:38.289 --> 00:42:41.329
their way into it and start to like establish

00:42:41.329 --> 00:42:46.389
their own identity but If not, and then now defenses

00:42:46.389 --> 00:42:48.730
are focusing more on the left side, it's like,

00:42:48.769 --> 00:42:50.489
what's going to happen? That's what I mean as

00:42:50.489 --> 00:42:53.909
far as, like, can the outside core balance each

00:42:53.909 --> 00:42:56.210
other enough? I think that Olivia Babcock will

00:42:56.210 --> 00:42:58.289
always be able to pick up the slack if the left

00:42:58.289 --> 00:43:01.429
sides are struggling. But you were the one who

00:43:01.429 --> 00:43:03.710
picked Stanford to win. No, but my bigger question

00:43:03.710 --> 00:43:06.690
is, is that team capable of picking up the slack

00:43:06.690 --> 00:43:09.449
when Olivia is struggling? They've never had

00:43:09.449 --> 00:43:14.099
to. What happens if he is... injured or she has

00:43:14.099 --> 00:43:16.780
an off night and all of a sudden everybody's

00:43:16.780 --> 00:43:18.380
looking around going well who's who's going to

00:43:18.380 --> 00:43:20.199
score points because it's always Olivia. I'm

00:43:20.199 --> 00:43:24.079
just I'm curious to see what happens. I see that's

00:43:24.079 --> 00:43:25.820
the point. I don't think that that's going to

00:43:25.820 --> 00:43:29.380
happen in when they play Stanford or when they

00:43:29.380 --> 00:43:31.260
play Miami. Like I don't think that's going to

00:43:31.260 --> 00:43:33.280
happen. Maybe it'll happen. I'm giving her a

00:43:33.280 --> 00:43:36.320
lot of credit. One thing I liked about Babcock

00:43:36.320 --> 00:43:38.840
recently she's playing some pretty good defense

00:43:38.840 --> 00:43:42.619
too. Oh yeah she's improved defensively. Yeah,

00:43:42.699 --> 00:43:46.219
she's picking up balls. I like that. She digs

00:43:46.219 --> 00:43:48.380
her nose in the way she goes. I like that. You

00:43:48.380 --> 00:43:50.400
know the three of us love a six rotation right

00:43:50.400 --> 00:43:55.619
side. Let's look at ACC. Yes or no, top 10 ACC

00:43:55.619 --> 00:44:00.440
teams better than the top 10 Big Ten teams? I'm

00:44:00.440 --> 00:44:03.739
going to say across the board, yes. You have

00:44:03.739 --> 00:44:07.280
Pitt. When we were going through this at the

00:44:07.280 --> 00:44:11.519
beginning, I was able to name six decent contenders.

00:44:12.199 --> 00:44:14.480
I'm not sure that I felt like I could do that

00:44:14.480 --> 00:44:16.239
with the Big Ten. You know, when you look at

00:44:16.239 --> 00:44:18.300
Miami, Stanford, North Carolina, Louisville,

00:44:18.380 --> 00:44:21.980
Pitt, SMU, there's six teams right there that

00:44:21.980 --> 00:44:25.739
are pretty competitive and can play. And I go

00:44:25.739 --> 00:44:28.059
back and I'm using Purdue as the example because

00:44:28.059 --> 00:44:30.840
I think they're a similar style team that's very

00:44:30.840 --> 00:44:32.860
well coached. Like, I don't think they beat Pitt,

00:44:32.960 --> 00:44:34.840
Stanford, or Louisville. And so when I start

00:44:34.840 --> 00:44:36.960
to look at do they beat Miami, I don't know.

00:44:37.000 --> 00:44:40.860
Do they beat SMU? I don't think so. And you kind

00:44:40.860 --> 00:44:43.360
of look down that list and compare what I would

00:44:43.360 --> 00:44:49.699
consider Big Ten 3 to ACC 4, 5, 6. I think the

00:44:49.699 --> 00:44:52.340
ACC is better. Remember, and I'm not saying this

00:44:52.340 --> 00:44:56.219
is third against – Purdue beat SMU 3 -1. Fair.

00:44:56.300 --> 00:44:58.559
But then, of course, if we're playing first against

00:44:58.559 --> 00:45:00.780
first, second against second, third against third,

00:45:01.079 --> 00:45:04.039
it's probably not – I would not dispute that.

00:45:04.760 --> 00:45:07.429
It's an interesting thought experiment. So as

00:45:07.429 --> 00:45:09.289
of right now, we're thinking ACC is strongest

00:45:09.289 --> 00:45:11.469
conference. I think so. Yeah, they're pretty

00:45:11.469 --> 00:45:14.289
good. We've got one conference left to discuss

00:45:14.289 --> 00:45:18.349
in the Big 12. This conference. This one's an

00:45:18.349 --> 00:45:21.510
interesting conference now. Here we go. This

00:45:21.510 --> 00:45:24.230
to me is the spaghetti bowl conference. What

00:45:24.230 --> 00:45:26.929
is that? You throw the spaghetti against the

00:45:26.929 --> 00:45:28.550
wall and you have no idea what's going to stick.

00:45:29.070 --> 00:45:31.590
When I look at this... We've got Colorado currently

00:45:31.590 --> 00:45:34.750
leading the conference. Wow. I feel like on any

00:45:34.750 --> 00:45:37.530
given night, any of these teams could beat another

00:45:37.530 --> 00:45:40.269
one, but they could all lose against unranked

00:45:40.269 --> 00:45:43.409
teams, and I wouldn't bat an eye. I think that's

00:45:43.409 --> 00:45:46.809
fair. I have high expectations for a couple teams,

00:45:47.010 --> 00:45:49.530
but I understand what you're saying. Arizona

00:45:49.530 --> 00:45:53.289
State, I think, is probably the pace car in this

00:45:53.289 --> 00:45:55.719
conference. I would agree with that. But then

00:45:55.719 --> 00:45:58.159
you look at, who are you putting next? Kansas,

00:45:58.420 --> 00:46:03.699
TCU, BYU, all of them have lost to unranked teams,

00:46:03.780 --> 00:46:06.840
if I'm not mistaken. Well, Colorado, first of

00:46:06.840 --> 00:46:09.980
all, have no signature wins, in my mind. I don't

00:46:09.980 --> 00:46:12.239
consider BYU, the way they're going in Utah,

00:46:12.440 --> 00:46:15.800
as a signature win. No, their trajectory is definitely

00:46:15.800 --> 00:46:18.659
down. They've lost to Colorado State two times

00:46:18.659 --> 00:46:23.889
already in preseason play. 3 -0 and 3 -1. So

00:46:23.889 --> 00:46:26.670
I'm not sure that that 4 -0, playing in that

00:46:26.670 --> 00:46:29.090
conference, and the best teams you have played

00:46:29.090 --> 00:46:31.809
are BYU and Utah and you beat them. But when

00:46:31.809 --> 00:46:34.250
you look at where BYU and Utah are right now,

00:46:34.489 --> 00:46:37.269
they're not lighting anybody up. But where do

00:46:37.269 --> 00:46:40.070
you think BYU is going to end the season? Remember,

00:46:40.150 --> 00:46:43.010
I picked them as one of my top three in August.

00:46:43.489 --> 00:46:45.610
Well, that's my point. Where do I think they're

00:46:45.610 --> 00:46:47.909
going to end up? Six. Fifth, sixth, seventh?

00:46:48.170 --> 00:46:50.110
Seventh? Somewhere around there? Seventh? Sixth?

00:46:50.110 --> 00:46:52.150
I don't know. I don't think any of us had TCU

00:46:52.150 --> 00:46:55.409
on our radars either, though, in August. No.

00:46:55.750 --> 00:47:00.750
So for me, my top teams, the way that I think

00:47:00.750 --> 00:47:03.929
it's going to shake out for Big 12 is Arizona

00:47:03.929 --> 00:47:08.590
State, TCU. You know, I'm going to go with Kansas.

00:47:08.969 --> 00:47:11.650
Oh, you stole mine. That was what I was going

00:47:11.650 --> 00:47:15.550
to pick. Arizona State. tcu kansas and i'm actually

00:47:15.550 --> 00:47:18.750
not convinced that tcu doesn't end up beating

00:47:18.750 --> 00:47:22.630
arizona state yeah maybe i went tcu arizona state

00:47:22.630 --> 00:47:26.329
kansas okay we all have the same top three i

00:47:26.329 --> 00:47:28.809
like kansas but you know why i like kansas they

00:47:28.809 --> 00:47:32.119
have More losses, but they played one heck of

00:47:32.119 --> 00:47:34.579
a schedule. But that is why I have them on the

00:47:34.579 --> 00:47:37.559
list. Sure, Baylor's 4 -1 right now. Kansas'

00:47:37.760 --> 00:47:40.760
schedule has been way tougher, I think, overall,

00:47:41.139 --> 00:47:43.739
even in the preseason. So they are battle -tested

00:47:43.739 --> 00:47:46.199
against strong teams. But I think this conference,

00:47:46.480 --> 00:47:48.260
I don't think anybody's going to go unbeaten.

00:47:48.320 --> 00:47:51.000
I think the top team is going to have three or

00:47:51.000 --> 00:47:54.719
four losses. I think you're going to see a roll

00:47:54.719 --> 00:47:58.079
-the -dice results in this conference all season

00:47:58.079 --> 00:48:00.679
long. When I watch the teams from this conference,

00:48:00.780 --> 00:48:04.500
there's just a lack of consistency from night

00:48:04.500 --> 00:48:07.260
to night. You watch the passing breakdown. You

00:48:07.260 --> 00:48:09.300
watch hitters have meltdowns where they're hitting

00:48:09.300 --> 00:48:13.019
negative. You watch errors just happening across

00:48:13.019 --> 00:48:16.260
the board. There's inconsistent volleyball. And

00:48:16.260 --> 00:48:18.599
then there's some great matches where it's all

00:48:18.599 --> 00:48:21.800
just clicking. It'll be who can put a consistent

00:48:21.800 --> 00:48:24.099
performance on the floor for conference play

00:48:24.099 --> 00:48:25.980
that's going to win, in my opinion. I look at

00:48:25.980 --> 00:48:28.949
this, and I agree with you, Adam, in that. If

00:48:28.949 --> 00:48:31.190
you're a fan and you want to go watch some competitive

00:48:31.190 --> 00:48:33.309
volleyball, this may be the conference because

00:48:33.309 --> 00:48:36.690
you could have a great match every time they

00:48:36.690 --> 00:48:39.150
step on the floor. This is the conference that

00:48:39.150 --> 00:48:42.710
I see is the most competitive conference of all

00:48:42.710 --> 00:48:44.750
that will have nobody in the final four and maybe

00:48:44.750 --> 00:48:47.650
nobody in the final eight, but they will be competitive.

00:48:48.269 --> 00:48:50.849
That's another hot take for you guys today. Big

00:48:50.849 --> 00:48:53.889
12, most competitive conference with no one in

00:48:53.889 --> 00:48:58.130
the final four or final eight. Group analysis,

00:48:58.630 --> 00:49:03.829
best conference, strongest conference, ACC, most

00:49:03.829 --> 00:49:07.550
competitive conference top to bottom within their

00:49:07.550 --> 00:49:15.110
own conference, Big 12, with SEC and Big 10 having

00:49:15.110 --> 00:49:18.730
the powerhouses at the very top and then kind

00:49:18.730 --> 00:49:21.630
of diluting down from there. So what conferences

00:49:21.630 --> 00:49:23.570
do we think are going to be represented in the

00:49:23.570 --> 00:49:26.010
Final Four? If we have our crystal ball right

00:49:26.010 --> 00:49:29.710
now, who do we think? Preliminary thoughts, who

00:49:29.710 --> 00:49:32.409
are the Final Four teams? I mean, depending on

00:49:32.409 --> 00:49:35.389
what the rankings go in, I would say my Final

00:49:35.389 --> 00:49:39.610
Four would be Texas, Nebraska, Kentucky, Pitt.

00:49:40.230 --> 00:49:43.250
Not disagreeing with you. I think those are the

00:49:43.250 --> 00:49:45.309
four best teams of the country right now. If

00:49:45.309 --> 00:49:48.190
any one of them is going to drop out, I think...

00:49:48.360 --> 00:49:51.059
Pitt could be the one that drops out. I could

00:49:51.059 --> 00:49:54.340
see if Louisville and Pitt had to play in the

00:49:54.340 --> 00:49:57.760
quarterfinals, that would be a potential matchup

00:49:57.760 --> 00:50:00.500
where Pitt could lose. What about Stanford? You

00:50:00.500 --> 00:50:02.559
were so high on Stanford. I do, but they're young.

00:50:02.699 --> 00:50:04.500
I think they're going to have a really good season.

00:50:04.639 --> 00:50:07.320
But again, I think you have to learn how to win

00:50:07.320 --> 00:50:11.260
in big moments. And so I can see them running

00:50:11.260 --> 00:50:15.230
into a Nebraska or a Texas. in the quarterfinals

00:50:15.230 --> 00:50:17.750
and they're just not they're not there yet another

00:50:17.750 --> 00:50:21.110
team that i think could possibly sneak in depending

00:50:21.110 --> 00:50:23.530
on the matchups and i think that has a lot to

00:50:23.530 --> 00:50:25.530
do with what's going to happen here wisconsin

00:50:25.530 --> 00:50:28.469
could sneak in if they continue and collier continues

00:50:28.469 --> 00:50:31.349
the way she is and i know there's a lot of ifs

00:50:31.349 --> 00:50:33.809
going on right now how do i want to put that

00:50:33.809 --> 00:50:36.130
at the end of the day the teams that are playing

00:50:36.130 --> 00:50:38.690
the best at the end of the season will probably

00:50:38.690 --> 00:50:41.929
find a way similar to what penn state did on

00:50:41.929 --> 00:50:44.349
their run last year sure i'm not sure wisconsin

00:50:44.349 --> 00:50:47.630
is a final four caliber though i'm not sure either

00:50:47.630 --> 00:50:50.469
but you know i think there's teams there like

00:50:50.469 --> 00:50:53.150
pitt that could be upset depending on what's

00:50:53.150 --> 00:50:56.349
going on if babcock happens to have a bad match

00:50:56.349 --> 00:50:59.809
like adam said that's that's huge on them i'm

00:50:59.809 --> 00:51:03.469
nebraska texas for sure yeah my instinct is to

00:51:03.469 --> 00:51:06.530
say kentucky pitt could i see louisville and

00:51:06.530 --> 00:51:09.239
pitt going at it in a quarterfinal match Yes,

00:51:09.300 --> 00:51:11.800
if they can keep getting Cressy the ball. Could

00:51:11.800 --> 00:51:15.239
I see Wisconsin and Kentucky going at it and

00:51:15.239 --> 00:51:17.800
Wisconsin blocking really well and making life

00:51:17.800 --> 00:51:20.380
difficult? I could see that. If we're talking

00:51:20.380 --> 00:51:22.219
about the top eight, I think Wisconsin's there.

00:51:22.380 --> 00:51:25.300
I think that Stanford is there. I think that

00:51:25.300 --> 00:51:28.840
Louisville is there. That last spot. you know,

00:51:28.840 --> 00:51:31.739
very draw -dependent, I would say. I mean, those

00:51:31.739 --> 00:51:34.059
would be the teams that I think are at the top

00:51:34.059 --> 00:51:36.639
right now. Could be a Big 12 team just to spite

00:51:36.639 --> 00:51:39.639
me. Yeah, exactly. The Big 12 is going to sneak

00:51:39.639 --> 00:51:41.639
in and have two teams in the final eight just

00:51:41.639 --> 00:51:44.239
to be like, heh. That's our conference analysis

00:51:44.239 --> 00:51:49.119
going into the second half of NCAA College Volleyball.

00:51:49.219 --> 00:51:51.219
I'm sure there are going to be a lot of opinions

00:51:51.219 --> 00:51:53.960
about what we've said. We want to hear them.

00:51:54.510 --> 00:51:56.789
post them on YouTube, send them in on Instagram.

00:51:57.030 --> 00:51:59.489
We love having the conversations. We love knowing.

00:52:00.190 --> 00:52:02.250
what you guys think about your teams, because

00:52:02.250 --> 00:52:04.570
obviously you're in that day in and day out.

00:52:04.849 --> 00:52:08.030
And again, send us questions. We love talking

00:52:08.030 --> 00:52:10.269
about them. We'll see a few that come up here

00:52:10.269 --> 00:52:13.010
comparing different teams. We will often pick

00:52:13.010 --> 00:52:15.050
matches that we watch for fun based off some

00:52:15.050 --> 00:52:16.710
of the comments so that we can talk about them.

00:52:16.789 --> 00:52:19.510
So if you have something burning that you want

00:52:19.510 --> 00:52:21.630
discussed here, let us know and we'll do our

00:52:21.630 --> 00:52:25.050
best to get to it. Okay, it is time for listener

00:52:25.050 --> 00:52:28.869
questions. Question number one. Would you rather

00:52:28.869 --> 00:52:32.090
have a middle that can lead the blocking system

00:52:32.090 --> 00:52:35.750
very well and have good synergy with the defense

00:52:35.750 --> 00:52:40.429
or a middle that has an Olivia Babcock level

00:52:40.429 --> 00:52:43.889
attack? Olivia Babcock level attack. What is

00:52:43.889 --> 00:52:46.230
your take? This is actually a very interesting

00:52:46.230 --> 00:52:49.489
question. Yeah, I'm thinking about team composition

00:52:49.489 --> 00:52:52.489
and I don't think you generate a ton of points

00:52:52.489 --> 00:52:56.190
in the middle in general. I think if your block...

00:52:56.559 --> 00:52:59.780
has holes in it. The defense becomes harder and

00:52:59.780 --> 00:53:03.059
transition in the women's game is really important.

00:53:03.420 --> 00:53:06.539
There aren't a ton of teams that get lots of

00:53:06.539 --> 00:53:09.280
first ball kills. I think I would go defensive.

00:53:09.500 --> 00:53:12.760
I look at it this way. If you're that good that

00:53:12.760 --> 00:53:15.679
you can dominate offensively, I can teach you

00:53:15.679 --> 00:53:18.440
to block. That's not what the question is, though.

00:53:19.039 --> 00:53:21.239
There's a lot of middles out there that are gripe

00:53:21.239 --> 00:53:23.920
blockers and can't score points. That I don't

00:53:23.920 --> 00:53:25.679
disagree with you with. No, but you have to pick

00:53:25.679 --> 00:53:27.900
one or the other. So my thing is... I'll take

00:53:27.900 --> 00:53:30.079
the offense and I'll teach you the rest. No,

00:53:30.119 --> 00:53:32.179
no, that's not the question. You get one or the

00:53:32.179 --> 00:53:34.920
other. No, no, but okay, so I'm taking the offensive

00:53:34.920 --> 00:53:38.659
one knowing I can teach her to block. I'm not

00:53:38.659 --> 00:53:41.940
saying I'm taking... I'm being answering one.

00:53:42.159 --> 00:53:45.079
I'm taking the great attack. And I'll develop

00:53:45.079 --> 00:53:49.440
the other one. So I have both. So for me, the

00:53:49.440 --> 00:53:52.340
women's game is like pretty fast. If you have

00:53:52.340 --> 00:53:56.519
a powerhouse offensive middle, the one -on -ones

00:53:56.519 --> 00:53:58.659
that your outsides are going to get with the

00:53:58.659 --> 00:54:01.880
speed of the offense, you're going to see a lot

00:54:01.880 --> 00:54:04.980
more first ball kills. So that is why I'm a proponent

00:54:04.980 --> 00:54:08.380
for the offense. But then blocking, you're not

00:54:08.380 --> 00:54:12.710
always... in control. So you can be a great blocker,

00:54:12.710 --> 00:54:15.769
but another team's scheme and system can best

00:54:15.769 --> 00:54:20.329
you. An offensive middle A will score points

00:54:20.329 --> 00:54:22.849
like crazy when they're set, but when they're

00:54:22.849 --> 00:54:26.809
not set, the openings that they're creating for

00:54:26.809 --> 00:54:29.590
everybody else on the court is so good. See,

00:54:29.630 --> 00:54:32.170
I think about it where, yes, you want to own

00:54:32.170 --> 00:54:33.530
the middle of the court and you want to hold

00:54:33.530 --> 00:54:35.769
the block. I can do that with a left side coming

00:54:35.769 --> 00:54:38.769
out of the pipe. I can mitigate that with a left

00:54:38.769 --> 00:54:40.929
side, and I can still own the middle court, and

00:54:40.929 --> 00:54:44.030
my middles are getting touches and slowdowns,

00:54:44.030 --> 00:54:46.010
and I'm cutting off the court that my defenders

00:54:46.010 --> 00:54:48.230
need to play, and I can move my libero in, and

00:54:48.230 --> 00:54:50.590
I'm getting more transition attacks, and I'm

00:54:50.590 --> 00:54:52.969
making life difficult on other hitters. I think

00:54:52.969 --> 00:54:55.750
if you have an elite -level blocking middle,

00:54:55.889 --> 00:54:58.510
it just lets everything else settle into place.

00:54:59.269 --> 00:55:02.030
We'll find the offense on the pins. Okay, we

00:55:02.030 --> 00:55:04.349
have a disagreement. People write in and let

00:55:04.349 --> 00:55:07.670
us know what you think. Yes, we do. Okay, question

00:55:07.670 --> 00:55:11.550
two. I'm curious what you guys believe is the

00:55:11.550 --> 00:55:14.010
reason that players outside of the U .S. struggle

00:55:14.010 --> 00:55:17.590
to assimilate to the NCAA in the same way that

00:55:17.590 --> 00:55:20.550
the college players struggle to assimilate to

00:55:20.550 --> 00:55:24.599
pro play or the international game. So we talk

00:55:24.599 --> 00:55:26.780
a lot about how detrimental the NCAA development

00:55:26.780 --> 00:55:30.239
can be to certain players' pro careers, but why

00:55:30.239 --> 00:55:32.739
is it that players that come from pro leagues

00:55:32.739 --> 00:55:36.079
abroad don't always have a walk in the park in

00:55:36.079 --> 00:55:40.500
the NCAA? So we saw Adriana's struggle. We see

00:55:40.500 --> 00:55:44.840
Marina Markova, who didn't do a ton at Florida.

00:55:45.610 --> 00:55:48.449
crushing it at Vakaf Bank. It's just players

00:55:48.449 --> 00:55:50.389
like that. It's like, how are you playing at

00:55:50.389 --> 00:55:53.329
such a high level internationally or pro in the

00:55:53.329 --> 00:55:56.690
NCAA? You're not dominating. The Nikolovs are

00:55:56.690 --> 00:56:00.309
the exception. Who? The Nikolovs, the brothers.

00:56:00.630 --> 00:56:03.150
I look at this and I think because the athletes

00:56:03.150 --> 00:56:05.809
you're getting from Europe that are coming here,

00:56:06.030 --> 00:56:09.889
they're not the best athletes. The best athletes

00:56:09.889 --> 00:56:13.139
in Europe at 18, 19 years old even. are playing

00:56:13.139 --> 00:56:15.139
in the pro level and they stay there because

00:56:15.139 --> 00:56:17.920
they're earning money so you're getting players

00:56:17.920 --> 00:56:22.519
coming over here that aren't the best players

00:56:22.519 --> 00:56:26.960
and moving into a system that is not a system

00:56:26.960 --> 00:56:30.559
they're used to so that that's part of the reason

00:56:30.559 --> 00:56:32.920
i think it doesn't happen that way and the american

00:56:32.920 --> 00:56:35.840
system i don't think lends itself to going over

00:56:35.840 --> 00:56:37.840
to europe to be a great player because of the

00:56:37.840 --> 00:56:40.559
substitution rules and the way it limits what

00:56:40.559 --> 00:56:43.710
they can do Yeah, but we're seeing Marina Markova,

00:56:43.789 --> 00:56:47.250
who is dominating Champions League and the Turkish

00:56:47.250 --> 00:56:49.929
League with Vakafenk. But when she played for

00:56:49.929 --> 00:56:53.530
Florida, wasn't doing much. Adriano, like, yeah,

00:56:53.570 --> 00:56:55.690
she's not the best of the best. But she was still

00:56:55.690 --> 00:56:58.429
playing like A2 Italy, which is a higher level

00:56:58.429 --> 00:57:00.429
than we're seeing in the NCAA. And it's just

00:57:00.429 --> 00:57:03.789
like she was hitting under 100 up until recently

00:57:03.789 --> 00:57:06.610
on the season. I think a lot of it has to do

00:57:06.610 --> 00:57:10.070
with setting. So think about how many setters

00:57:10.070 --> 00:57:13.369
you have in the NCAA. You're not going to be

00:57:13.369 --> 00:57:16.289
super consistent. You're going to have a big

00:57:16.289 --> 00:57:20.170
variety of where the ball goes, what you're trying

00:57:20.170 --> 00:57:22.210
to do offensively. Whereas if you're playing

00:57:22.210 --> 00:57:26.369
pro, you generally, on the better teams, have

00:57:26.369 --> 00:57:28.869
older setters who understand what they're trying

00:57:28.869 --> 00:57:31.030
to do. It's a position that is a little more

00:57:31.030 --> 00:57:34.010
skilled and a little more developed. We looked

00:57:34.010 --> 00:57:36.809
at and we talked about with Adriano. Nebraska

00:57:36.809 --> 00:57:39.190
wants to run a super fast offense. She's used

00:57:39.190 --> 00:57:41.590
to hitting higher sets, and I think it took Bergen

00:57:41.590 --> 00:57:44.710
-Riley. a little bit of time to find setting

00:57:44.710 --> 00:57:47.469
speed with setting height for her and when to

00:57:47.469 --> 00:57:50.090
use her and those kind of things. And setting

00:57:50.090 --> 00:57:53.070
in libero, I think, are mature positions. You

00:57:53.070 --> 00:57:55.510
need to play them a little bit longer to really

00:57:55.510 --> 00:57:58.289
settle in and understand how to give each hitter

00:57:58.289 --> 00:58:01.369
their own set and how to run that. And so with

00:58:01.369 --> 00:58:04.510
younger, inexperienced setters, I think the transition

00:58:04.510 --> 00:58:06.349
is different because when you're playing for

00:58:06.349 --> 00:58:08.750
Vacath Bank, when you're playing in Italy, those

00:58:08.750 --> 00:58:10.409
setters are putting the ball on a tee for you

00:58:10.409 --> 00:58:11.869
most of the time. You know where the ball is.

00:58:11.820 --> 00:58:14.179
So I think there's an adjustment period there.

00:58:14.300 --> 00:58:17.219
And I also think culturally for some of these

00:58:17.219 --> 00:58:19.820
kids coming over, being in more of a professional

00:58:19.820 --> 00:58:22.000
setting and then having to do school and having

00:58:22.000 --> 00:58:24.539
to do all of these other things. I think it just

00:58:24.539 --> 00:58:27.780
takes a little bit of time. Question three. Why

00:58:27.780 --> 00:58:30.480
do you think the Ivy League conference is so

00:58:30.480 --> 00:58:33.260
uncompetitive? Is it because they don't offer

00:58:33.260 --> 00:58:37.639
athletic scholarships? This person. contributed

00:58:37.639 --> 00:58:40.940
more saying i know club volleyball is very expensive

00:58:40.940 --> 00:58:44.039
the majority of athletes who play club are wealthy

00:58:44.039 --> 00:58:47.639
but the ivy leagues offer financial aid for people

00:58:47.639 --> 00:58:51.460
who maybe can't afford to go there they're gonna

00:58:51.460 --> 00:58:54.340
get an incredible education and be able to be

00:58:54.340 --> 00:58:57.699
set up for a job after like why are the really

00:58:57.699 --> 00:59:02.360
good players not going to the ivy league i think

00:59:02.360 --> 00:59:07.909
part of the problem is that Number one, you have

00:59:07.909 --> 00:59:10.650
to get into the school. That's one of the things.

00:59:11.250 --> 00:59:16.289
That's going to limit who you get. I think most

00:59:16.289 --> 00:59:19.329
players that are playing at a high club level

00:59:19.329 --> 00:59:22.650
want to have an opportunity to go to the NCAA

00:59:22.650 --> 00:59:25.929
tournament and have a chance to potentially do

00:59:25.929 --> 00:59:28.929
well at the NCAA tournament. And most people

00:59:28.929 --> 00:59:31.650
know that if I go to an Ivy League, I might be

00:59:31.650 --> 00:59:34.480
the best player. by a long shot if i'm one of

00:59:34.480 --> 00:59:37.380
the top recruits in the country but i will never

00:59:37.380 --> 00:59:40.960
have a chance to win and i think that has a lot

00:59:40.960 --> 00:59:43.219
to do with it it's like the stanford thing though

00:59:43.219 --> 00:59:45.960
stanford being who they are we could argue that

00:59:45.960 --> 00:59:49.059
but they just not everybody can go to stanford

00:59:49.059 --> 00:59:52.159
because of the history there's a pool of athletes

00:59:52.159 --> 00:59:55.380
available issue but then there's also a priority

00:59:55.380 --> 00:59:58.840
issue the ivy leagues they don't put the same

00:59:58.840 --> 01:00:03.550
value on winning they still want to win don't

01:00:03.550 --> 01:00:06.250
get me wrong but it's not the same as playing

01:00:06.250 --> 01:00:08.409
like the coaches aren't getting fired if they

01:00:08.409 --> 01:00:11.949
have a bad season exactly the expectations in

01:00:11.949 --> 01:00:13.989
those programs just aren't the same as the top

01:00:13.989 --> 01:00:16.789
programs across the country yeah I think like

01:00:16.789 --> 01:00:20.550
you guys were saying the academic standards yes

01:00:20.550 --> 01:00:23.630
a lot of really good athletes are strong academically

01:00:23.630 --> 01:00:28.530
but not necessarily the standard that is expected

01:00:28.530 --> 01:00:33.309
for an Ivy League education. So I think, as you

01:00:33.309 --> 01:00:35.750
were saying, the pool of athletes that are even

01:00:35.750 --> 01:00:41.010
available to get in and be admitted to an Ivy

01:00:41.010 --> 01:00:45.010
League school is very small. What current NCAA

01:00:45.010 --> 01:00:49.550
outside hitters do you think have the potential

01:00:49.550 --> 01:00:53.230
for success internationally and for an international

01:00:53.230 --> 01:00:57.230
club career? This person said they think Harper

01:00:57.230 --> 01:01:00.309
Murray, Ilya Rubin, and Tori Stafford are the

01:01:00.309 --> 01:01:04.510
only ones that come to mind. Really? Wow. I might

01:01:04.510 --> 01:01:06.969
not make any friends, but I don't think Harper

01:01:06.969 --> 01:01:09.670
Murray should be on the list. I don't think her

01:01:09.670 --> 01:01:12.710
style of play and her offensive ability lends

01:01:12.710 --> 01:01:17.070
itself to the level we're looking at for international

01:01:17.070 --> 01:01:20.210
play and top pro career. Yeah, are we talking

01:01:20.210 --> 01:01:25.079
top six teams in Italy, national team? Or just

01:01:25.079 --> 01:01:27.940
playing pro somewhere? No, we're talking like

01:01:27.940 --> 01:01:31.840
national team career and top international club

01:01:31.840 --> 01:01:34.980
career. Can I dial this back a bit? I remember

01:01:34.980 --> 01:01:37.679
back in August, I thought Murray against Kentucky

01:01:37.679 --> 01:01:39.860
played the best game I've seen her play at Kentucky.

01:01:40.179 --> 01:01:42.400
That she would have a chance if she continued

01:01:42.400 --> 01:01:45.380
that to be a player of the year. I haven't seen

01:01:45.380 --> 01:01:48.099
that continue. It's got me concerned going forward.

01:01:48.199 --> 01:01:51.179
So I agree with you, Sarah. If her style of play,

01:01:51.380 --> 01:01:53.739
especially attacking against a double block,

01:01:53.820 --> 01:01:57.900
which you'll see a huge amount when you go to

01:01:57.900 --> 01:02:01.059
the pro level in Europe, if you can't start to

01:02:01.059 --> 01:02:03.340
score against that double block and find ways

01:02:03.340 --> 01:02:06.260
to score, you're going to struggle. And I think

01:02:06.260 --> 01:02:10.679
Harper -Murray has now gone back and the double

01:02:10.679 --> 01:02:14.119
block still creates problems. And it only gets

01:02:14.119 --> 01:02:17.039
worse when you go against the European block,

01:02:17.139 --> 01:02:20.199
if you play at the top levels, facing the defenses

01:02:20.199 --> 01:02:23.179
you face behind that block. I'm not sold, but

01:02:23.179 --> 01:02:26.699
I said early, a few minutes ago, Babcock, she's

01:02:26.699 --> 01:02:29.139
got the goods. I would say her, yes, but like

01:02:29.139 --> 01:02:33.000
outsides, not opposites. And honestly, I am having

01:02:33.000 --> 01:02:35.760
a hard time thinking of an outside. I like Tori

01:02:35.760 --> 01:02:37.960
Stafford a lot. I don't know if I could even

01:02:37.960 --> 01:02:41.019
put Ilya Rubin in there. I'm having a hard time

01:02:41.019 --> 01:02:43.280
thinking of outsides right now. I think there

01:02:43.280 --> 01:02:50.099
are very few P1 outsides in NCAA right now. Honestly,

01:02:50.360 --> 01:02:54.460
an Eva Hudson? No, I don't think so. I don't

01:02:54.460 --> 01:02:57.219
think top. If you had to pick one, two, and three

01:02:57.219 --> 01:03:00.119
outsides who have the best chance, do I think

01:03:00.119 --> 01:03:02.599
she's going to go play for Vacath Bank? No. But

01:03:02.599 --> 01:03:06.099
if we're talking about P1 outside hitters who

01:03:06.099 --> 01:03:08.719
have the best chance out of the crop of outsides

01:03:08.719 --> 01:03:10.960
right now, I think Eva Hudson's on the list.

01:03:11.059 --> 01:03:14.059
I think Brooklyn DeLay could potentially be on

01:03:14.059 --> 01:03:16.559
that list. Well, if you're doing that, then yeah,

01:03:16.639 --> 01:03:19.119
Tori Stafford's in the conversation. I think

01:03:19.119 --> 01:03:22.019
her offensive prowess is better than Harper Murray's.

01:03:22.079 --> 01:03:26.539
If we look at the outsides who have had strong

01:03:26.539 --> 01:03:29.559
international careers, we're talking like a Jordan

01:03:29.559 --> 01:03:32.840
Larson. I'm not seeing any Jordan Larsons floating

01:03:32.840 --> 01:03:36.400
around the NCAA right now. We're talking like...

01:03:36.880 --> 01:03:40.340
a Kim Hill which yes she surprised a lot of people

01:03:40.340 --> 01:03:43.360
coming out of Pepperdine didn't have like a great

01:03:43.360 --> 01:03:47.000
or an illustrious college career well I mean

01:03:47.000 --> 01:03:49.480
case in point look at Merzik's not playing anywhere

01:03:49.480 --> 01:03:52.380
and she was better than all of them well Sarah

01:03:52.380 --> 01:03:54.920
Franklin went to Italy so if we're talking Sarah

01:03:54.920 --> 01:03:57.280
Franklin like maybe Mimi Collier's in the conversation

01:03:57.280 --> 01:04:01.599
I don't know yeah I don't think there's any shoe

01:04:01.599 --> 01:04:04.719
-ins But I think there's a couple athletes who've

01:04:04.719 --> 01:04:07.280
given a little bit more time and a little bit

01:04:07.280 --> 01:04:08.940
more development. The thing is, you need a more

01:04:08.940 --> 01:04:11.860
rounded game. You need a well -rounded game.

01:04:11.960 --> 01:04:14.500
And when I look at the crop of athletes in the

01:04:14.500 --> 01:04:18.420
NCAA right now playing outside, I would say maybe

01:04:18.420 --> 01:04:21.719
the only one that I can see have an international

01:04:21.719 --> 01:04:24.820
career is maybe Torrey Stafford. I think Harper

01:04:24.820 --> 01:04:28.400
Murray would be... a passing sub like a third

01:04:28.400 --> 01:04:30.559
left side on a good team I think she could fit

01:04:30.559 --> 01:04:32.900
into that role I don't think she has the ability

01:04:32.900 --> 01:04:35.659
to score consistently at that level I do like

01:04:35.659 --> 01:04:37.639
Collier I have to admit once I've watched her

01:04:37.639 --> 01:04:40.539
what what I've seen of her so far this year I

01:04:40.539 --> 01:04:43.360
do like Collier I think Collier's got some game

01:04:43.360 --> 01:04:47.360
on her and I like that she she can do she can

01:04:47.360 --> 01:04:50.420
do a lot of good things Stafford I'm higher on

01:04:50.420 --> 01:04:53.179
Collier than I am on Stafford right now to be

01:04:53.179 --> 01:04:58.010
honest with you I do like Eva Hudson. Maybe a

01:04:58.010 --> 01:05:00.730
little outside, but she's got game. She's got

01:05:00.730 --> 01:05:02.809
a lot of game. But is she going to be a national

01:05:02.809 --> 01:05:06.989
team outside? Is she going to go play for a top

01:05:06.989 --> 01:05:10.050
Turkish team? I think she'd be a B team, a USB

01:05:10.050 --> 01:05:14.409
team left side. Let's remember, you've got to

01:05:14.409 --> 01:05:17.829
be able to pass and play defense too. Yeah. So

01:05:17.829 --> 01:05:21.090
there's that other component being a left side.

01:05:21.170 --> 01:05:25.280
At the pro level. Nobody's hiding you. No. You

01:05:25.280 --> 01:05:29.480
either can or you can't. And it's a full game

01:05:29.480 --> 01:05:31.719
you've got to be able to play. And if you can't

01:05:31.719 --> 01:05:34.099
play it, you don't play. But that's the thing.

01:05:34.460 --> 01:05:38.579
Scoring in the NCAA, which people who are high

01:05:38.579 --> 01:05:41.340
on Harper -Murray, so upset that I was like,

01:05:41.340 --> 01:05:44.179
absolutely not. Scoring at the NCAA is not the

01:05:44.179 --> 01:05:47.559
same as scoring internationally or for a top

01:05:47.559 --> 01:05:51.239
pro team. And I... As you said, she doesn't score

01:05:51.239 --> 01:05:53.579
well against a double block. That doesn't bode

01:05:53.579 --> 01:05:58.119
well for a top pro career. So I don't know. It's

01:05:58.119 --> 01:06:00.159
hard. There's so many parts of the game that

01:06:00.159 --> 01:06:02.360
have to be considered. I loved this question.

01:06:02.659 --> 01:06:05.300
I think people look at this when we talk about

01:06:05.300 --> 01:06:08.840
Harper -Murray maybe being antsy Nebraska and

01:06:08.840 --> 01:06:10.420
everything like that, but that's not the case

01:06:10.420 --> 01:06:13.219
at all. The question was about a player, and

01:06:13.219 --> 01:06:15.340
this has nothing to do with a team. It just has

01:06:15.340 --> 01:06:17.570
to do... with the ability of the player to go

01:06:17.570 --> 01:06:22.170
to the next level and be a competitive player

01:06:22.170 --> 01:06:25.530
at that level. Simple as that. Some people are

01:06:25.530 --> 01:06:27.570
great college athletes, and that's it. Christian

01:06:27.570 --> 01:06:31.210
Leitner. Everybody. Do you remember Duke basketball?

01:06:31.630 --> 01:06:33.269
Everyone thought Christian Leitner was going

01:06:33.269 --> 01:06:36.550
to be everything in the NCAA. He was not. Okay,

01:06:36.570 --> 01:06:38.929
hold on a second. Who was the left side for Nebraska

01:06:38.929 --> 01:06:42.610
that never made it? Michaela Feke. Yes. I want

01:06:42.610 --> 01:06:46.099
to talk case in point. Yeah, Michaela Feke. That

01:06:46.099 --> 01:06:48.460
is a great example. She was an outstanding college

01:06:48.460 --> 01:06:51.219
player and lasted maybe one year pro. It's a

01:06:51.219 --> 01:06:54.199
different game. Yeah. We've got two questions

01:06:54.199 --> 01:06:57.559
left for all our Nebraska, Texas fans. This is

01:06:57.559 --> 01:07:00.480
for you. Many people picked Texas this week as

01:07:00.480 --> 01:07:02.840
the number one team over Nebraska, in large part

01:07:02.840 --> 01:07:05.500
because Texas has gotten better over the preseason,

01:07:05.579 --> 01:07:08.320
whereas Nebraska has remained consistent and

01:07:08.320 --> 01:07:10.199
even had to deal with some lineup adjustments

01:07:10.199 --> 01:07:13.119
and kinks, getting the libero, getting their

01:07:13.119 --> 01:07:16.860
middles more involved. What are your takes? I

01:07:16.860 --> 01:07:20.699
don't get that. Nebraska went in number one,

01:07:20.820 --> 01:07:24.099
have had some tough matches, and come through

01:07:24.099 --> 01:07:28.880
and continue to be number one. I know that people

01:07:28.880 --> 01:07:30.940
will look at a situation, because I was thinking

01:07:30.940 --> 01:07:33.860
about this before this. If you remember when

01:07:33.860 --> 01:07:35.699
they played Michigan, Michigan lost the first

01:07:35.699 --> 01:07:39.750
game 25 -22. And then Nebraska steamrolled them

01:07:39.750 --> 01:07:41.489
and people are looking at that. Well, you know,

01:07:41.530 --> 01:07:43.869
Michigan pushed them. Well, you have to understand

01:07:43.869 --> 01:07:47.849
every team that walks, that plays Nebraska comes

01:07:47.849 --> 01:07:50.769
out sky high with that adrenaline flowing. And

01:07:50.769 --> 01:07:54.389
I've seen this so many times that you come out

01:07:54.389 --> 01:07:57.389
and you're going to take down the giant. And

01:07:57.389 --> 01:07:59.309
yes, you're pushing them, pushing them, pushing

01:07:59.309 --> 01:08:02.730
them. And then you have that dreaded break between

01:08:02.730 --> 01:08:06.280
game one and two. when everything comes back

01:08:06.280 --> 01:08:08.340
to earth and all of a sudden they beat the snot

01:08:08.340 --> 01:08:11.079
out of you. No, Nebraska's number one right now

01:08:11.079 --> 01:08:14.840
until somebody can beat them. Period. I mean,

01:08:14.840 --> 01:08:16.600
I have two thoughts on that question. One is

01:08:16.600 --> 01:08:18.159
you can't fault a team for being consistent.

01:08:18.359 --> 01:08:20.659
That's not their fault that they don't have a

01:08:20.659 --> 01:08:22.460
ton of room. And the fact that they maintained

01:08:22.460 --> 01:08:24.939
consistency while tweaking things, like that

01:08:24.939 --> 01:08:27.539
says a lot. Right. But I do think they are getting

01:08:27.539 --> 01:08:29.989
better. Look at their right side. She's finding

01:08:29.989 --> 01:08:31.829
a rhythm. They're making adjustments to their

01:08:31.829 --> 01:08:35.670
game. Rebecca Alec is getting better. They have

01:08:35.670 --> 01:08:38.090
a new coach. They're getting new systems in place.

01:08:38.189 --> 01:08:40.289
They're solidifying things. They're making changes.

01:08:40.409 --> 01:08:42.489
They're getting better. You don't see the changes

01:08:42.489 --> 01:08:46.829
as blatantly because they start from such a high

01:08:46.829 --> 01:08:50.189
level. But I don't think you can fault somebody

01:08:50.189 --> 01:08:56.029
for being consistent. Texas also has several

01:08:56.029 --> 01:09:00.079
very young players. on their roster getting game

01:09:00.079 --> 01:09:02.800
time. Of course you're going to see improvement.

01:09:03.119 --> 01:09:06.039
You have jumped levels. These are great athletes,

01:09:06.199 --> 01:09:08.779
but you have to learn the grind of the NCAA.

01:09:08.840 --> 01:09:11.960
You have to learn how to take care of your body

01:09:11.960 --> 01:09:14.579
and do those things and mentally prepare. And

01:09:14.579 --> 01:09:17.060
how do you respond for bad games? Of course you're

01:09:17.060 --> 01:09:18.880
going to see those things. And it's expected

01:09:18.880 --> 01:09:22.779
with young athletes. And because of the age of

01:09:22.779 --> 01:09:26.159
the roster of Texas, that's not surprising in

01:09:26.159 --> 01:09:30.039
the least. Now, if nebraska falters and loses

01:09:30.039 --> 01:09:32.479
a game texas deserves to be number one if they

01:09:32.479 --> 01:09:37.000
don't but until nebraska shows otherwise i think

01:09:37.000 --> 01:09:38.720
they deserve to stay in that ranking because

01:09:38.720 --> 01:09:41.800
coming into the season texas had a bunch of unknowns

01:09:41.800 --> 01:09:45.279
on their roster they've proven those things to

01:09:45.279 --> 01:09:49.340
be non -issues but without a head -to -head i

01:09:49.340 --> 01:09:52.739
don't think the ranking changes exactly i agree

01:09:52.739 --> 01:09:57.039
no notes I agree with both comments. Our last

01:09:57.039 --> 01:10:01.159
question of the day. Position by position, who

01:10:01.159 --> 01:10:05.279
wins the head -to -head, Nebraska or Texas? So,

01:10:05.619 --> 01:10:08.140
yeah, position by position, let's go through

01:10:08.140 --> 01:10:10.659
that. And then part two of that question is,

01:10:10.760 --> 01:10:13.579
if the teams were to play today, who wins? Where

01:10:13.579 --> 01:10:16.439
are they playing? Neutral location. I'm still

01:10:16.439 --> 01:10:19.000
going with Nebraska. I just find that they're

01:10:19.000 --> 01:10:22.149
the most rounded team. And I think what sets

01:10:22.149 --> 01:10:24.409
them apart from every other team in the country

01:10:24.409 --> 01:10:29.489
that I've seen play so far is they dig everything.

01:10:30.350 --> 01:10:34.449
Everything. I'm a very, very strong believer

01:10:34.449 --> 01:10:38.789
that if you can play defense, you always give

01:10:38.789 --> 01:10:41.250
your team a chance to win. Defense wins championships,

01:10:41.470 --> 01:10:43.590
baby. And yet you picked the offensive middle

01:10:43.590 --> 01:10:46.569
for the question. Because I've got somebody back

01:10:46.569 --> 01:10:48.640
there digging the ball. Okay, so we're looking

01:10:48.640 --> 01:10:50.079
head -to -head. Yeah, let's go head -to -head

01:10:50.079 --> 01:10:52.819
because I find this fascinating. Nebraska wins

01:10:52.819 --> 01:10:54.819
the setting battle. Everyone knows how I feel

01:10:54.819 --> 01:10:58.460
about Ellis Wendell. I agree. I think Nebraska

01:10:58.460 --> 01:11:02.220
dominates the middle. I agree. Both positions.

01:11:02.939 --> 01:11:05.140
I agree. From a blocking and attacking standpoint.

01:11:06.340 --> 01:11:10.779
100%. Right side. Kari Spears versus Adriano.

01:11:11.279 --> 01:11:15.380
Right now, I would give the edge to the Texas

01:11:15.380 --> 01:11:19.289
right side. Yeah. the edge but I agree with Adam

01:11:19.289 --> 01:11:22.149
I see Adriano improving every time I see them

01:11:22.149 --> 01:11:24.850
play she's gotten better but the I would give

01:11:24.850 --> 01:11:27.409
the edge to Texas right side they're both freshmen

01:11:27.409 --> 01:11:30.449
and I would give her the edge right now I think

01:11:30.449 --> 01:11:33.850
that the Texas right side has done has had a

01:11:33.850 --> 01:11:36.630
better season the one thing I am curious about

01:11:37.170 --> 01:11:39.909
Adriano having played pro, has she learned to

01:11:39.909 --> 01:11:42.489
deal with pressure a little bit better than Spears

01:11:42.489 --> 01:11:45.050
has down the road? I've loved Spears. I think

01:11:45.050 --> 01:11:48.069
she's done a fantastic job. That is the one question

01:11:48.069 --> 01:11:51.529
mark in my mind of I want to see Spears in some

01:11:51.529 --> 01:11:55.170
of those pressure matches. And then does Adriano's

01:11:55.170 --> 01:11:58.409
experience in that environment help her in that

01:11:58.409 --> 01:12:01.050
situation as we get closer to tournament play?

01:12:01.170 --> 01:12:03.710
But for now, I give the edge to Spears as well.

01:12:04.090 --> 01:12:06.890
Left sides. We've got Tori Stafford and Vanderwall

01:12:06.890 --> 01:12:09.630
for Texas and then Harper Murray and a combination

01:12:09.630 --> 01:12:14.529
of Landfair and Sigler for Nebraska. I actually

01:12:14.529 --> 01:12:17.390
really like Sigler. I think she's done a really

01:12:17.390 --> 01:12:19.890
good job coming in in the role that she's been

01:12:19.890 --> 01:12:23.529
given in terms of playing back row. I think overall

01:12:23.529 --> 01:12:28.210
I give the edge to Texas. I really like Vanderwall.

01:12:28.779 --> 01:12:32.119
I think Vanderwall beats out Landfair, and honestly,

01:12:32.220 --> 01:12:34.479
I think Stafford beats out Harper -Murray. I

01:12:34.479 --> 01:12:38.079
agree. I think they're better offensively. I

01:12:38.079 --> 01:12:42.020
think they're more dynamic as a pair. You give

01:12:42.020 --> 01:12:45.960
the team passing to Nebraska, but that's not

01:12:45.960 --> 01:12:49.720
just on the left sides. So that's kind of the

01:12:49.720 --> 01:12:52.779
toss -up. But I think from a physical and offensive

01:12:52.779 --> 01:12:57.050
standpoint, I give the nod to Texas. So at the

01:12:57.050 --> 01:12:59.470
end of the day, I think what determines what

01:12:59.470 --> 01:13:03.329
happens at the end here is the defense. Well,

01:13:03.350 --> 01:13:07.149
because we see setter middles better for Nebraska.

01:13:07.710 --> 01:13:12.270
Outsides better for Texas. Liberos, honestly,

01:13:12.430 --> 01:13:15.109
I think the Nebraska Liberos are better. I think

01:13:15.109 --> 01:13:18.409
Mouch is a better passer. Choboy is a better

01:13:18.409 --> 01:13:23.430
defender as a combo. But I think having the setter

01:13:23.430 --> 01:13:26.890
middle connection better. with the other ones

01:13:26.890 --> 01:13:30.529
close. It just opens things up, and the Nebraska

01:13:30.529 --> 01:13:32.710
defensive system kind of pushes them over the

01:13:32.710 --> 01:13:37.890
edge. I think Nebraska's pass and serve give

01:13:37.890 --> 01:13:40.550
them the edge in a match. I think there's a little

01:13:40.550 --> 01:13:44.109
bit of inexperience and weaknesses on the passing

01:13:44.109 --> 01:13:47.609
side that could be exploited in Texas. I think

01:13:47.609 --> 01:13:50.130
that Nebraska will find a way to do that. That

01:13:50.130 --> 01:13:51.649
would be the difference for me. You know, even

01:13:51.649 --> 01:13:54.270
though we've laid out our arguments here, People

01:13:54.270 --> 01:13:56.329
are going to say we're just Nebraska homers,

01:13:56.329 --> 01:13:59.430
and that's why we picked them. Listen, if Texas

01:13:59.430 --> 01:14:02.449
comes out and their three outside hitters all

01:14:02.449 --> 01:14:05.970
have games, they will beat Nebraska. But I think

01:14:05.970 --> 01:14:09.609
Nebraska edges them six to four. They played

01:14:09.609 --> 01:14:13.470
10 times this year. With some experience, I think

01:14:13.470 --> 01:14:15.909
that those numbers change. We may get our wish

01:14:15.909 --> 01:14:18.710
in the NCAA final, hopefully, because that would

01:14:18.710 --> 01:14:20.689
be a hell of a match. But last time that happened,

01:14:20.750 --> 01:14:22.229
we thought it was going to be a hell of a match.

01:14:23.239 --> 01:14:26.439
It was not. It was a destruction. Oof, that was

01:14:26.439 --> 01:14:29.680
bad. But I really liked the questions this week.

01:14:30.020 --> 01:14:33.439
Outstanding. Really good. Keep them coming. We

01:14:33.439 --> 01:14:35.840
know you guys have a lot that you're asking,

01:14:35.939 --> 01:14:38.319
that you're thinking about. So be sure to reach

01:14:38.319 --> 01:14:41.439
out to us. But I really enjoyed them this week.

01:14:41.520 --> 01:14:44.180
Thanks. Thanks a lot for having me. I really

01:14:44.180 --> 01:14:47.119
have a lot of fun when I do this. And anytime

01:14:47.119 --> 01:14:49.239
you want me to be a guest again, just call on

01:14:49.239 --> 01:14:53.399
me and I'll be there. Let the people. Do the

01:14:53.399 --> 01:14:56.119
decision -making. Let us know in the comments.

01:14:56.979 --> 01:14:59.520
We know that you wanted Paul to come back, so

01:14:59.520 --> 01:15:02.500
we obeyed your wishes. You want him to come back

01:15:02.500 --> 01:15:04.760
for another one maybe later in the NCAA season

01:15:04.760 --> 01:15:08.579
to see how our predictions ended up? I enjoy

01:15:08.579 --> 01:15:10.939
having you. It's always a lot of fun. Thanks,

01:15:10.979 --> 01:15:13.840
Paul. Thanks, guys. Well, that was quite the

01:15:13.840 --> 01:15:16.680
episode. We appreciate Paul coming out and giving

01:15:16.680 --> 01:15:19.779
his opinion. I know that he's an avid NCAA volleyball

01:15:19.779 --> 01:15:21.779
follower and always has a lot of opinions, so

01:15:21.779 --> 01:15:24.119
always great to have him out here, and we will

01:15:24.119 --> 01:15:26.979
again. If we look forward to this week, there

01:15:26.979 --> 01:15:29.720
are some very good matches coming up that we

01:15:29.720 --> 01:15:31.579
think you guys should pay attention to. So on

01:15:31.579 --> 01:15:34.760
our radar for the week, Wednesday at 7 p .m.

01:15:34.760 --> 01:15:39.579
Eastern, Kentucky versus Texas A &M. And this

01:15:39.579 --> 01:15:41.680
could really play out for the standings in the

01:15:41.680 --> 01:15:44.039
conference. Just like we were discussing. Stay

01:15:44.039 --> 01:15:47.430
tuned for that one. Wednesday also at 10 p .m.

01:15:47.430 --> 01:15:50.149
Eastern, we have Arizona State versus Baylor

01:15:50.149 --> 01:15:52.689
in the Roll the Dice Conference where anybody

01:15:52.689 --> 01:15:54.970
can win on any given night. So pay attention

01:15:54.970 --> 01:15:56.850
to that one. We'll see if Baylor can right the

01:15:56.850 --> 01:15:58.550
ship because they had a couple bad losses this

01:15:58.550 --> 01:16:01.729
week. Friday at 7 p .m. Eastern, we have Pitt

01:16:01.729 --> 01:16:05.689
versus Miami, the undefeated battle in the conference.

01:16:06.170 --> 01:16:09.569
So we will see if Miami can keep it rolling or

01:16:09.569 --> 01:16:12.109
if Babcock will show up and put an end to the

01:16:12.109 --> 01:16:15.329
Miami rain in conference play. And then finally,

01:16:15.430 --> 01:16:19.229
Sunday at 1 p .m., we have Nebraska versus Purdue.

01:16:19.949 --> 01:16:21.829
Now, Purdue has been rolling. They've been beating

01:16:21.829 --> 01:16:23.729
some teams. I don't think they're going to beat

01:16:23.729 --> 01:16:26.449
Nebraska, but I'm curious to see. This is a character

01:16:26.449 --> 01:16:29.050
match for me. Let's see what they're made of.

01:16:29.069 --> 01:16:31.729
Let's see how their hitters come out and play

01:16:31.729 --> 01:16:34.069
against such a great defense. And so I think

01:16:34.069 --> 01:16:36.029
that one's going to be worthwhile to pay attention

01:16:36.029 --> 01:16:39.470
to. That concludes this week's episode of Volley

01:16:39.470 --> 01:16:41.289
Talk. There's always something shaking in the

01:16:41.289 --> 01:16:43.270
volleyball world, and we hope you enjoyed this

01:16:43.270 --> 01:16:45.869
little fix. Be sure to follow the show so you

01:16:45.869 --> 01:16:47.869
don't miss any updates, and we'd be so grateful

01:16:47.869 --> 01:16:50.970
if you'd leave us a five -star review. You can

01:16:50.970 --> 01:16:53.510
also find us on Instagram at volleytalk underscore

01:16:53.510 --> 01:16:56.550
podcast. If you have a topic you'd like us to

01:16:56.550 --> 01:16:59.310
discuss, reach out to us on Instagram or at info

01:16:59.310 --> 01:17:02.630
at sarahpavin .com. Thanks so much for joining

01:17:02.630 --> 01:17:08.619
us, and we'll be back next week. you