http://www.avca.org/collegiate/dipoll/dipoll10-30-06.asp

I'm glad to see my Sooners move up 3 spots to #17..BOOMER SOONER!!

14th-ranked Hawaii got some revenge last night, defeating 20th-ranked New Mexico State in 4 games in a WAC match played in Honolulu. The match drew a crowd of 8,611, the second largest crowd in the NCAA this year.

New Mexico State snapped Hawaii's 114-match WAC winning streak last month in Las Cruces. The Wahine are now 13-1 WAC and 21-5 overall, while NMSU fell to 12-2 WAC and 29-2 overall.

I'm so glad Hawaii is getting it back. GO WAHINE!

Oregon gets its first NCAA bid in 17 years! Jim Moore has done an incredible job resurrecting the Ducks in the highly competitive Pac-10. He was honored as Pac-10 coach of the year. They play one of my other favorite teams, 12th seeded Hawai'i on Friday in Long Beach.

Which of the top four seeds is likely not to make it to Omaha?

#1 Nebraska has to play in Florida
#2 Stanford in Texas
#3 Penn State in Washington and
#4 UCLA in Hawaii (well as long as MDG's Ducks don't knock off Hawaii first!)

I'll vote for Stanford -- I think Texas can beat them at home

OK, I'm new to the world of women's college volleyball and new to Austin. I've fallen in love with the lady Longhorns, especially Destinee Hooker! And I don't really know anything else about any other team.

I know Texas is ranked #7, but how good are "our" chances to win the whole thing?

I'm always amazed at how women's NCAA tournaments are seeded so differently than men's. It's like women's NCAA committees (regardless of sport, whether it be volleyball, softball, basketball, etc.) take very little time in really examining the brackets they're creating. There are always huge disparities and it creates a lot of unfair seeding, much moreso than men's brackets in my opinion.

Texas, for example, faces a sub-regional with Alabama, Stephen F. Austin and Prairie View, none of whom have been ranked in the Top 25 or received votes this season.

Meanwhile, another sub-regional matches 3rd-ranked Washington, 19th-ranked New Mexico State, Colorado (the only team to defeat #1-ranked Nebraska this season) and Colorado State, the Mountain West tournament champion. Colorado and Colorado State received enough votes this week to rank 29th and 34th in the polls. And this sub-regional will take place in Boulder. So the NCAA sends two ranked teams to play at Colorado? That's harsh when only one can advance to the Sweet 16.

Another ridiculously tough sub-regional is at UCLA, where the 4th-ranked Bruins will have to defeat 11th-ranked Utah just in order to advance to the Sweet 16.

Conversely, 9th-ranked Minnesota gets a sub-regional against Albany, Siena and St. John's, three unranked teams who have not received any votes in the polls all season.

Stanford routinely comes alive late in the season. I think the Texas program has improved, but Stanford should get by them. If I had to pick a top seed that won't make it to the final four, I'd say Penn State has a tough assignment in Washington. Penn State's second half of the season saw some hiccups. Washington has a great shot at home.

How about a possible second round match between my Wisconsin Badgers and Wisconsin Milwaukee? Should they meet, attendance should be crazy. Iowa state could spoil the fun though.

It's hard to root against a player named Destinee Hooker, but I'd really love to see the Badgers get a chance to take on Stanford. That's my heart talking, though. Texas will be tough for the Badgers, especially in Texas. If they met in Madison, Wisconsin, I wouldn't sound so crazy.

ps> yep, what is it with seeding for women's NCAA tourneys? Last year's brackets for basketball were ridiculous. ask Pat Summit.

Curt, how dare you! You would love Destinee. Look at her legs!

The NCAA has made no secret of the fact that volleyball regionals are very much that -- regional. For example, last year Washington was the #3 seed, and was still sent to Ft. Collins to play their first two rounds because both CU and CSU made the tournament. This year they're #6, and guess what? They're off to Boulder, again to play CU and CSU.

Reality is that if you're a seeded team and there are teams within your geographic proximity, they'll let you stay at home. Was true with Florida last year, who were allowed to stay at home because Florida A&M and Florida Atlantic also made the tournament. However, Minnesota's being forced to travel because of the three other teams being from NY (and before you're too critical of the other three teams with them, remember that St. John's is 30-4 and won the regular season Big East title).

And before you kill the messenger, I'll state it -- shouldn't be necessary, but I'll say it anyway -- I'm not saying this method is good. I'm not saying it's bad. I'm saying it is. Fair, unfair, or whatever, it is.

WWCD, I know about Miss Hooker and that she is also a high jumper. I just love my Badgers. It's like when I root for Ai Sugiyama before a match she has no business winning. I can't help it. The Badgers have a bit of a shot, but Stanford is too good this time of year, every year.

If Texas were in just about any other regional, I'd probably be pulling for them. But, based on Spartan's explanation, that's not likely to ever be the case.

This is the only sport that has really warmed me up to the Pac-10. Geez, the women's volleyball programs in this conference are crazy good. Otherwise, I'm still a Big 10 kid.

This NCAA tourney starts this week and I'm very excited. Any final four predictions?? It wouldn't suprise me if 3 Pac-10 schools made it lol..

I'll say Nebraska, UCLA, Stanford and Washington. So yeah, 3 Pac-10 teams!

Brackets


GO DUCKS!!!

Replace Nebraska with Florida (their regional is in Gainesville) and I agree....well, not so much with the Go Ducks thing, but Florida, UCLA, Stanford, and Washington.

Any sleepers? Texas beat Washington early on and i know Wisconsin is pretty good too.

San Diego could have qualified as a sleeper if they had drawn a top seed other than Nebraska. I hope they at least give Nebraska a fight. If I had to pick a sleeper, I'd pick Hawaii. Hasn't been their best season, but their reginonal is at home and S. Cal is more vulnerable than Nebraska.

I'm with the Duck on the final four. I think Stanford will beat Washington and UCLA will top Nebraska. Maybe it's not very gutsy to pick the 1 & 2 seeds, but it just seems like that's how the cards will fall.

But I will pick Stanford over Nebraska. Woah... crazy.

I was kind of surprised at the ease Hawaii had in beating the Ducks tonight. It was a blowout 30-17, 30-17, 30-18. And Nebraska had a lot more trouble than it should have had against American University, being forced to 4 games.

Washington is the first team to advance to the Sweet 16, winning on Colorado's home floor in a very tight 4-game match.

I got to see the Wisconsin - Iowa State match on a webcast. Their serves were quite good, but the blocking was not up to par. They now take on Texas (in Texas) -- they lost to them early in the season. Don't know if they've improved enuf to knock 'em off now.

I guess the only surprise coming out of this weekend was San Diego knocking off Duke by 3-2.

The other close score I see are Stanford beating Missouri by 3-2.

Most teams moved on from the big conferences:

Five teams in from both the Big Ten and the Pac Ten (PSU, PU, d'OSU, Minnesota, Wisconsin / Washington, Cal, Stanford, ucla and USC)

Three from the Big XII: Nebraska, Texas, Oklahoma

Then Hawaii, Florida and San Diego

So we have:

In Gainesville
San Diego vs. Nebraska
Florida vs. Minnesota

In Honolulu
USC vs. Hawaii
Oklahoma vs. ucla

In Seattle
Penn State vs. Purdue
Ohio State vs. Washington

In Austin
Wisconsin vs. Texas
California vs. Stanford

CAL vs Stanford! Those are true rivals and neither wants to lose to the other. Can't wait to see who advances out of the Sweet 16 games to Elite 8 and then Final Four.

Those are some great matchups. I can't believe Cal and Stanford are meeting in the Sweet 16. I'm sure that was a random thing.

I would love to see the USC-Hawaii match in Honolulu. That's going to be the best environment in the entire tourney, including the Final Four. They're expecting a crowd of possibly 10,000 for that one.

USC--Hawai'i is going ot be awesome. Hawai'i fans are rabid for Wahine volleyball. I wish they were meeting further down the road.

Cal-Stanford? Wow. Talk about taking the rivalry to the next level. That should be a good one.

Penn State/Purdue is another we meet yet again match.

Let's see. I pick Nebraska, Florida wins at home, Hawai'i wins at home, UCLA, PSU, U-Dub, Texas wins at home and Stanford to advance to the Elite Eight.

thank god for the www -- with no regular TV for the next round (except probably in Hawaii where I understand the games were broadcast on the tube in past years) -- if you do a little digging, you might be able to watch a bunch of these matches.

For example, Texas vs. Wisconsin -- and the subsequent regional championship (probably Texas vs Stanford) -- are being webcast.

Check the individual university's athletic websites. I was able to watch both of Florida's matches, as well as Wisconsin-Iowa State, through webcasts offered on their websites.

Just get back from Stanford v. Cal and Texas v. Wisconsin. Two DOMINATING performances, although Cal definitely had some chances. Stanford really stepped up when they needed to.

And Texas played as well as they have all season. A real team effort.

If both teams play that well tomorrow, we're in for a very good one.

Go Destinee! Go HORNS!

Hawaii-USC really lived up to its billing. Hawaii pulled out a huge win, coming from 2-1 down to stun USC in five. Great win for the Wahine. Game one was a tough one... USC was up 15-4 and rolling to an easy win it seemed before Hawaii came all the way back to tie it at 28, only to fall 30-28. I was pretty impressed that the Wahine could recover from something tough like that and win the match. Hawaii won it 28-30, 30-21, 21-30, 30-27, 15-5.

USC is the highest seed (5th) eliminated from the tourney so far, as seven of the top eight seeds made it to the Elite 8. That's pretty unbelievable. Next up for Hawaii is UCLA. It may be asking too much to beat USC and UCLA back-to-back. Hawaii has won 16 straight and is 24-1 in its last 25 matches. UCLA has won 7 straight and has only lost to Stanford and Washington this season (and both the Cardinal and Huskies are in the Elite 8).

Six of the eight matches in the Sweet 16 were blowouts as six teams swept their opponents. The Stanford-Cal match was close... with Stanford winning 31-29, 30-25, 31-29.

The Elite 8 match-ups:
Texas vs. Stanford
UCLA vs. Hawaii (airing live on ESPNU)
Washington vs. Penn State
Nebraska vs. Minnesota

Hawai'i pulls out the win in 5! Next up will be a tough one for the Wahine. Another Pac-10 team and the UCLA Bruins. Hawai'i will be tough at home and may pull off the upset.

For some reason, they are not showing the game on Hawaiian tv. Naturally, the game will be a sell out at the Stan Sheriff Center.

I listened to the match on http://www.sportsradio1420.com/

Yeah -- no doubt, Texas was hot. total wipeout of UW

Minnesota won in Florida -- unenviable task of taking on Nebraska now

Like Chrissie said... it was a "Massacre" (although only on the third game).

I really hope Lauren Paolini plays as well as she did last nite... she got probably HALF the points for Texas....

GO LAUREN! GO ASHLEY!
Hook em Horns.

HEY CHRISSIE! Recognize me?

Nebraska and Stanford have advanced to the Final Four. Nebraska came from 0-2 down to defeat Minnesota, while Stanford took out the Lady Longhorns at home in 4. I have a feeling that we will have 3 Pac-10 teams in the Final Four by the end of the night. I'm pulling for Hawaii to upset UCLA though.

UGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I suffered through the entire game... UT was a mess... they blew the lead every time they had it.
THey were up by 10 points and lost it in the second! I jsut stormed out whe it was over.

the fourth game was horrible too... but Standford was DAMN good. I was impressed. Cynthia Barbosa is AMAZING.

Nebraska, Stanford, UCLA, Washington...who will win?

My prediction:

The top 2 seeds will advance. Nebraska vs. Stanford in the final with Stanford winning the title.

HAving seen both of them play live, I definitely agree with you there.
Stanford 3-1

The final four is here. It's nice to see three Pac-10 teams in the Final Four. It obviously says and shows what conference in the best in the conference. UCLA, UW, and Stanford were in the TOP TEN all season along.

This reminds me of last year's WBB Final Four in which 3 ACC teams were in the Final Four.

I want to see the Washington Huskies repeat.

Ouch, Wisconsin got crushed by Hooker and the rest of the Horns.

How amped are the Nebraska fans?

I'm pulling for Stanford to take the title.

I'm gonna go with UCLA to knock off the top-ranked Huskers in the semis, even though the Final Four is being played in Nebraska.

WOW Stanford totally overpowered UW--the Cardinal are peaking, as typical at this time. A nebraska - stanford match is going to be great tonight. Congrats to Sarah Pavan, the AVCA Player of the year. Very well deserved!

A note from a while back about seeding. It is very much that -- REGIONAL. Some sports are told they have X amount of flights -- and that once the seeding of the top 4 (8) (16) is done, everyone else is pretty much seeded in their regions. The NCAA has competiton regions, and care is made to keep these teams within those regions. Not perfect, not great-- but fact. I can think of a number of teams that have gotten the short end of the stick so to speak because two top-five teams have played in the Elite Eight because of seeding.

Still, you need to beat everyone to win. Champions will rise to the challenge.

I had high hopes for the Bruins, but they could not sustain their edge after game one of the semi with the Huskers. Nebraska definitely looked like the #1 team in the land.

Stanford is surging and has a very storied history in the v-ball championships. They definitely could rock the Huskers tonight. However, I think the crowds in Omaha will help push the Huskers over the top and they will celebrate national title #3 when all is said and done. It is nice to see the top two teams in the country battling for the title.

In terms of seeding, I always feel that it is unfortunate that there are these realities in terms of regionalization of brackets. The same thing can happen in the softball tournament each May. It causes crazy matchups at times. Like #9 Utah being drawn to UCLA in Los Angeles a couple of weekends ago. Or Utah, UCLA, USC, and Hawaii all being drawn to the same quarter even though all four teams have been highly rated all year. In the end not a very fair way to determine a national champion.

Earlier this year in the NCAA softball tournament we had LSU and Louisiana-Lafayette playing the first weekend. Both teams were in the top 10 rankings and La-Lafayette had lost like once the entire year. Their reward -- a matchup in Baton Rouge with another team favored to make it to Oklahoma City for the WCWS.

Softball is definitely the worst. Though the NCAA switched to a new format for regionals and super regionals two years ago, it's still very bad. In 2002, I can remember going to a 6-team regional that featured three Top 10 teams and 5 of the top 19 ranked teams in nation at the time (Cal State Fullerton, Stanford, Cal, Fresno State and Pacific). And there were other regions with only 1 team even ranked in the Top 25. So unfair. Naturally, the national champ that year (Cal) came from that region.

If they're going to do it for women's sports, I wish they would do it for men's sports, and then finally you'd hear some public outcry.

It was good to see the Huskers win the title again and break the chain of PAC 10 dominance.

Let's hope some of the other leagues can continue to strengthen and challenge the PAC 10 stranglehold.

I don't like it when one league dominates so much- share the wealth is my philosophy!

Poor Stanford! They really could have won the title. All the games were close, and The Cardinal really should have closed out game 3. I don't think Barbosa ever really got up to speed. Both these teams are going to be even stronger next year.

Texas should be even better next year too. 2007 should be a fun year to watch.

Stanford did struggle and so did Cynthia Barboza. They really needed her to step it up a notch but it wasn't working out. Pavan was unbelieveable and you could tell she wasn't going to lose a second time arond.