I just have a few minutes here, so a quickie polls post.
The D-1 poll is mostly like I expected. At least in the broad brushstrokes. Texas are indeed at the top, though the margin to Penn State is a little tighter than I may have thought. Texas took 44 first-place votes, the Nittany Lions 12, and the remaining 4 went somewhere I most decidedly did not expect. I thought that Missouri, or perhaps Colorado State, might nip a few first-place votes, but the remaining 4 went to the Washington Huskies. And that I don't really understand. I know I 'voted' them first one week myself, but that's only because they, at the time, were the last upper-echelon unbeaten. (Which, in hindsight, is a garbage reason on its own) Anyhow, the Huskies are indeed #3 now, as all three teams leapfrog USC. The women of Troy check in at #4.
Nice bumps for Stanford, Minnesota, and, somewhat surprisingly, San Diego, but the mother of all bumps was bestowed upon Missouri. Just like in my power rankings, they're #11 in the real poll. I still think that's pretty crazy, but what the Tigers have done this season is pretty crazy. And it's not over yet. I'm sure they've had folks for weeks telling them the streak ends tonight, the streak ends tonight. Well, looks like they're not ready for the streak to end anytime soon. They even leapfrogged fellow unbeaten Colorado State, who stayed moored on #12.
Michigan State fell further than I thought, but not much further. BYU, Oregon, Duke, and Kansas all moved up exactly one rank, at the expense of Ohio State, who tumbled seven to #24. Arizona State fell out of the rankings with their two-loss week, being replaced by their instate rivals the Arizona Wildcats. I certainly did not expect that.
You can view the complete poll here.
On the D-2 side, it's another day, another #1 for Concordia-St. Paul, and it's well-earned after a three-set thumping of sixth-ranked Southwest Minnesota State this past week. One can't help but look ahead to CSP's final regular-season match, against Minnesota-Duluth. It had the possibility to be a #1 vs #2 match, but Minnesota-Duluth lost a shocker this week to a school I've never heard of, Northern State. The Wolves claimed a four-setter on the Bulldogs' home court, and sent them tumbling from #2 all the way down to…uh, #4. But the effect was well-felt on the other side. Northern State barely had a pulse in last week's poll, appearing as the last team in Also Receiving Votes. This week, they're #25 in the nation.
My paranoia regarding my Western Washington Vikings was seemingly unmerited. We dropped just a single rank, from #7 to #8, after the loss to Alaska-Anchorage (who are still fourth down in Also Receiving Votes). I still see those CCAA teams queueing up behind us, and I get nervous, though.
This week's poll also has a relative rarity — an exact tie. Wayne State and Grand Valley State each have 408 rankings points, good for equal-17th in the nation. For the Lakers, it's an improvement from #20 last week. For the Wildcats, it's a drop from #15 last week. They all but literally met in the middle.
You can view the complete poll here.
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