CSULB Remains on Top in DI/DII. BYU Passes Ohio State!

Here’s the Net Set Top Ten Rankings, based upon the AVCA Poll of March 20 and the Pablo Ranking of March 20. Ohio State dropped from number 2 to number 3 based upon the current Pablo Ranking while BYU climbed from number 3 to number 2, also based upon the current Pablo Ranking.

And, waiting in the wings should any of the current Top Ten (actually eleven, with the tie at number 10) falter, are Loyola, Penn State, Grand Canyon, UC Santa Barbara, and CSU Northridge.

Applied to sports teams, a poll (sometimes called a rating) involves an opinion of a team’s performances by someone who is knowledgeable about both the sport involved and the team in question. A poll is therefore an informed opinion and a subsequent ordering of teams based upon this informed opinion. A ranking involves an analysis, either mathematical or statistical, based on the performance of a team and the performances of its opponents. A ranking is therefore a mathematical or statistical analysis which evaluates the performances of teams. Polls and rankings complement each other because each represents a different viewpoint and a different “skill set” in terms of evaluating volleyball performance.

The Net Set Ranking is a mathematical, numerical average based upon performances of teams in two other polls/rankings. In the Net Set Ranking, the team’s position in each of the two other polls is totaled and then averaged to create a Net Set Index. This Net Set Index is then arranged, or ranked, in ascending order, with the lowest Net Set Index determining the number 1 team, the next lowest Net Set Index determining the number 2 team, and so forth. By combining polls and rankings into a single index number, we obtain both the mathematical benefits of the rankings and the human performance insights of coaches from the polls.

Net Set Rankings and the Net Set Index are a mathematical average from these two polls/rankings.

1. The AVCA Coaches Poll (3/20/17). The AVCA, or the American Volleyball Coaches Association, publishes an outstanding weekly poll for each volleyball division from its member coaches in that division. Thus, DI – DII Coaches are voting on the teams in the DI – DII poll, providing their unique insights since these are the coaches who have seen the DI and DII teams up-close and personal. The latest AVCA Coaches Poll is available on the AVCA website at AVCA.org.

2. The Pablo Rankings (3/20/17). The Pablo Rankings are an incredibly ingenious ranking system that operates on a probabilistic, algorithmic approach and analyzes and measures the difference in abilities between two teams overall and in a match. In terms of accuracy and predictive analytics, the Pablo Rankings are the most accurate probabilistic model available today. You can find a detailed explanation of the Pablo Rankings on the MiddleHitter website at MiddleHitter.com.

In this edition of the Net Set Top Ten Ranking, CSU Long Beach remains at the top while BYU has surpassed Ohio State for the second position as Ohio State drops to the third spot. Hawai’i, UC Irvine, UCLA, and Lewis all held “pat” at numbers 4, 5, 6, and 7 respectively. Pepperdine climbed back into the Top Ten at number 8, Stanford dropped to number 9, while Ball State and USC are tied for number 10.

Eight of these eleven teams (72.7%) play in the MPSF and the remaining three teams (27.3%) play in the MIVA. Once again, neither the Conference Carolinas nor the EIVA cracked this Top Ten ranking. And, just so you don’t have to scroll up for review, here’s the Net Set DI-DII Top Ten for March 20, 2017, once again.

LET’S GROW VOLLEYBALL!