RPI through Friday’s games

61 Tulsa
68 Tulane
77 Rice
93 FAU

125 ECU
138 USF
139 UNT
143 Wichita
154 UTSA
158 Memphis

199 Temple

265 UAB
275 Charlotte

Rice jumped 14 spots after beating then-60 Tulsa
FAU was up 12 after beating then-57 Tulane

If anyone in the top group of 4 can finish the regular season on a 8-0 or 7-1 run, then the at-large could be back on the table for somebody in this conference.

Finally playing into form. Defense wasn't quite as strong as previous several matches when we were averaging 20+ digs/set, but still solid. Yet another strong outing from Hummel. Genny finally dramatically limited Dorotik's playing time, getting back to playing both Peterson and Seay 6-rotations...and they both responded. Peterson likely AAC offensive POY again. Schneider saw playing time because Guiterrez was off. I'm wondering if she had the flu. Just don't understand why Schneider is ahead of Croft on the depth chart. Makes absolutely no sense.

Peterson: 17 kills (.341), 12 digs, 3 blocks
Seay: 14 kills (.289), 2 aces, 8 digs, 2 blocks
Smith: 9 kills (.500), 5 blocks
Simmons: 8 kills (.500), 1 block
Skopal: 46 assists, 4 aces, 12 digs, 1 block
Hummel: 4 assists, 2 aces, 16 digs

Good to see the service game improve with 9 aces vs. only 5 errors. Overall, a pretty clean match. Let's keep the momentum going next Friday at UNT. No looking ahead to the hugely important home stand against Tulsa, Tulane and USF.

(10-18-2026 03:35 PM)owl at the moon Wrote:  RPI through Friday’s games

61 Tulsa
68 Tulane
77 Rice
93 FAU

125 ECU
138 USF
139 UNT
143 Wichita
154 UTSA
158 Memphis

199 Temple

265 UAB
275 Charlotte

Rice jumped 14 spots after beating then-60 Tulsa
FAU was up 12 after beating then-57 Tulane

If anyone in the top group of 4 can finish the regular season on a 8-0 or 7-1 run, then the at-large could be back on the table for somebody in this conference.

I doubt it. No way an AAC team is going to get an at large birth with an RPI over 40.

Crazy what NIL money and conference can do. Vanderbilt is only in year 2 of their program but they are already in talks for a top 16 host seed.

(10-18-2026 03:43 PM)dragon2owl Wrote:  Crazy what NIL money and conference can do. Vanderbilt is only in year 2 of their program but they are already in talks for a top 16 host seed.

SMU volleyball has replaced Texas as the poster child for NIL and buying players out of the portal. Nebraska has a high NIL budget, but they spend it almost exclusively on recruiting out of high school; only rarely using the transfer portal.

(10-18-2026 03:41 PM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  

(10-18-2026 03:35 PM)owl at the moon Wrote:  RPI through Friday’s games

61 Tulsa
68 Tulane
77 Rice
93 FAU

125 ECU
138 USF
139 UNT
143 Wichita
154 UTSA
158 Memphis

199 Temple

265 UAB
275 Charlotte

Rice jumped 14 spots after beating then-60 Tulsa
FAU was up 12 after beating then-57 Tulane

If anyone in the top group of 4 can finish the regular season on a 8-0 or 7-1 run, then the at-large could be back on the table for somebody in this conference.

I doubt it. No way an AAC team is going to get an at large birth with an RPI over 40.

I agree with your second premise, but not your first.

Especially in Rice’s case, which our relatively high SOS down the stretch I think finishing regular season on a 9-0 run (it’d be 12-0 but 9 more regular season wins after Friday) would likely put us inside the top 40.

But I’m not an expert on the actual formula so I don’t know that. But I do know that if it’s possible to jump 12-14 spots on a big win, that Rice still has quite a bit of RPI upside potential.

Tulsa loss today took a little bit of the wind out of my sails… how much of Friday’s result was Rice playing lights out… and how much was Tulsa not bringing their A game…

(10-18-2026 04:10 PM)owl at the moon Wrote:  

(10-18-2026 03:41 PM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  

(10-18-2026 03:35 PM)owl at the moon Wrote:  RPI through Friday’s games

61 Tulsa
68 Tulane
77 Rice
93 FAU

125 ECU
138 USF
139 UNT
143 Wichita
154 UTSA
158 Memphis

199 Temple

265 UAB
275 Charlotte

Rice jumped 14 spots after beating then-60 Tulsa
FAU was up 12 after beating then-57 Tulane

If anyone in the top group of 4 can finish the regular season on a 8-0 or 7-1 run, then the at-large could be back on the table for somebody in this conference.

I doubt it. No way an AAC team is going to get an at large birth with an RPI over 40.

I agree with your second premise, but not your first.

Especially in Rice’s case, which our relatively high SOS down the stretch I think finishing regular season on a 9-0 run (it’d be 12-0 but 9 more regular season wins after Friday) would likely put us inside the top 40.

But I’m not an expert on the actual formula so I don’t know that. But I do know that if it’s possible to jump 12-14 spots on a big win, that Rice still has quite a bit of RPI upside potential.

Tulsa loss today took a little bit of the wind out of my sails… how much of Friday’s result was Rice playing lights out… and how much was Tulsa not bringing their A game…

Against Tulsa our offense sputtered at times, but that was arguably our best all-around defensive effort of the season.

Skopal, Peterson and Smith all earned Honorable Mentions in this week's AAC honors.

In other news, a reminder of how sticky the AVCA/coaches ranking are. UT is now 9-7 on the season and still ranked #14, while the Aggies are 11-8 and ranked #19. Also note that not single G5 program (not even Creighton) is receiving any votes...

https://www.ncaa.com/rankings/volleyball...a-rankings

(10-19-2026 03:51 PM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  Skopal, Peterson and Smith all earned Honorable Mentions in this week's AAC honors.

In other news, a reminder of how sticky the AVCA/coaches ranking are. UT is now 9-7 on the season and still ranked #14, while the Aggies are 11-8 and ranked #19. Also note that not single G5 program (not even Creighton) is receiving any votes...

https://www.ncaa.com/rankings/volleyball...a-rankings

UT at least still has a top 15 RPI. A&M is at 39.

(10-18-2026 03:35 PM)owl at the moon Wrote:  RPI through Friday’s games

61 Tulsa
68 Tulane
77 Rice
93 FAU

125 ECU
138 USF
139 UNT
143 Wichita
154 UTSA
158 Memphis

199 Temple

265 UAB
275 Charlotte

Rice jumped 14 spots after beating then-60 Tulsa
FAU was up 12 after beating then-57 Tulane

If anyone in the top group of 4 can finish the regular season on a 8-0 or 7-1 run, then the at-large could be back on the table for somebody in this conference.

RPI though Sunday’s games:

69 Tulane (down 1)
76 Rice (up 1)
81 Tulsa (down 20)
93 FAU (no change)