It's a fairly popular women's sport in the Big Ten, at least it was at Illinois and Penn State when I was there in the 90's. Penn State won seven national championships. They didn't win in the two years I was there but were pretty close and they won soon after I graduated so players that were there when I was there eventually won a national championship.

Women's volleyball is usually a fall sport but because of COVID-19 the NCAA women's volleyball season was delayed to the "winter/spring" 2021. The tournament was cut to 48 teams and will be played in its entirety in Omaha. The top 16 seeds will have byes to the 2nd round. Wisconsin is the overall #1 seed. Other Big Ten seeds are 3. Minnesota, 5. Nebraska, 7. Purdue, 9. Ohio State, and 13. Penn State. No other Big Ten teams made the tournament. The Big Ten is well represented at the top of the bracket but they were in some other sport and it didn't work so well.

2nd round games are April 15.

Full bracket: https://www.ncaa.com/brackets/volleyball-women/d1/2021

It's a solid sport with quite a few BIG schools. It very much does deserve a thread here and I'll comment as much as time allows.

Nebraska, Penn State, Illinois, Wisconsin and Minnesota have great programs.
Ohio State and Purdue aren't far behind.

It's no longer a West Coast and Midwestern sport. Texas and Florida both have great programs and I hope it will grow even larger. It is one of the most entertaining sports you can watch on TV, in my opinion.

Best of luck to all the schools in this fabulous tournament!

Big Ten teams were a perfect 6-0 in the 2nd round and all of them advanced to the Sweet 16. Of the 16 seeded teams, 14 of them advanced to the Sweet 16 with only #14 and #15 losing. In previous tournaments, 1st/2nd round games are hosted by the top 16 seeds so they rarely lost. This year, the top 16 seeds had a bye so they still had an advantage despite home court taken away from them.

Now the fun begins. The Big Ten could have six teams in the Elite 8 ... or none.

Congratulations to the teams advancing!

Outside of the BIG, Congratulations to Pitt on moving forward for the first time in program history.

BIG schools have some tough matchups coming. Florida, Oregon and Texas are all really solid; looking forward to the games.

Go Bucks!
GBR!

So far this weekend we have...
Wisconsin in straight sets over BYU on Friday.

Pitt over Minnesota in 5 sets. Congratulations to the Panthers on a fabulous year so far and a huge upset!

Nebraska over Baylor in straight sets. Very proud of the Cornhuskers to play the way they did without their star, Stivrins, today. Next lady up!

Texas over Penn State in 4 sets. Congratulations to the Longhorns on a very good season so far.

Purdue wins in Sunday night action giving the Big Ten three of the final eight Monday. Seven of the top eight seeds made the final eight with Minnesota being the only one to lose. It's disappointing considering they lost to a non seeded team but Pittsburgh is from my home state and I wish they were in the Big Ten more than Minnesota and a few other teams in the Big Ten.

All four Elite Eight games are today. Wisconsin plays at 6:30pm ET today (earlier said noon but that was incorrect).

(04-19-2021 05:32 AM)schmolik Wrote:  Purdue wins in Sunday night action giving the Big Ten three of the final eight Monday. Seven of the top eight seeds made the final eight with Minnesota being the only one to lose. It's disappointing considering they lost to a non seeded team but Pittsburgh is from my home state and I wish they were in the Big Ten more than Minnesota and a few other teams in the Big Ten.

All four Elite Eight games are today beginning with #1 seed Wisconsin at noon ET.

Yes, Pitt is rolling right now.

My Buckeyes lose in 4 sets to Florida last night.

Like you said, outside of Pitt, no big upsets taking place.

(04-08-2021 08:28 AM)cubucks Wrote:  It's a solid sport with quite a few BIG schools. It very much does deserve a thread here and I'll comment as much as time allows.

Nebraska, Penn State, Illinois, Wisconsin and Minnesota have great programs.
Ohio State and Purdue aren't far behind.

It's no longer a West Coast and Midwestern sport. Texas and Florida both have great programs and I hope it will grow even larger. It is one of the most entertaining sports you can watch on TV, in my opinion.

Best of luck to all the schools in this fabulous tournament!

Not sure about the SEC or Pac 12, but Montevallo in Division 2 used to have a really good women's volleyball program. If I recall, UNA (North Alabama), formerly in the Gulf South Conference, now in the A-Sun Conference, had a good program as well.

Congratulations to Wisconsin for making the Final Four! Four different conferences are represented this year, the Big Ten, the SEC (Kentucky), Big 12 (Texas), and Pac 12 (Washington). Wisconsin made three NCAA Women's Volleyball title games including the most recent one in December 2019 but has never won the title so maybe this will be their year. One of my cousins is a Wisconsin grad. Then again, one of my cousins is a Texas grad. Semifinals are on Thursday.

(04-20-2021 12:21 AM)DawgNBama Wrote:  

(04-08-2021 08:28 AM)cubucks Wrote:  It's a solid sport with quite a few BIG schools. It very much does deserve a thread here and I'll comment as much as time allows.

Nebraska, Penn State, Illinois, Wisconsin and Minnesota have great programs.
Ohio State and Purdue aren't far behind.

It's no longer a West Coast and Midwestern sport. Texas and Florida both have great programs and I hope it will grow even larger. It is one of the most entertaining sports you can watch on TV, in my opinion.

Best of luck to all the schools in this fabulous tournament!

Not sure about the SEC or Pac 12, but Montevallo in Division 2 used to have a really good women's volleyball program. If I recall, UNA (North Alabama), formerly in the Gulf South Conference, now in the A-Sun Conference, had a good program as well.

Interesting info on Montevallo and North Alabama, I learned something today.

D-1 has been dominated by Nebraska, Stanford, Penn State, Southern California and UCLA. Texas has a title too and some runner-up finishes in there, I consider them a power team too. Florida is also a top program that is always in the mix. The Gators had an awesome team this year and came up just short of beating #1 seed Wisconsin in 5 sets.

I highly recommend watching this final 4, it's entertaining! I consider womens volleyball the best and most athletic game in women's sports next to gymnastics.

(04-20-2021 04:53 AM)schmolik Wrote:  Congratulations to Wisconsin for making the Final Four! Four different conferences are represented this year, the Big Ten, the SEC (Kentucky), Big 12 (Texas), and Pac 12 (Washington). Wisconsin made three NCAA Women's Volleyball title games including the most recent one in December 2019 but has never won the title so maybe this will be their year. One of my cousins is a Wisconsin grad. Then again, one of my cousins is a Texas grad. Semifinals are on Thursday.

Congratulations to those four schools!

Kentucky is really good.

Congratulations to the Texas Longhorns and Kentucky Wildcats on advancing to the National Title Game. Both schools have had remarkable seasons and it should be an awesome game this Saturday.

The Wisconsin Badgers and Washington Huskies both had fabulous seasons too in advancing all the way to the final four. Congratulations!!!

Congratulations to the Kentucky Wildcats on winning their first National Title!

Bump up for the fall 2021 tournament:

https://www.ncaa.com/brackets/volleyball-women/d1/2021

Big Ten seeds: #4 Wisconsin, #6 Purdue, #9 Ohio State, #10 Nebraska, #12 Minnesota

Also in action: Illinois (vs. West Virginia at #7 Kentucky), Penn State (vs. Towson at #3 Pittsburgh), Michigan (vs. Ball State at #1 Louisville).

The tournament will be 64 teams. First Rounds are Thursday or Friday, Second Rounds are Friday or Saturday.

I don't know if anyone else here at The Big Time is a Penn State alum but at NCAA.com they posted Penn State's women's volleyball "all time" team:
https://www.ncaa.com/news/volleyball-wom...ime-lineup

I was there when Lauren Cacciamani was there although that was a long time ago.

Good luck to all the Big Ten teams participating!

(11-29-2021 07:59 PM)schmolik Wrote:  Bump up for the fall 2021 tournament:

https://www.ncaa.com/brackets/volleyball-women/d1/2021

Big Ten seeds: #4 Wisconsin, #6 Purdue, #9 Ohio State, #10 Nebraska, #12 Minnesota

Also in action: Illinois (vs. West Virginia at #7 Kentucky), Penn State (vs. Towson at #3 Pittsburgh), Michigan (vs. Ball State at #1 Louisville).

The tournament will be 64 teams. First Rounds are Thursday or Friday, Second Rounds are Friday or Saturday.

I don't know if anyone else here at The Big Time is a Penn State alum but at NCAA.com they posted Penn State's women's volleyball "all time" team:
https://www.ncaa.com/news/volleyball-wom...ime-lineup

I was there when Lauren Cacciamani was there although that was a long time ago.

Good luck to all the Big Ten teams participating!

Nebraska looked great against Purdue and Penn St this season but got embarrassed by Wisconsin both times. Hoping they can make a run, but I'm not sure.

Seven of eight Big Ten teams advanced to the second round. Purdue (played their sessions a day early) is already in the Sweet 16. Good luck to the teams in the second round today, especially my alma maters!

My Illini defeated the defending national champions!



Now we go to the Sweet 16 and inherit the seed spot in the tournament.

Six Big Ten teams are in the Sweet 16 and Illinois will play Big Ten Nebraska in the Sweet 16 guaranteeing a Big Ten team in the Elite Eight. Wisconsin is the highest seed left so they will host their "regional".

(12-04-2021 08:09 PM)schmolik Wrote:  My Illini defeated the defending national champions!



Now we go to the Sweet 16 and inherit the seed spot in the tournament.

That's a huge victory for the Fighting Illini, congratulations!