AVCA Final 2018 Poll - Huskers are #2

[knapplc]

There wasn't much of an argument for any other team to claim the #2 spot, so I'm glad they got this right. We don't need any other controversies after the White Board kerfluffle.

 

AVCA Division I Coaches 
Final Poll: December 17, 2018

Rank	School (First-Place Votes)	Total Points Adjusted	2018 Record	Previous Week
1	Stanford (64)	1600	34-1	1
2	Nebraska	1533	29-7	6
3	Illinois	1463	32-4	3
4	BYU	1408	31-2	4
5	Texas	1285	23-5	5
6	Penn State	1253	26-8	7
7	Minnesota	1187	27-4	2
8	Wisconsin	1162	25-7	8
9	Oregon	1095	23-11	14
10	Kentucky	1026	26-5	10
11	Florida	821	26-7	16
12	Michigan	799	24-10	18
13	Creighton	770	29-5	9
14	Pittsburgh	709	30-2	11
15	Marquette	689	28-7	15
16	Washington State	668	23-10	19
17	Purdue	645	24-9	12
18	Washington	625	20-13	22
19	Tennessee	398	26-6	19
20	San Diego	364	18-13	NR
21	Southern California	335	22-11	17
22	Cal Poly	287	25-3	13
23	Missouri	228	24-8	24
24	Baylor	197	20-9	25
T-25	Arizona	81	22-11	23
T-25	UCF	81	27-4	21

Others receiving votes and listed on two or more ballots: Louisville 35; Utah 31; Pepperdine 15; South Carolina 12; Northern Iowa 5; Florida Gulf Coast 2; Loyola Marymount 2

 

 

[knapplc]

Nebraska's 2018 record against the final Top 25 was 11-7. All seven losses were to teams who finished in the top 11 in the final poll, and we had six wins against teams in the Top 10.

 

In a three-week stretch from 10/6/18 - 10/27/18 Nebraska went 2-5, all losses to top-ten teams. Aside from that weird period, we only lost the first match of the season (Nicklin Hames' first collegiate match), and the last match of the season, by three points in the Fifth, against the #1 team in the country.

 

The Huskers won 97 games and lost 34. Outside the weird three weeks from the paragraph above, they lost 18 games in 29 matches.

 

And we did all that with two contributing Seniors, no contributing Juniors, and a bevy of Sophomores & Freshmen. 

 

 

[knapplc]

The Big Ten conference led all other conferences with seven Top 25 teams. All seven rank 17th or higher, with five teams in the Top 10.

 

The Pac-12 placed five teams, including #1 Stanford. Oregon, whom the Huskers swept twice this year, was the only other Top 10 Pac-12 team.

 

The SEC placed four teams in the final poll, only one of whom, Kentucky, was in the Top 10. Nebraska swept Kentucky in the Regional round, knocking them out of the tournament for the second straight year. Nebraska went 2-0 against the SEC in the tournament, sweeping both opponents.

 

The Big East, West Coast Conference and Big XII all placed two teams in the final poll.  Rivals Creighton & Marquette finished 13th & 15th, respectively. BYU was the highest-ranked non-P5 conference team, finishing 4th after starting the season 28-0, a run that included a win over eventual national champion Stanford. The Cardinal avenged that loss by knocking BYU out of the tournament in the Final Four.

[Mavric]

1 hour ago, knapplc said:

There wasn't much of an argument for any other team to claim the #2 spot, so I'm glad they got this right. We don't need any other controversies after the White Board kerfluffle.

 

Three people didn't vote us #2 - or 1-2 people voted us lower than third.