Tonight’s BTN line-up features a volleyball triple header:
4:00 Minnesota at Northwestern (rematch Sat @ 6 on BTN+)
6:00 Nebraska at Michigan (Huskers in 4 sets last night)
8:00 Wisconsin at Penn State. (rematch @ 6 on BTN)
MN @ NW: No news on the health of the Gopher squad. but Northwestern’s record does not suggest that the Gophers should have much trouble at Evanston.
NEB @ MICH: Michigan dominated the first set last night, raising hopes for an upset. But the Huskers dominated the rest of the match. (Interesting comment from legendary Nebraska Coach John Cook during a BTN interview: Asked about his recent 600th match victory as the Neb coach, Cook said that it should have been his 601st, going on to speak with regret regarding his 13 & 2 Huskers recent split with Ohio State; saying nothing about his teams split with the Gophers. My take, purely speculation, of course, Cook did not feel bad about splitting with the Gophs, who he considers Nebraska’s equal, but thinks the Buckeyes are over-rated???)
WIS @ P-ST: This is a huge match for both teams, and also for the Gophers and other contenders such as Neb & O-St.
The Badgers are unbeaten and ranked #1 in the country – but have not been fully tested. Their toughest tests so far were last week’s win over the Gophers, a match played without either team’s starting setter, and an opening week sweep of the 11 & 5 Boilermakers, who were missing their best hitter.
And Penn State, at 9 & 5, is at risk of not being invited to the NCAA Tournament for the first time … since volleyball was invented, almost literally. The NCAA has held 39 National Tournaments, and Coach Russ Rose’s Nittany Lions have participated in all 39, winning 7 National Championships! But this year’s field, 64 teams in recent years, will be limited to 48 teams due to covid, and half of those “automatic qualifiers,” so only 16 “at large teams.” A double loss to Wisconsin would drop the 6th place Nittany Lions even further from the Big Ten leaders, and possibly out of the Top-25, putting them “on the bubble” for the NCAAs.
A double win by Penn State, on the other hand, combined with a very possible Ohio State split with Purdue, would leave Wisconsin, Ohio State, Minnesota and Nebraska (assuming they beat Michigan again) all with 2 losses – a virtual 4-way tie.