Wow - Final Four composed of Texas vs Minn, and Kansas vs Nebraska in Omaha. I guess I always assumed if another Big 12 team joined Texas in the FF, it would be ISU. This will be good.
Big 12 vs Big 10 in Final Four
- Thread starter Tornado man
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Kind of bittersweet, isn't it? Sweet to have 2 Big 12 teams (3, if you want count the time that Nebraska was in the league). Gives the conference some respect when all the attention is on B1G and out west. Also gives the midwest region some notoriety -- all teams from the central time zone, first time in history of D1 VB.
Bitter too, though, for the reason in bold. Also anticipated ISU would be the next team to break through. If we'd have made it a few years ago it would have been through surviving a tough 5th just like Texas and Kansas did. Texas benefited from an incorrect call midway through the set (a ball was called long that was definitely in for Florida) and won 17-15 in the 5th. Kansas somehow rallied from 9-13 down to win 15-13 in the 5th. These matches showed both the talent and the tenacity that's needed to get the finals.
So -- more bitter, or more sweet?
Was actually very happy to wake up this morning and see that Kansas had taken down the top seed USC last night (just couldn't keep my eyes open, but did see KU win the first two sets). While I'm not exactly going to come out and say I want KU to win to advance to the finals, how weird/cool would it be to see an all-Big 12 championship game?!
Texas should thank their lucky stars they won in 5 against Florida last night. A horrible call was made in the middle of the 5th set that claimed the ball was long on a Florida serve, when it was a good foot INSIDE the line, and was NOT overruled giving the point and a two-point lead to Texas. That point (rightly) going to Florida could have changed the entire outcome. Hard to believe they aren't using replay during the tournament. I think the excuse they said on tv was that "not all teams used replay during the regular season this year." So what? Get the calls correct - YOU'RE SENDING SOMEONE TO THE NATIONAL SEMI-FINALS!! Ugh.
Texas should thank their lucky stars they won in 5 against Florida last night. A horrible call was made in the middle of the 5th set that claimed the ball was long on a Florida serve, when it was a good foot INSIDE the line, and was NOT overruled giving the point and a two-point lead to Texas. That point (rightly) going to Florida could have changed the entire outcome. Hard to believe they aren't using replay during the tournament. I think the excuse they said on tv was that "not all teams used replay during the regular season this year." So what? Get the calls correct - YOU'RE SENDING SOMEONE TO THE NATIONAL SEMI-FINALS!! Ugh.
To be fair to Texas, it was not their fault the line judge made the wrong call. Mistakes happen, and the ball was moving fast, if he wasn't look in the right place, he might have seen a blur and thought it hadn't hit in bounds. Seems like the referee should have had a birds eye view to overturn it. But video review does seem to be the best option.
Also to be fair to Texas, there were a couple other debatable calls that went Florida's way. You cannot simply say because there was a clear wrong call, swap the points, and Florida would have won. It happened mid-set and made the score 8-6 instead of 7-7. Yes, Texas did gain some momentum from it, but the dynamics of the game change from point to point. Florida got going on their own.
The KU/USC game shows how momentum can shift even without any bad calls.
Also to be fair to Texas, there were a couple other debatable calls that went Florida's way. You cannot simply say because there was a clear wrong call, swap the points, and Florida would have won. It happened mid-set and made the score 8-6 instead of 7-7. Yes, Texas did gain some momentum from it, but the dynamics of the game change from point to point. Florida got going on their own.
The KU/USC game shows how momentum can shift even without any bad calls.
Just saw this eye-opener of a state: Nebraska is 86-0-1 all-time against KU in volleyball. The two teams tied a match in 1977, otherwise it's been all Nebraska. Of course, Nebraska was pretty dominant against all of the old Big 8 schools in VB
The Huskers are:
49-7 against Colorado
80-2 against us
86-0-1 against KU
82-4 against KSU
71-3-1 against Mizzou
75-6 against Oklahoma
6-0 against Oklahoma State (OSU ended in 1979)
The Huskers are:
49-7 against Colorado
80-2 against us
86-0-1 against KU
82-4 against KSU
71-3-1 against Mizzou
75-6 against Oklahoma
6-0 against Oklahoma State (OSU ended in 1979)
Wow, that works out to a record of 449-22-2 against the other 7 (former) league foes.
I bet they think they're pretty good...
They recruited a great setter, and have a dominant hitter.
I personally think that official in the Florida v. UT match should have his life taken apart. Bank audit, whatever, without his knowledge. Not going to happen, but it might curb this ****. There is something very deliberate about what he did. It was not a rocket of a shot, and it wasn't even close to the line. I came up off the couch. He turned and looked right at that ball, only to make a call that ultimately changed the match. The timing that was involved was huge. It changed rotations and service. That's why the NCAA has a big problem with regional finals being played at a host school, IMO. If UT is so good, let them play on a neutral court.
It's a joke that replay is available in so many places through the season, but when it really matters to get a call right, you can't do it? NCAA, really? Spend the money to get the camera's there. ESPN had all the regional finals with multiple views.
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yeah when I watched the replay, he was staring right down the line. Unbelievably bad call. And in a game built on momentum.......going from 7-7 to 8-6 is huge.
