I understand people get fixated on the rankings, and why not? That what they're there for. To generate conversation.
I find I don't care as long as Texas is one of the top 4 seeds. It's crazy to me we've gone two years having to travel somewhere else for the regional. That's practically a Sahara level drought for us. If we go undefeated through non conference - which looks good at the moment - we'd have to lose more than 2 SEC matches not including the tournament to miss out. That's huge.
Then it's a matter of who gets on a roll in the tournament.
Nebraska went to 5 sets against both Kentucky and Creighton, but they absolutely waxed Stanford. Texas got wins by the skin of their teeth versus both Stanford and Louisville, but in doing so showed all kinds of resilience and never say die attitude. Texas has had the more impressive early slate, but Nebraska's schedule hasn't exactly been a collection of creampuffs.
Right now they definitely look like the two best teams. Penn State's Izzy Starck bailing out really puts the Nittany Lions in a bad bind. We'll see how the season progresses.
I don't have any issue with Nebraska being #1 right now. They've beaten everyone they've played. They have a lot of talent, and they're experienced. Texas is extraordinarily young. We're in the same kind of position Nebraska was a couple of years ago.
We have an amazing back court. A 6 rotation OH who is better at defense than any OH I can recall at Texas. We're getting unreal production from the right pin. We have a late set double sub that's been very effective. I like our middle blockers, but we all know how spoiled we've been at the middle blocker position. I'd say that's a place where we might not match up as well against the best of the best. But having Harvey come in for Bunton has seriously elevated the team. I think Harvey is playing better than Ames right now, to be honest. She even hit a nice kill down the line from the right side. Not a real slide. We had Spears in the middle the way we do sometimes, and Harvey on the right. But it was still a right side kill.
The serving was giving TCU all kinds of issues, as Elliott alluded to.
I'm excited to see what this team can become. I fully expect them to earn a regional host. It's been a fair bit. I'll be glad to see the regional return to Austin, if they can get it.