Congratulations to the University of Texas Longhorns on winning the 2012 NCAA Women’s Volleyball National Championship. It was an impressive win in an impressive season for Texas. We can’t wait for the 2013 season and the great matches in the Nike Big Four that, providentially (for Texas) will be held in Austin.

Which brings us to the question we raised in an earlier post: Is there greater “parity” in NCAA Division 1 volleyball? We think this year’s tournament is further evidence that the answer is yes.

As shown in the table below, Texas’s 29-4 season record ranks 12th out of 15 champions during the period from 1998 to 2012. Prior to 2011, five of the 13 Champions were undefeated, and four others lost only one match all season. If Penn State had won the 2012 Championship, its record would have ranked 11th among the 15 champions. If Oregon had won the title, its record would have ranked 12th out of 15.  And if Michigan had won, its record would have been the worst of any NCAA Womens Volleyball Champion in the past 15 years.

To us, that spells “parity.” As we wrote in our earlier post, this is obviously a small sample, but we think these are more than statistical outliers. Rather, we think there are more good teams, and more good coaches out there, and conferences like the Big Ten, the Big 12 and the Pac 12 are competitive on a week-in week-out basis.

That translates into more lost matches and more lost sets. In other words, more parity.

W-L Records (Matches and Sets): NCAA Champions 1998 to 2012

Year	Team	Conference	NCAA Finish	Wins (Matches)	Losses (Matches)	Wins (Sets)	Losses (Sets)
2008	Penn State	Big Ten	First	38	0	114	2
2009	Penn State	Big Ten	First	38	0	114	8
1998	Long Beach	Big West	First	36	0	108	8
2003	USC	Pac 10	First	35	0	105	8
2000	Nebraska	Big 12	First	34	0	102	13
1999	Penn State	Big Ten	First	36	1	110	15
2006	Nebraska	Big 12	First	33	1	101	14
2005	Washington	Pac 10	First	32	1	98	10
2002	USC	Pac 10	First	31	1	95	12
2007	Penn State	Big Ten	First	34	2	104	18
2001	Stanford	Pac 10	First	33	2	101	21
2012	Texas	Big 12	First	29	4	92	23
2010	Penn State	Big Ten	First	32	5	103	20
2011	UCLA	Pac 12	First	30	6	97	31
2004	Stanford	Pac 10	First	30	6	98	35

Won-Lost Records (Matches and Sets): Final Four Teams from 1998 to 2012

Year	Team	Conference	NCAA Finish	Wins (Matches)	Losses (Matches)	Wins (Sets)	Losses (Sets)
2008	Penn State	Big Ten	First	38	0	114	2
2009	Penn State	Big Ten	First	38	0	114	8
1998	Long Beach	Big West	First	36	0	108	8
2003	USC	Pac 10	First	35	0	105	8
2000	Nebraska	Big 12	First	34	0	102	13
1999	Penn State	Big Ten	First	36	1	110	15
2006	Nebraska	Big 12	First	33	1	101	14
2005	Washington	Pac 10	First	32	1	98	10
2002	USC	Pac 10	First	31	1	95	12
2007	Penn State	Big Ten	First	34	2	104	18
2001	Stanford	Pac 10	First	33	2	101	21
2012	Texas	Big 12	First	29	4	92	23
2010	Penn State	Big Ten	First	32	5	103	20
2011	UCLA	Pac 12	First	30	6	97	31
2004	Stanford	Pac 10	First	30	6	98	35
2001	Long Beach	Big West	Second	33	1	NA	NA
1998	Penn State	Big Ten	Second	34	1	104	6
2003	Florida	SEC	Second	36	2	109	8
2005	Nebraska	Big 12	Second	33	2	101	15
2009	Texas	Big 12	Second	29	2	91	13
2007	Stanford	Pac 10	Second	32	3	101	24
1999	Stanford	Pac 10	Second	31	3	95	18
2000	Wisconsin	Big Ten	Second	33	4	NA	NA
2008	Stanford	Pac 10	Second	31	4	95	23
2006	Stanford	Pac 10	Second	30	4	92	19
2010	California	Pac 10	Second	30	4	95	23
2004	Minnesota	Big Ten	Second	33	5	105	34
2002	Stanford	Pac 10	Second	32	5	102	27
2011	Illinois	Big Ten	Second	32	5	100	43
2012	Oregon	Pac 12	Second	30	5	96	27
2003	Hawaii	WAC	Semifinals	36	2	109	16
2002	Hawaii	WAC	Semifinals	34	2	102	12
1998	Nebraska	Big 12	Semifinals	32	2	99	16
2000	Hawaii	WAC	Semifinals	31	2	95	16
2001	Nebraska	Big 12	Semifinals	31	2	94	14
1998	Florida	SEC	Semifinals	35	3	107	24
2002	Florida	SEC	Semifinals	34	3	105	17
2012	Penn State	Big Ten	Semifinals	33	3	104	21
2009	Hawaii	WAC	Semifinals	32	3	100	17
1999	Pacific	Big West	Semifinals	32	3	NA	NA
2008	Nebraska	Big 12	Semifinals	31	3	97	21
2000	USC	Pac 10	Semifinals	29	3	87	20
2004	Washington	Pac 10	Semifinals	28	3	89	23
2006	UCLA	Pac 10	Semifinals	33	4	104	24
1999	Long Beach	Big West	Semifinals	31	4	95	23
2008	Texas	Big 12	Semifinals	29	4	94	24
2011	USC	Pac 12	Semifinals	29	5	91	25
2006	Washington	Pac 10	Semifinals	29	5	92	26
2007	USC	Pac 10	Semifinals	29	5	91	35
2005	Santa Clara	WCC	Semifinals	27	5	88	30
2001	Arizona	Pac 10	Semifinals	25	5	79	25
2010	USC	Pac 10	Semifinals	29	6	91	36
2010	Texas	Big 12	Semifinals	27	6	84	34
2004	USC	Pac 10	Semifinals	23	6	76	32
2011	Florida State	ACC	Semifinals	28	7	90	39
2007	California	Pac 10	Semifinals	26	8	87	36
2009	Minnesota	Big Ten	Semifinals	28	9	88	41
2003	Minnesota	Big Ten	Semifinals	26	11	85	49
2005	Tennessee	SEC	Semifinals	25	9	80	38
2012	Michigan	Big Ten	Semifinals	27	12	94	52