The weekend started sensibly enough on Friday, with #7 Penn State defeating Iowa, 3-0 (clinching its eighth-consecutive Big Ten Championship), #15 Minnesota fighting off a determined Ohio State squad, 3-1, and Purdue sweeping Wisconsin (reaching the 20-win mark in the process). There was an upset, as Michigan State downed Northwestern, 3-2, in Evanston, but Northwestern has been an up-and-down team that also lost to Wisconsin in Evanston, so it wasn’t a stunning upset.
But on Saturday, the underdogs (even ones who might not exactly qualify, like red-hot Minnesota, playing at home) rose up with a vengeance on what turned out to be Upset Saturday. Here’s who did what to whom: Purdue lowered the boom on #10 Illinois, 3-1, Northwestern snapped back to defeat #19 Michigan, 3-1, and #15 Minnesota beat #7 Penn State, 3-2, in a marathon match that left fans of both teams, to say nothing of the players, exhausted. In a sign that there was some semblance of order in the universe, Indiana defeated Wisconsin, 3-0, and Ohio State swept Iowa.
At the end of the day, the Big Ten standings looked like this:
| Team | Overall | Big Ten |
|---|---|---|
| Penn State | 32-5 | 16-4 |
| Minnesota | 26-9 | 14-6 |
| Illinois | 24-9 | 14-6 |
| Purdue | 24-11 | 12-8 |
| Michigan | 23-10 | 12-8 |
| Ohio State | 24-12 | 10-10 |
| Indiana | 23-12 | 9-11 |
| Northwestern | 20-13 | 9-11 |
| Michigan State | 15-16 | 7-13 |
| Wisconsin | 16-15 | 5-15 |
| Iowa | 7-22 | 2-18 |
So what does all this mean for the Big Ten in the NCAA Tourney? The conventional wisdom is that Penn State will be seeded #4 or #5, and that the Big Ten will place between 6 to 8 teams in the Tournament (Mike Hebert guessed 8, but said he’s always wrong). We’ll all know pretty soon, as the NCAA Tournament Selection Show is scheduled to air today at 3 p.m on ESPNews. Stay tuned!
All the automatic bids have been determined. Here’s the list:
The NCAA Women’s Volleyball Selection Show will air at 3 p.m. Eastern on ESPNews on Sunday, Nov. 28. Soon after the announcement, check back here at the NCAA volleyball blog for a quick breakdown of the field and to fill out your interactive bracket. Also, on Monday, the chair of the NCAA volleyball committee will answer a few questions about this year’s selection process right here on NCAA.com
Until then, here is a quick look at the automatic qualifiers that you will see during the show include:
America East Conference: Albany
Atlantic Coast Conference: Duke (regular-season champion)
Atlantic Sun Conference: Lipscomb
Atlantic 10 Conference: Dayton
Big 12: Nebraska (regular-season champion)
Big East Conference: Louisville
Big South Conference: High Point
Big Sky Conference: Portland State
Big Ten: Penn State (regular-season champion)
Big West: Cal State Fullerton (regular-season champion)
Colonial Athletic Association: Delaware
Conference USA: Tulsa (regular-season champion)
Horizon League: Butler
Ivy League: Penn (regular-season champion)
Mid-American Conference: Ohio
Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference: South Carolina State
Missouri Valley Conference: Northern Iowa
Metro-Atlantic Athletic Conference: Niagara
Mountain West Conference: Colorado State (regular-season champion)
Northeastern Conference: Sacred Heart
Ohio Valley Conference: Austin Peay
Pacific 10 Conference: California (regular-season champion)
Patriot League: American
Southern Conference: Georgia Southern
Southeastern Conference: Florida (regular-season champion)
Southland Conference: UTSA
Southwestern Athletic Conference: Alabama A&M
Summit League: North Dakota State
Sun Belt Conference: Middle Tennessee State
Western Athletic Conference: Utah State
West Coast Conference: San Diego (regular-season champion)