2X Defending Champs Ohio State Open At #1 In Men’s Preseason Rankings

  0 Carly DeMarque | December 07th, 2017 | Big West, College - Men's Indoor, Conference Carolinas, EIVA, Independents, MIVA, MPSF, News, Rankings

The two-time defending national champion, Ohio State, will open up the 2018 season as the #1 men’s team in the nation. Last season, the ended with the #1 ranking followed by BYU then Long Beach State, who flip-flopped in the opening rankings of 2018.

Rounding out the top-five are UCLA and Hawaii who ended 2017 season at #6 and #4, respectively.

Dropping out of the top-five ranking from the end of 2017 is UC Irvine, as they lost a number of their top players to graduation this season. Also falling back in the rankings are Pepperdine as they sat at #8 concluding last season but fell back to #10 in the preseason poll. USC, Ball State and Grand Canyon all moved back in the opening rankings. The Trojans fall from #11 to #12 while Ball State slides back to #14 from #12 and Grand Canyon to #15 from #13.

Loyola-Chicago jumped up one position from the end of season ranking to #13. They are returning some strong players this season, including Jeff Jendryk who was a main fixture on the Team USA court this summer. CSUN made a jump to #11 after finishing in the #15 spot.

The next men’s rankings will be released on January 8.

Rank School (First-Place Votes) Total Points Adjusted 2017 Record 2017 Final Rank
1 Ohio State (19) 361 32-2 1
2 Long Beach State (4) 345 27-4 3
3 BYU (1) 326 26-5 2
4 UCLA (1) 297 17-10 6
5 Hawai’i 274 27-6 4
6 Lewis 248 23-7 7
7 UC Irvine 204 20-7 5
8 Stanford 194 13-13 9
9 Penn State 172 21-11 10
10 Pepperdine 163 10-12 8
11 CSUN 99 12-15 15
12 Southern California 89 14-14 11
13 Loyola-Chicago 76 16-12 14
14 Ball State 68 19-10 12
15 Grand Canyon 55 19-11 13

Others receiving votes and listed on two or more ballots: Princeton 13; UC Santa Barbara 7; George Mason 5; UC San Diego 2

Two teams mentioned on only one ballot for a total of two combined points.

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About Carly DeMarque

Carly DeMarque

Carly DeMarque has been involved with competitive volleyball for the majority of her life, playing competitively at the club and collegiate level for 15 years and coaching club for five. Now a retired Division I volleyball athlete out of McNeese State University, she continues her volleyball enthusiasm by stepping back into …

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