The Big Ten conference, which features 3 of the top 4 teams in the latest NCAA women’s volleyball RPI rankings (as they have all season), has surpassed the Pac-12 as the toughest conference in the country.
The Pac-12 have continued to pound each other in conference play, with a four-way tie now at the top of the conference standings. Washington, UCLA, Stanford, and Oregon are all 10-4 in their Pac-12 games this season, with Washington (20-4) having the best overall record.
While the worst teams in the Pac-12 are undeniably better than the worst teams in the Big Ten, the Big Ten’s top-end power has finally been rewarded as they jump to the top of the latest RPI conference power rankings.
The RPI takes into account things like win/loss records and strength of schedule in an attempt to more objectively rank teams than does a coaches’ poll. Both measures are combined to help the NCAA tournament selection committee make its decisions for who plays on into December and where they’re seeded in that tournament.
The Big Ten now has 3 of the top 4 teams in the country, 4 of the top 11, and 5 of the top 15. The Pac-12’s highest-rated team is Stanford at #8, followed by Washington at #13 and UCLA at #14.
While the Pac-12’s bottom half is rated higher than the Big Ten’s bottom-half, there is no point in which the equivalent Pac-12 team is higher-ranked than the equivalent Big Ten team. For example, the 12th Big Ten team is ranked higher than the 12th Pac-12 team, the 8th Big Ten team is ranked higher than the 8th Pac-12 team, etc. Having 14 teams, with Northwestern (#151) and Rutgers (#182) both ranked lower than the Pac-12’s last-ranked team (Cal – #145) has brought down the Big Ten’s average all year, but their top-end teams have finally lifted to balance that out.
Here’s the relative rankings of the conference’s teams:
| Big Ten 1 Wisconsin |
| Big Ten 2 Nebraska |
| Big Ten 3 Minnesota |
| Pac-12 1 Stanford |
| Big Ten 4 Michigan |
| Pac-12 2 Washington |
| Pac-12 3 UCLA |
| Big Ten 5 Michigan St. |
| Big Ten 6 Purdue |
| Pac-12 4 Oregon |
| Big Ten 7 Penn St. |
| Pac-12 5 Arizona |
| Pac-12 6 Utah |
| Big Ten 8 Ohio St. |
| Pac-12 7 Southern California |
| Pac-12 8 Washington St. |
| Big Ten 9 Indiana |
| Big Ten 10 Illinois |
| Pac-12 9 Colorado |
| Big Ten 11 Iowa |
| Pac-12 10 Oregon St. |
| Big Ten 12 Maryland |
| Pac-12 11 Arizona St. |
| Pac-12 12 California |
| Big Ten 13 Northwestern |
| Big Ten 14 Rutgers |
Full Conference-by-Conference RPI power rankings for November 7th, 2016
| 0 | CONFERENCE | NUMBER OF TEAMS | Total Ranking Points | Average Ranking |
| 1. | Big Ten | 14 | 701 | 50.07 |
| 2. | Pac-12 | 12 | 611 | 50.92 |
| 3. | Big 12 | 9 | 486 | 54.00 |
| 4. | Southeastern | 13 | 1133 | 87.15 |
| 5. | West Coast | 10 | 983 | 98.30 |
| 6. | AAC | 11 | 1126 | 102.36 |
| 7. | Mountain West | 11 | 1190 | 108.18 |
| 8. | Colonial | 9 | 995 | 110.56 |
| 9. | Big East | 10 | 1214 | 121.40 |
| 10. | Atlantic Coast | 15 | 1845 | 123.00 |
| 11. | Missouri Valley | 10 | 1389 | 138.90 |
| 12. | Horizon | 9 | 1263 | 140.33 |
| 13. | Big West | 9 | 1263 | 140.33 |
| 14. | Conference USA | 13 | 2262 | 174.00 |
| 15. | Mid-American | 12 | 2127 | 177.25 |
| 16. | Ivy League | 8 | 1437 | 179.63 |
| 17. | ASUN | 8 | 1445 | 180.63 |
| 18. | Big Sky | 12 | 2175 | 181.25 |
| 19. | Western Athletic | 8 | 1470 | 183.75 |
| 20. | Atlantic 10 | 10 | 1871 | 187.10 |
| 21. | Southern | 9 | 1769 | 196.56 |
| 22. | Sun Belt | 12 | 2373 | 197.75 |
| 23. | America East | 7 | 1480 | 211.43 |
| 24. | Summit League | 9 | 1956 | 217.33 |
| 25. | Big South | 9 | 1960 | 217.78 |
| 26. | Patriot | 9 | 2039 | 226.56 |
| 27. | OVC | 12 | 2719 | 226.58 |
| 28. | Southland | 13 | 3082 | 237.08 |
| 29. | Northeast | 8 | 2082 | 260.25 |
| 30. | Metro Atlantic | 10 | 2720 | 272.00 |
| 31. | Mid-Eastern | 13 | 3730 | 286.92 |
| 32. | Southwestern | 10 | 3048 | 304.80 |
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