The Big West still has to fully get submerged into league action, as no team has played more than two matches in conference play. Still, the non-conference portion has shown enough to establish a possible pecking order in the league. No list can start without Long Beach State though, who is the top team in the country. After not just beating teams but mostly earning sweeps, the question becomes if anyone can knock off the 49ers or if they are destined for an unbeaten season.
With new story-lines emerging and a new season of sorts in league play commencing, VolleyMob will be giving conference updates. Below is analysis as well as the weekly Big West table, awards, matches of the week and power rankings:
BIG WEST TABLE:
| TEAM | CONF. | OVERALL |
| #1 LBSU | 2-0 | 16-0 |
| #10 UCSB | 2-0 | 7-5 |
| #2 Hawaii | 1-1 | 11-2 |
| #3 UC Irvine | 1-1 | 11-4 |
| #16 CSUN | 0-2 | 8-7 |
| UCSD | 0-2 | 8-9 |
WEEKLY HONORS:
- VolleyMob Honorable Mention POTW (Keenan Sanders – UCSB)
- VolleyMob Honorable Mention POTW (Austin Matuatia – Hawaii)
- VolleyMob Honorable Mention POTW (TJ DeFalco – LBSU)
- Big West Weekly Awards
MATCHES OF THE WEEK:
- Mar. 8: #11 Ball State at #3 UC Irvine
- Mar. 8: #8 Lewis at #2 Hawaii
- Mar. 9: #15 Penn State at #2 Hawaii
- Mar. 10: #11 Ball State at #10 UCSB
- Mar. 10: #5 BYU at #2 Hawaii
VOLLEYMOB BIG WEST POWER RANKINGS:
- LBSU
- Hawaii
- UC Irvine
- UCSB
- CSUN
- UCSD
CAN ANYONE STOP THEM?
- #1 Long Beach State 49ers
Not only is Long Beach State still undefeated both overall and early on in Big West action, but they have won 48 of the 51 sets they have appeared in. They’ve still yet to even be pushed to a fifth set, and they’ve even played UCLA twice, CSUN twice and road matches against Loyola Chicago and Lewis – which were both sweeps. We’ve yet to see them take on UC Irvine or Hawaii, but as of right now the gap between the Beach and everyone else seems to be distant enough that the question can be asked if the 49ers are destined to go unbeaten. It might come down to the end of the year, as their final two regular season matches will be on the road in Honolulu against the Rainbow Warriors.
THE TOP CHALLENGERS
- #2 Hawaii Rainbow Warriors
The Rainbow Warriors have shown the ability to beat top teams – doing so against UC Irvine and UCLA. At this point though, they may have to beat LBSU both times, which would take an incredible string of play. Regardless though, as long as they take care of business elsewhere, they will set themselves up nicely to at least get an at-large bid if they cannot overtake Long Beach State.
- #3 UC Irvine Anteaters
UC Irvine is in a similar situation to Hawaii. They rank highly and have beaten some of the top-notch teams this season. Taking down LBSU would be a whole different animal though, as a home-and-home comes on March 30 and 31 with plenty on the line. They’re a bit tighter with other schools though for an at-large bid, so they could really use what would be a resume altering victory over LBSU in at least one of them, even if they cannot win the league.
- #10 UC Santa Barbara Gauchos
Maybe lost a bit in the shuffle of the top three teams in the nation is UCSB, who is tied with LBSU through two matches of Big West data. A sweep at BYU and a four-set win at Pepperdine shows they can handle the top, with the most stern test coming in a home-and-home with LBSU on March 15 and 16. At the very least if they can finish second in the Big West, they would give themselves a great shot at an at-large bid.
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