Who will come out on top? Will Illinois stay undefeated? As conference races heat up, look for these 5 thrillers to be just that. The Big Ten schedule boasts a trio of Top 20 matchups, while the Pac-12 slate features a pair of Top 20 showdowns.
Live streaming and stat links are available here, on the VolleyMob TV schedule.
Wisconsin (No. 3 VolleyMob/No. 5 AVCA) at Minnesota (No. 7 VolleyMob/No. 6 AVCA)
Wednesday, Sept. 26, 2018 at 9 p.m. ET
Maturi Pavilion | Minneapolis, Minn.
- The perfect start to the Big Ten season will end for one of these programs, which meet Wednesday night in Minneapolis, Minn.
- 3rd-ranked Wisconsin posted sweeps in each of its matchups last week, upending Ohio State and Rutgers inside UW Field House. The Badgers will have their first road test when they take on the Golden Gophers.
- 7th-ranked Minnesota also registered a pair of sweeps to open conference play, downing Penn State and Maryland on its home court last week.
- Both teams were projected to contend for this year’s Big Ten title by VolleyMob, as the Golden Gophers were selected league favorite and the Badgers were slotted to finish 3rd.
Nebraska (No. 5 VolleyMob/No. 3 AVCA) at Illinois (No. 4 VolleyMob/No. 7 AVCA)
Saturday, Sept. 29, 2018 at 8 p.m. ET
Huff Hall | Champaign, Ill.
- 4th-ranked Illinois survived last week and is the last undefeated NCAA Division I volleyball program. Though the Fighting Illini have faced 5 ranked opponents so far this season, they will receive their biggest test yet when they welcome the Huskers to Huff Hall Saturday.
- 5th-ranked Nebraska, which has not lost since its season-opener to Florida in 4 sets, is also off to a 2-0 start to Big Ten. The Huskers bested Michigan in 4 sets and knocked off Michigan State in 4 sets last weekend.
- In VolleyMob’s preseason projection, Nebraska was chosen to finish 2nd, while Illinois was slotted to finish 5th in conference standings.
USC (No. 9 VolleyMob/No. 13 AVCA) at Stanford (No. 2 VolleyMob/No. 2 AVCA)
Wednesday, Sept. 26 at 10 p.m. ET
Maples Pavilion | Stanford, Calif.
- The top 2 programs in the Pac-12 are set to square off on Wednesday night in Maples Pavilion, and you better believe the matchup will have title ramifications.
- 9th-ranked USC, which makes the trip to meet 2nd-ranked Stanford, enters the competition with a 5-match win streak. The Trojans are off to a 2-0 Pac-12 start after knocking off a pair of nationally ranked teams in UCLA (3-0) and Colorado (3-2).
- The Cardinal has yet to falter on its home court (4-0) and is riding an 8-match win streak heading into week 6 of the 2018 season. After posting back-to-back wins against Texas, Stanford opened the Pac-12 season with wins over California (3-0) and Arizona (3-1).
Penn State (No. 12 VolleyMob/No. 9 AVCA) at Michigan (No. 16 VolleyMob/No. 17 AVCA)
Sunday, Sept. 30 at 1 p.m. ET
Crisler Center | Ann Arbor, Mich.
- How will the youthful Penn State squad respond to its first 0-2 start since 2000? We will surely find out when the 12th-ranked Nittany Lions take on 16th-ranked Michigan this Sunday on the road.
- The Wolverines, who saw their perfect season end against Illinois last week, are a perfect 8-0 at home this season and are 12-1 overall.
Colorado (No. 23 VolleyMob/No. 23 AVCA) at Washington State (No. 22 VolleyMob/No. 22 AVCA)
Sunday, Sept. 30, 2018 at 3 p.m. ET
Bohler Gym | Pullman, Wash.
- In a difficult Pac-12 slate victories are difficult to come by, and you better believe the matchup between 23rd-ranked Colorado and 22nd-ranked Washington State will be an absolute battle.
- Though off to an 0-2 start with losses to Washington (3-2) and Oregon (3-2), the Cougars remain perfect inside Bohler Gym (3-0) this season.
- This will be the first weekend on the road for the Buffaloes, who defeated Utah (3-2) and fell to USC (3-2) on their home court to open Pac-12 play.
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