National Championship game coming on now.

Who ya got? I like Louisville in 5.

How did they get a dying cat to sing the national anthem?

Anyone have any insight into any of our players entering the portal beside Ital?

"In 2017, the Louisville Cardinals spent $1.82 million on their women's volleyball budget, ranking 27th among FSB schools. However, the school's annual volleyball budget increased exponentially throughout the years. According to Sportico's latest figures, the team made it to the top 10 spenders in the nation in 2022. That year, Louisville outspent Penn State for the first time, pouring $3.25 million into their volleyball program. Meanwhile, the Nittany Lions spent $3 million in 2022, raking 11th, right behind the Cardinals."

I have zero clue who to root for! I feel for Penn State's head coach and everything she's going through! But I also feel for Anna Debeer, she grew up in Louisville and has worked for the past 5 years for this moment only to get hurt in the semi's… either way there will be tears after match point

Always exciting to see teams play without any subs left. America the only country in the world that plays with so many subs.

10 set points and lost amazing.

MarkPro said:

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Anyone have any insight into any of our players entering the portal beside Ital?

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I haven't heard anything, I assumed weeks ago there would be more than 1, but these girls have until the second week of the second semester to commit to another school, their portal entry doesn't have to be made public

Louisville definitely needs their star player at this stage vs this Penn St team.

That senior girl #4 for Louisville, Charitie Luper, is from Dallas and she's amazing out there jumping then spiking it.

Penn State playing really well. Would love to see Cards come back for hometown and wo Anna.

Congrats to PSU. Well earned. Coach gave a life lesson in resilience this year.

They didn't get screwed. Sites are selected ahead of time and crying about it after the fact is pretty lame. PSU got to play a team without their best player.

I know they are selected ahead of time. But the sport has grown big enough where top programs being selected as host sites for the final four is stupid.

Any path thru Nebraska is well earned. Especially how they won that one.

DannyDuberstein said:

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I know they are selected ahead of time. But the sport has grown big enough where top programs being selected as host sites for the final four is stupid.

Any path thru Nebraska is well earned. Especially how they won that one.

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It's a weird complaint. All sites are predetermined at some point and teams have to play there. Saying they got screwed is just a dumb statement.

Hoops. Football. Any competition has a host site and you can't predict who will be there. Crying about it after the fact? No thanks.

The consistent name calling is really helping your case. Very mature.

Yes, sometimes a game will be in the general region of the country or state of a participant. But it's never the home stadium in those sports. Ever. Want me to do that research for you? Please show me the last college football title game or March Madness Final Four held on a team's actual home field or court. I'll wait

DannyDuberstein said:

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The consistent name calling is really helping your case. Very mature.

Yes, sometimes a game will be in the general region of the country or state of a participant. But it's never the home stadium in those sports. Ever. Want me to do that research for you? Please show me the last college football title game or March Madness Final Four held on a team's actual home field or court. I'll wait

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Just stop crying about it. I never called you name. I did call how you're acting as a crybaby. There is a difference and I apologize if it came across that way.

If we can hang onto Morrison, it might be time for that forum. I'm trying to lay the groundwork for when we do make one of these, we don't find ourselves playing Pitt on their home floor.

DannyDuberstein said:

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If we can hang onto Morrison, it might be time for that forum. I'm trying to lay the groundwork for when we do make one of these, we don't find ourselves playing Pitt on their home floor.

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I'll agree with you on that. And the need for a VB forum.

Oh, NOW you agree on venue.

And you can stick that "bitter loser" stuff. Don't have the guts to stand behind it, I guess. Grow up.

DannyDuberstein said:

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Oh, NOW you agree on venue.

And you can stick that "bitter loser" stuff. Don't have the guts to stand behind it, I guess. Grow up.

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That seems childish. I was trying to not be harsh about your bad take so I didn't make you cry more. You do seem bitter and hostile. Maybe take down time to reflect over the holidays. I wish you the best.

You rarely see the NC game at one teams site because it needs a perfect storm of that one team making it. Nebraska had that chance in VB only 2 years ago. It happens but rarely. Crying after the fact is just sour grapes

DannyDuberstein said:

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Oh, NOW you agree on venue.

And you can stick that "bitter loser" stuff. Don't have the guts to stand behind it, I guess. Grow up.

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Hanging onto our coach. Not your bitter crying about locations.

DannyDuberstein said:

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Let me know when they schedule the Final Four at Cameron Indoor or the football title game in Tuscaloosa. It's a ridiculous approach and your response makes no sense. Not comparable because those sports actually don't select the home court/stadium of top programs as finals/final four host sites. You are actually making my point. Those sports don't allow that kind of nonsensical scenario to occur

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I think there is a fundamental difference you are overlooking. Football and basketball have pro sports stadiums that bid to host. There aren't really any pro volleyball stadiums, so the big volleyball programs actually have some of the best venue options.

If you look at other sports without a major professional equivalent, many of them are also hosted at college home sites. Oregon regularly hosts track and field nationals championships. Tennis, swim/dive, equestrian and others are also hosted on campus. Baseball is in Omaha because Omaha built some really nice facilities to host. Softball is hosted in OK city for similar reasons.


Overall, if you look at all the sports, it is pretty apparent that they try to find the best venues. When possible, they use pro venues or even purpose built facilities for hosting, but otherwise they are hosting on college campuses, and the best college venues usually aligns with the top programs.


So, if you want women's volleyball finals not on a college campuses, then you need pro venues that would be interested in hosting or a purpose built facility that will perpetually host. Finding a pro basketball arena may make sense, but you would also need to convince the venues that it was worth it.

BiochemAg97 said:

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DannyDuberstein said:

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Let me know when they schedule the Final Four at Cameron Indoor or the football title game in Tuscaloosa. It's a ridiculous approach and your response makes no sense. Not comparable because those sports actually don't select the home court/stadium of top programs as finals/final four host sites. You are actually making my point. Those sports don't allow that kind of nonsensical scenario to occur

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I think there is a fundamental difference you are overlooking. Football and basketball have pro sports stadiums that bid to host. There aren't really any pro volleyball stadiums, so the big volleyball programs actually have some of the best venue options.

If you look at other sports without a major professional equivalent, many of them are also hosted at college home sites. Oregon regularly hosts track and field nationals championships. Tennis, swim/dive, equestrian and others are also hosted on campus. Baseball is in Omaha because Omaha built some really nice facilities to host. Softball is hosted in OK city for similar reasons.


Overall, if you look at all the sports, it is pretty apparent that they try to find the best venues. When possible, they use pro venues or even purpose built facilities for hosting, but otherwise they are hosting on college campuses, and the best college venues usually aligns with the top programs.


So, if you want women's volleyball finals not on a college campuses, then you need pro venues that would be interested in hosting or a purpose built facility that will perpetually host. Finding a pro basketball arena may make sense, but you would also need to convince the venues that it was worth it.

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Thank you for taking the time to put out that detailed reply. Other sports used to be in a similar situation. Like Wooden getting to home court in hoops back in the day. It's the nature of the game.

And my initial point is that this sport is huge now; finding a willing venue is not going to be an issue. Neutral basketball arenas are perfectly suitable; they already do that some years. The Yum Center is primarily a bball facility, not a specialty arena

DannyDuberstein said:

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And my initial point is that this sport is huge now; finding a willing venue is not going to be an issue. Neutral basketball arenas are perfectly suitable; they already do that some years. The Yum Center is primarily a bball facility, not a specialty arena

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The NCAA host selection process is well established. Venues bid to host, committee selects locations, all a few years in advance.

But good news for you… the next 3 sites have already been selected. Although, tOSU hosting at Nationwide Arena would seem like a pretty strong "home court advantage" but not technically on campus.

DannyDuberstein said:

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And my initial point is that this sport is huge now; finding a willing venue is not going to be an issue. Neutral basketball arenas are perfectly suitable; they already do that some years. The Yum Center is primarily a bball facility, not a specialty arena

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No. You pretty clearly claimed PSU was screwed having to play at Louisville. Don't crawfish. Own it

DannyDuberstein said:

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I know they are selected ahead of time. But the sport has grown big enough where top programs being selected as host sites for the final four is stupid.

Any path thru Nebraska is well earned. Especially how they won that one.

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Obviously, my opinion is that it's unfair, but it's also that the sport has grown to be popular enough not to have to resort to it like some of the others.

DannyDuberstein said:

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DannyDuberstein said:

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I know they are selected ahead of time. But the sport has grown big enough where top programs being selected as host sites for the final four is stupid.

Any path thru Nebraska is well earned. Especially how they won that one.

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Wow. Quoting yourself AFTER you get shown up? That's convincing.

DannyDuberstein said:

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Pitt got screwed as a #1 overall seed playing against a team with literal home court advantage. The momentum in that game clearly swung partly due to crowd support and once it was rolling from the late 3rd and into the 4th, they just couldn't stop it. Similar story with the 2nd set today but PSU did a great job rallying back for the 3rd

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Here was the original bad take. Nobody got screwed.