With nonconference play in the books, let’s look back on what we learned and what there is to look forward to.
1. It feels like we have more parity than ever this season. Top teams are going to have more losses than we are accustomed to. Not only did we have more ranked matchups, but we also saw more upsets left and right.
2. We saw a few non-Power Four schools emerge as threats this season. Creighton, for one, is a top-10 team out of the Big East. But another example is Wright State, which took down two Power Four programs in Ohio State and Miami (Fla.)
3. Headed into conference play, Pitt and Nebraska are the top two teams — and the top two teams to beat. The Panthers have yet to drop a single set and have been completely dominant through nonconference play. Now they will have a tough test of ACC foes like Stanford, Louisville and Georgia Tech.
POWER 10: Nebraska surges, Kansas enters in Michella’s latest rankings
4. There are multiple teams with a lot of potential to peak later in the season. We saw it last year with Texas peaking in the postseason and then winning a title — and we have more teams like that again this year. Texas, again, has…
