On a ground-breaking Sunday for NCAA women’s volleyball when Wisconsin’s tall timber gave viewers an eyeful on a “Big 4” TV network, one of the favorites for the national championship was felled.
The No. 2-ranked Badgers took no prisoners in their Big Ten border-war blowout over Minnesota on Fox TV that seems likely to shatter the record for viewership of a regular-season volleyball match and might even challenge the all-time mark.
On the flip side, No. 3 Stanford struck a major speedbump, scoring just 51 points in a loss to Pac-12 upstart Arizona State. Another huge West Coast upset saw No. 6 Washington State stumble on its home court against conference back marker Oregon State.
Stanford’s first Pac-12 defeat, and such a lopsided one to boot, could have major implications in the VolleyballMag.com Super 16 Media Poll that comes out Monday morning, and comes on the heels of the Cardinal’s being named No. 2 (behind Nebraska and over Wisconsin) in the second rankings released Sunday by the NCAA’s selection committee.
The Sun Devils — tied with No. 8 Oregon at two games behind Stanford in the loss column — stamped themselves as…
