6 Predictions for 2025

On the eve of the 2025 season, let's make some wild predictions about 2025!

Jan 02, 2025

Over the years, I have repeatedly mentioned that the VBelo model does not make predictions. Instead, it makes projections of what is likely to happen. Since we don’t have any matches yet, it feels like now is a great time to (cautiously) wade into the water of predictions.

Just to be clear, these are my predictions and they are not backed up by any model. These are the solely expressed opinions of a volleyball fan who wanted to make an elo model for Men’s Volleyball. I’m not the only one with opinions though. I would love to hear some predictions you have for the 2025 season!

1. A Bruin dynasty is…brewing

UCLA is looking to be the first team since the early 1980’s to three-peat. And yes, the last team to do it was also UCLA when they four-peated from 1981-1984. the talent that the Bruins return is impressive. That would be enough to earn them a majority of the pre-season favorite votes. Then you add their incredible pickup of Cameron Thorne from Grand Canyon to fill in their hole at middle blocker. The coaching change is more of a homecoming and less of a new regime, so I am not concerned about that. John Hawks is probably the preseason favorite for coach of the year too. They will have a target on their backs all season and I think they have the pieces to make it all the way.

2. New ratings records

This winter, the collegiate women’s game set the new standard for media coverage for volleyball. It seemed like every week another team had a new attendance record! This was capped off with the incredible turnout of over 20,000 fans for the semifinals and the finals of the NCAA tournament. The men’s game is nowhere near this level, but they can ride the coattails of the women’s game to get even more attention this season. The national tournament will be held by Ohio State this season so the attendance cap is a bit disappointing at 3,700. I imagine that several teams will set attendance records this season and that the streaming numbers will be great for the championship.

3. International domination

The NCAA has been able to attract some incredible talent from outside of the United States in recent years. This season, we have some great youth national team players looking to make major splashes. I won’t be shocked when a majority of the Player of the Year candidates come from overseas. I also think we will see more players opting for an abbreviated college experience. I don’t think we are quite in an era of uncontrolled one-and-dones, but I could see players sticking around for 2 years and then jumping over to play international club volleyball.

4. NIL and transfers continue their rise

This is a bit of a cop-out. NIL is changing the face of collegiate sports everyday and it shows no signs of stopping. The obvious fear is that programs with big NIL budgets and connections will hoard all of the best players. The fear is also that players will bounce around to many different schools in search of a payday. Men’s volleyball is still small enough that the movement is limited but the impact is still felt. I think coaches and players will mention the impact of NIL more in their media availability and we will all get a better sense of what collegiate sports looks like in 2025 and beyond.

5. NEC is the home of the upset underdog

I have been saying this the past couple of years, but there are great things happening in the NEC. For the 2025 championship, the NEC will get an automatic qualification for the first time and I like their odds making a splash in May. I don’t think their ability to pull off upsets is only in May though. I will be watching the NEC closely to see if I am right, and I really hope I am.

6. First triple-double since 2022

I desperately want this to happen. I’m not sure it will happen this year since the game doesn’t really provide an avenue for running a 6-2 offense any more. But I think this is the year! Back in 2022, we had 4 triple-doubles! Since then, we haven’t seen a single triple double. If I had to take a guess, I think it will come from the IVA or the Conference Carolinas. But I will take it from anyone. It is just one of those fun things that I would love to see someone accomplish.

VBelo New Year’s Resolutions

Since it is a new year, I thought it might be fun to let you know some VBelo resolutions. These vary from very easy to wild pipe dreams.

Adding pre-season polls (conference and national) to the model
- I would love to have better adjustments to the model between seasons. This will take some time but I am hoping to actually work on it this year.
Pull match data from NCAA automatically
- This is a quality of life improvement I would love. Sure, there is the technical part which I have made some progress with. The other, more concerning part, is that I don’t fully trust the NCAA data. Most of it is very good. But not all.
VBelo Report guest reporter
- I would love to add additional voices to the volleyball media environment. This could be you! Seriously, let me know if you might be interested.
Enjoy great volleyball
- This is an easy one but I am so looking forward to watching great volleyball around the nation.

More Exhibitions

I will be the first to let you know I make mistakes from time to time. I missed Stanford’s exhibition matches on the previous newsletter so let’s get that corrected. Also, we have another Canadian exhibition match today! On Friday, we will get even more with the North American Challenge! It’s a great time for exhibition volleyball.