Welcome to the Conference Era

24 matches. 7 conferences. 1 amazing Friday.

UCSD and Central State opened the Big West/SIAC Crossover yesterday. | Andrew Fischer/UC San Diego

This weekend will be our first taste of the 2024 Conference Era. Seven of the nine conferences will be battling it out. The two holdouts this weekend are the Big West and SIAC. Down in the SIAC, they have already started conference play with Kentucky State beating Benedict early this month. That just leaves the Big West.

The MIVA is not only the largest conference, but they have played the most conference matches so far. Here is a quick look at where things stand coming into today.

2024 MIVA Standings, as of 2/15/2024. | MIVA

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Three Intriguing Matches

1. Grand Canyon at BYU - The only undefeated left, Grand Canyon, will face a very tough BYU side in an even tougher environment, Smith Fieldhouse. There is approximately a 100% chance¹ that this match is action-packed. It doesn’t hurt that VBelo has this as a toss-up at 45/55.

2. Roberts Wesleyan at St. Thomas Aquinas - We finally have the very first Men’s Volleyball ECC match! I am thrilled we have another conference entering the fray. Even better, the first matchup is the closest of the day at 48/52!

3. UC Irvine at Stanford - Both of these programs have been overshadowed by powerhouses in their respective conferences. But make no doubt, they are dangerous any day of the week. If Will Rottman is back, watching him along with Hilir Henno will be something to behold.

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Match Recaps

MIVA

Ball State (64%) def. Purdue Fort Wayne (36%)
3-0 (25-19, 26-24, 25-23)

McKendree (58%) def. Queens (42%)
3-1 (26-28, 25-22, 25-19, 33-31)

Non-conference

UC San Diego (82%) def. Central State (18%)
3-0 (25-9, 25-14, 25-21)

UC Santa Barbara (92%) def. California Lutheran (8%)
3-1 (22-25, 29-27, 26-24, 25-19)

Dominican (64%) def. Bard (36%)
3-0 (25-14, 25-18, 25-16)

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Match Projections

ConfCarolinas

Barton (27%) vs Belmont Abbey (73%)

King (57%) vs Emmanuel (43%)

Lees-McRae (15%) vs Erskine (85%)

Mount Olive (32%) vs North Greenville (68%)

ECC

Roberts Wesleyan (52%) vs St. Thomas Aquinas (48%)

EIVA

Charleston (55%) vs Harvard (45%)

George Mason (45%) vs NJIT (55%)

Penn State (76%) vs Princeton (24%)

IVA

Tusculum (39%) vs Thomas More (61%)

MIVA

Lindenwood (24%) vs Lewis (76%)

Queens (35%) vs McKendree (65%)

Quincy (5%) vs Ohio State (95%)

MPSF

Grand Canyon (45%) vs BYU (55%)

Concordia (20%) vs Southern California (80%)

NEC

Daemen (66%) vs Sacred Heart (34%)

D'Youville (48%) vs Merrimack (52%)

Saint Francis (55%) vs Long Island (45%)

Non-conference

UC Irvine (43%) vs Stanford (57%)

Talladega College (23%) vs Fort Valley State (77%)

Edward Waters (39%) vs UC San Diego (61%)

Cumberland (19%) vs Missouri S&T (81%)

Morehouse (23%) vs Talladega College (77%)

Central State (1%) vs Long Beach (99%)

Roosevelt University (12%) vs Maryville (88%)

1. This is not based on any model, just my brain. And my brain is very fallible.