- The final week of non-conference play for Big Ten schools brings with it many enticing matchups, including five Top 25 contests. Currently, 13 of the 14 conference programs are at or above .500 this season, including nine with winning percentages of .667 or better this season. Six Big Ten schools also have at least one win over a ranked opponent this season, including multiple Top 25 wins for Minnesota (3), Ohio State (3), Penn State (2) and Wisconsin (2).
- Just nine days after No. 2 Nebraska helped set the NCAA regular-season single-match attendance record (15,797 vs. No. 17 Creighton at Omaha’s CHI Health Center), No. 4 Wisconsin will take its own swing at the record when it plays host to No. 16 Florida Friday at 8:30 p.m. (ET) at the 17,000-seat Kohl Center in Madison, Wis. (usually the home facility for the Badgers’ basketball and men’s hockey programs). The last match played at the Kohl Center was the 1998 NCAA national championship contest, when Long Beach State defeated Penn State, 3-2 before a then-NCAA record of 13,194 fans. Not only could Wisconsin eclipse the recently-established NCAA regular-season mark for single-match attendance, but also the regular-season record for a campus facility (13,870 – UCLA at Nebraska on Sept. 13, 2009). The overall NCAA single-match attendance record is 18,755, set last December when Wisconsin defeated Nebraska, 3-2 in the NCAA national championship match at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio.
- Ohio State has opened its season with six consecutive matches against Top 25 opponents, and the Buckeyes have found their footing by winning their last three, all against top-10 teams. Following a four-set win at No. 3 Louisville on Sept. 4, OSU downed No. 10 BYU (3-0) and No. 5 Georgia Tech (3-1) last weekend to earn the title at the Georgia Tech Classic in Atlanta. Ohio State will close out non-conference play with two more challenging matchups, taking on Tennessee and No. 12 Pittsburgh this weekend in the Steel City.
- Penn State toppled No. 11 Stanford and No. 18 Oregon, both in five sets, last weekend at the Big Ten/Pac-12 Challenge in Minneapolis. The Nittany Lions are off to an 8-0 start under first-year head coach Katie Schumacher-Cawley, their…
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