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There will be a new national ranking system in college men’s volleyball this season.
Off the Block announced Tuesday that it will coordinate the inaugural Off the Block/Springbak, Inc. National Media Poll throughout the 2016 season.
The Off the Block/Springbak, Inc. National Media Poll will recognize the top 10 teams in NCAA Division I-II men’s volleyball with new rankings being released each Tuesday during the regular season. This also will be the only national poll in college men’s volleyball solely voted upon by media members from around the nation.
With the increased college men’s volleyball media coverage in recent years, the media poll was developed to help further grow the game. The media poll will serve the volleyball community as an additional metric to acknowledge the best teams in the nation and increase discussion among fans about what teams are the best.
A media poll is common in other college sports such as football or basketball, but men’s volleyball did not have an active media poll for the upcoming season.
This will be one of two weekly national voting polls in 2016. The AVCA National Coaches Poll will continue to be released every Monday during the regular season, while the media poll will be released each Tuesday starting next week.
Similar to the coaches poll, the national media poll will not be part of the criteria used by the selection committee to determine the NCAA Tournament field.
Off the Block has invited college men’s volleyball media members from around the nation to participate in the inaugural year of the national media poll. The journalists voting in the poll are from a variety of media platforms including television broadcast, radio, newspapers and online journalism.
A list of the confirmed voters for the 2016 national media poll is included below.
Off the Block is a college men’s volleyball website that launched in 2011 and has emerged as one of the nation’s leaders in college men’s volleyball.
Springbak, Inc. is the official sponsor of the 2016 National Media Poll. Springbak, Inc. produces high performance footwear used by professional athletes in the NFL, NBA, MLB, U.S. Olympic teams and the top college teams in the nation.
2016 OFF THE BLOCK/SPRINGBAK, INC. NATIONAL MEDIA POLL
Kevin Barnett — The Net Live host, Pac-12 Network announcer
Jonathan Bates — Off the Block special contributor
Rob Espero — UC Irvine announcer, The Net Live contributor
Joe Flaherty — Loyola announcer
Kaitlyn Jasnica — The Herald-News volleyball reporter
Jarom Jordan — BYUtv volleyball announcer, BYU Sports Nation host
Blair Lambert — From the Pins editor
Vinnie Lopes — Off the Block editor
Jerry Stub — The Middle Hitter editor
Ted Wang — Off the Block special contributor
Christopher Wells — Hawai’i radio announcer
*[Editor’s note: While this is a near finalized list of voters, additional media poll voters may be added in the upcoming weeks.]