John YoungAt the end of the 2015 college volleyball season, Big 12 programs Kansas and Texas were two of the final four teams still standing, joining Nebraska and Minnesota at the Final Four in Omaha, Nebraska.
Heading into 2016, that’s exactly the way the Big 12 coaches see things playing out in the conference standings.
Perennial powerhouse Texas was the near-unanimous pick to the win the conference and surely would have been had the Longhorns been able to vote for themselves. Instead, UT garnered eight of the nine first place votes and Kansas, which was picked second in the preseason poll, received the other.
“This league has as many returning players, so the quality of the league is going to be better than it has ever been before,” KU head coach Ray Bechard said. “The difference between No. 1 and No. 9 is going to be who can bring it every night and get the job done.”
KU’s No. 2 projection ties for its highest preseason ranking in the Big 12’s 21-year history. In 2014, the Jayhawks also were picked second with one first-place vote.
Kansas has finished second in the Big 12 regular-season standings for three consecutive seasons, finishing behind Texas each time, but Bechard said he believed the conference fielded more than just two quality teams.
“With the talent in our league, this is an opportunity for the Big 12 to be as nationally prominent as it has been in many, many years,” Bechard said. “We just want to be a part of that prominence.”
Kansas features five returning starters, including Big 12 Preseason Player of the Year Kelsie Payne, from a 2015 squad that finished the season ranked No. 4 in the nation and advanced to the program’s first-ever Final Four.
The Jayhawks led the Big 12 in kills, assists, aces and defensive hitting percentage during the historic 2015 season.
The 2016 season begins on Friday, Aug. 26 against Mississippi State in Starkville, Mississippi.
2016 BIG 12 VOLLEYBALL PRESEASON POLL
Texas (8)
Kansas (1)
Iowa State
TCU
Oklahoma
Kansas State
Baylor
Texas Tech
West Virginia
