The Gators lost, but the fans won.
Amidst the media circus surrounding the possible Quran burnings and the Florida football team’s matchup with South Florida on Saturday, is this little tournament in the O’Connell Center.
OK, actually it’s a monumental tournament to volleyball fans.
The Nike Volleyball Big Four Classic, which is a four-team tourney that features four of the top-five squads in the country, raises an unpopular but logical concept that other sports should follow: play competitive teams early in the season to prepare for the stretch run.
On Friday the No. 4 Gators lost to No. 1 Penn State, which has won 109 straight matches. But UF will be better for it.
The other two teams in the tournament are No. 2 Stanford and No. 5 Texas.
“When I proposed the whole package and put [the event] together, it was four programs that I thought were good programs with great traditions, and great crowds in geographical areas that they are leaders in,” said Penn State coach Russ Rose, who came up with the idea for the tourney.
There is no regular season event in sports that compares to this.
This is the equivalent of putting together an early season college basketball tournament that brings out Kentucky, Syracuse, Kansas and Duke in games that count. That will never happen, but it should.
These four teams haven’t even started their conference schedules yet, let alone play seven matches this season. But, why not test your team early?
Florida came into its matchup against Penn State with a 5-0 record and wins against two top-ten teams, but it received a wake-up call Friday with a four-set loss on its home floor.
“If you don’t win and you lose to teams that are in the top three in the country, all that does is tell you that these are the teams you need to get better than late in the year,” Rose said.
This is exactly why coach Mary Wise agreed to participate in the Nike Volleyball Big Four Classic. Not only does a loss to the Nittany Lions give her an accurate assessment of where her team is at, but the quick turnaround to face the Longhorns on Saturday helps mimic the NCAA Tournament format.
“We are better from this experience,” Wise said.
You have to believe that she thinks the event has already been a success despite the loss, and Gators fans should to.
