I see that you disagree with me GatorPlanet but consider she has taken the Gators to the final 4 like 8 times and hasn't brought home the trophy! We're elite in volleyball kind like the Buffalo Bills of the game only our record year in - year out is consistently better than the Bills. There's another comparison I might make but I'll refrain from that. Really hope that Mary can win one soon though! Maybe it's a bit harsh to call it a stain.
Actually they are doing pretty well. You may want to check them out if you haven’t already moved on. Go Gators
Recruiting is still not a level playing field here. That is why only 5 schools have won 67% since 1981. Mary has put us into the highest tier expectations wise, but it's really hard to break through. School NATTY Count % won (43 ttl) Stanford 9 ( 20.9% ) Penn State 7 ( 16.3% ) Nebraska 5 ( 11.6% ) Texas 4 ( 9.3% ) UCLA 4 ( 9.3% ) Hawaii 3 ( 7.0% ) Long Beach State 3 ( 7.0% ) Southern California 3 ( 7.0% ) Pacific 2 ( 4.7% ) Kentucky 1 ( 2.3% ) Washington 1 ( 2.3% ) Wisconsin 1 ( 2.3% )
Agreed! Perhaps my comment above was not appropriate, a bit too strong. Yes I believe it's true she is not consistently able to get the very best athletes because other schools have advantages. I also think she has done wonders developing the talent she was able to recruit. In spite of the above stats she has had some #1 ranked recruiting classes 9 Final Four appearances, 25 Southeastern Conference Championships, 33 consecutive 20-win seasons and 33 NCAA Tournament appearances. I believe that's the fourth-longest streak in D-I history. Florida has never won less than 25 matches in all 29 seasons under Wise. That's the longest active streak in D-I by 11 seasons. The Gators have finished in the top 15 of the final AVCA Division I Coaches Poll in 24 straight seasons. That's the second-longest streak in history. From 1995-2004, she won 145 consecutive regular season SEC matches. That's an NCAA record. Mary Wise is the all-time winningest female coach in Division I volleyball history 9 Final fours, but not once number 1. Contrast Basketball: 5 Final Fours, 2 NCAA championships I totally understand why you would not look for a new coach as long as Mary still wants to be our head coach. No doubt you would take a step down trying to replace her. I am not calling for a new VB coach, let that be clear. Just saying that it is statistically peculiar to be great for so long but not stand at the top at least once in so many tries. I still think she is great, I met her when my daughter went to VB summer camp with her high school team about 10 years ago and she as delightful and gracious as you can imagine
FSU (not Fresno State University) had a baseball coach go to the CWS 22 times and never won it all. It happens. IIRC in one semifinal (I think against Texas) a truly horrible call went against us and eventually cost us the match. Karch Kiraly was announcing and said that he hoped that called didn't decide the match. We had one of our best chances for a Natty that season.
SMH…we’re not doing bad, Coaching is pretty good…players doing OK…In contention at this point…so any more complaints?
This is by far the strangest Gator season in any sport I've witnessed. Maybe the team we are seeing now were the ones that were ranked early in season at #2 and only now believe in themselves.
