The Wisconsin Badgers are participating in their second "opening weekend" of NCAA volleyball, as most teams are starting this weekend. Wisconsin has already played two high-profile matches during the AVCA First Serve. Now they enter another event called the Opening Spike Classic. This was an event that Wisconsin hosted last season, but now it's hosted by Pitt. There are four teams in the event, and all are ranked.
It's going to be high-flying volleyball that any volleyball fans won't want to miss, but Wisconsin fans will want to be locked in. Here's how you can watch, who's all in the field, and the biggest storylines to pay attention to.
How to watch Wisconsin
No. 6 Wisconsin vs. No. 5 Stanford
Time: 8 pm CT - August 28
TV: ESPN2
Streaming: ESPN+ (with a TV subscription)
Watch with FuboTV or add a subscription today.
No. 6 Wisconsin vs. No. 4 Pitt
Time: 11 am CT - August 30
TV: ESPN
Streaming: ESPN+ (with a TV subscription)
Watch with FuboTV or add a subscription today.
The complete Opening Spike Classic schedule
The good news for volleyball fans is that they can just watch one channel each day. Turn on ESPN2 the first day on August 28 at 5:30 pm CT and watch all the way through both matches. The same is true on Sunday, but on ESPN. See the schedule below.
Date | Match | Time | TV |
|---|---|---|---|
August 28 | No. 15 Kansas vs. No. 4 Pitt | 5:30 pm CT | ESPN2 |
August 28 | No. 6 Wisconsin vs. No. 5 Stanford | 8 pm CT | ESPN2 |
August 30 | No. 6 Wisconsin vs. No. 4 Pitt | 11 am CT | ESPN |
August 30 | No. 15 Kansas vs. No. 5 Stanford | 1:30 pm CT | ESPN |
The biggest storylines for Wisconsin
- Wisconsin's first match is against No. 5 Stanford, a team that has yet to play this season. The Cardinal is unseen, and so there are some strengths and weaknesses for this with the Badgers. Stanford has tape on Wisconsin, but Wisconsin now has some experience. Which will matter more?
- This is a rematch from last season's NCAA Tournament where Wisconsin took the match over Stanford 3-1. The Cardinal are looking for revenge.
- Will Wisconsin look more like the team that took on Louisville or the team that took on Kentucky?
- Kelly Sheffield is still trying to find out who his team is and what rotations seem to work the best. That's a storyline to pay attention to: how often and who gets in, and how each unit performs together.
- Wisconsin will get a chance to learn from Kansas against Pitt before seeing them two days later. That worked for the Badgers with Louisville; how will that work for this weekend?
The biggest storylines beyond Wisconsin
- Is Pitt the best team in the country? They went 2-0 against No. 3 Kentucky and Xavier. Neither match looked all that particularly close.
- Can Kansas play spoiler? The Jayhawks are a good team but are clearly the underdogs in the Opening Spike Classic. They won't be playing the Badgers but could spoil things for both Pitt and Stanford.
- This is now the second year, and ESPN really seems to be toying with college volleyball as a money-maker. Will the ratings keep college volleyball on the rise? Maybe not an on-court storyline, but it's an important one.
- How much will this weekend shake up the national rankings? New rankings will be coming out soon, and now there's been plenty of action to change things up. How will the voters decide who the top teams are after a wild couple of weeks?
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