And then there was one ... undefeated team, that is. It's No. 1 USC. The other perfect record, belonging to Kansas, was vanquished by (you guessed it) Texas last Friday. So the Trojans are alone atop the Pac-12. Same for the Longhorns in the Big 12. Kentucky leads the SEC, and Louisville and Florida State remained tied for first in the ACC.
So who's really in the driver's seat in the Big Ten? That answer has changed over the last few weeks, and now the arrow is pointing toward Minnesota. Here's a look at what's news in the world of kills, blocks, sets and digs.
1. Truly Golden Gophers?
Minnesota got a huge 3-1 victory at Nebraska last Friday, and then avoided any letdown Saturday in sweeping Iowa. Minnesota senior outside hitter Daly Santana had 23 kills and 15 digs against the Huskers, while junior middle blocker Hannah Tapp had 17 kills and four blocks.
The Golden Gophers are now ranked No. 4 in the American Volleyball Coaches Association poll. Minnesota, 17-3 overall, is in first place in the Big Ten at 9-1. Tied in second at 8-2 are Penn State, Ohio State, and Purdue. (The Nittany Lions and Buckeyes meet at 5 p.m. ET Wednesday on ESPNU).
But here's where things look extra-good for the Gophers: The schedule. They played only three of their first 10 Big Ten matches at home. Now for the rest of the regular season, that's flipped. They play seven of their remaining 10 matches at home in the Sports Pavilion -- including the next four in a row -- and three on the road.
Among those home matches for Minnesota is a visit from the only league team that's beaten the Gophers so far: Penn State on Nov. 14. The Nittany Lions topped Minnesota 3-2 -- with a 15-12 fifth set -- on Sept. 26 at Penn State.
2. Untangling the rest of the Big Ten
As good as this past weekend was for the Gophers, it was that bad for Nebraska. Playing host to two ranked teams, the Huskers stumbled twice. After Friday's loss to Minnesota, Nebraska fell by the same 3-1 score to Wisconsin on Saturday.
You might say that you simply must hold serve -- win at home -- to compete for the Big Ten title, but that's a lot easier said than done. Nebraska was celebrating its past success last weekend, honoring the 1995 NCAA title team and the 2005 NCAA runner-up squad. With all those alums on hand, the pressure may have been ratcheted up even more on the current Huskers.
But let's face it, this is also just a case of the Gophers and Badgers being really good teams.
Yet even at 7-3 in the Big Ten, the Huskers still aren't out of the race to win the league, since there's still half the conference season to play over the next month-plus. As for NCAA bids, the league probably still projects 10 of its 14 teams getting in. That would include Illinois and Northwestern, both 4-6 in the league. The Wildcats have a signature victory that the Illini don't, though, as Northwestern beat Penn State.
3. Texas: Crusher of dreams
OK, that's a bit overdramatic (maybe), but to teams who play in the Big 12, it probably does seem as if the Longhorns drive a bulldozer over their aspirations on a twice-a-year basis. Previously unbeaten Kansas, which had swept 14 of its 19 foes heading to Austin, Texas, got the sweep treatment from the Longhorns.
So now what can stop Texas from an unbeaten run through Big 12 play? The Jayhawks may still be the best bet. They get another shot at the Longhorns on Nov. 11, this time at home in Lawrence, Kansas. Then on Nov. 14, Texas has to travel to Iowa State, which is in third place at 6-2, behind 8-0 Texas and 7-1 Kansas.
Kansas can't spend any more time right now thinking about Texas, though. The Jayhawks will play at Iowa State on Wednesday with second place in the Big 12 on the line.
4. Fall of Troy? Huskies will try
USC has a two-game cushion in the Pac-12 at 10-0 and has looked pretty unperturbed of late. The closest challengers are Washington and UCLA at 8-2. Stanford, which beat Washington last week, is 7-3.
USC has been pushed to five sets just twice -- at Stanford on Sept. 27, and at Colorado on Oct. 9. The league might just rename the Pac-12 player of the week honor the "Samantha Bricio award" for this year, as she's won it five times. The USC senior is one of only three Pac-12 players to do that in a season (UCLA's Karsta Lowe did so last year, and Stanford's Logan Tom in 2001). And Bricio still has 10 regular-season matches left.
One of the more dangerous matches could be this Friday at Washington. The Huskies' only other loss this season besides to Stanford was at USC on Oct. 4.
5. League perfection
USC is the only undefeated team overall left, but there are 17 others who have not lost in conference play: Louisville and Florida State (ACC), New Hampshire (America East), Dayton (Atlantic 10), Creighton (Big East), Coastal Carolina (Big South), Texas (Big 12), Hawaii (Big West), James Madison (Colonial Athletic Association), Western Kentucky (Conference USA), Bethune Cookman (Mid-Eastern Athletic), Colorado State (Mountain West), American (Patriot League), Texas A&M Corpus Christi (Southland), Arkansas State and Appalachian State (Sun Belt) and New Mexico State (Western Athletic).