The Bias Factor: Latest MPSF power rankings

There are the conference standings, and than there are the conference power rankings to help show what teams are on the rise or fading.

Off the Block special contributor Jonathan Bates released his latest MPSF Power Rankings, a new weekly that will appear on Off the Block each Tuesday during the rest of the regular season.

Bates has covered the MPSF for Off the Block during the last two seasons.This power ranking is the solely the views of Bates. Follow Bates on Twitter at @mpsf_bias.

MPSF POWER RANKING – Week 11


1. Hawai’i
Change from last week:
No change
If they are No. 1 the AVCA poll and in RPI, you know they have to be No. 1 in my poll.

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2. UC Irvine
Change from last week:
No change
Didn’t play last week because of final exams but huge matches await them in Provo, Utah, this weekend.

3. Pepperdine
Change from last week:
No change
It’s performance versus BYU spoke volumes. I can’t penalize UC Irvine for not playing matches, so Pepperdine remains at No. 3. I think I can make a solid argument that setter Matt West should be the MPSF Player of the Year.

4. BYU
Change from last week:
+1
While it lost two matches, BYU did lose a team superior to them. Pepperdine is undefeated at home and we are truly seeing what kind of team the Cougars are – great at home; not so much on the road.

5. UC Santa Barbara
Change from last week:
+1
I debated last week placing UC Santa Barbara here, and this week I did. UC Santa Barbara, like Stanford, UC San Diego, UC Irvine and UCLA, did not play last week. I am more penalizing Long Beach State for their five-game loss to USC than I am rewarding UC Santa Barbara.

6. Long Beach State
Change from last week:
-1
Long Beach State did sweep Cal Baptist, but that loss at home to a USC team that is not playing well is inexcusable.

7. UCLA
Change from last week:
+2
UCLA starting Thursday plays four matches in six days. Let’s see how the young team fares. I really am curious to see how they do at USC because their first meeting was sans-Micah Christenson.

8. Stanford
Change from last week:
+1
Looking forward to its matches vs CSUN and Long Beach State.

9. CSUN
Change from last week:
+1
Sweeping a team ranked higher than you (USC) and winning a five-game thriller gets you a bump in my rankings.

10. USC
Change from last week:
-3
On paper, is USC the third worst team in the conference? No way. But they are really struggling right now.

11. Cal Baptist
Change from last week:
No change
Taking opponents to five games in two of their last three matches is a cause for optimism.