[FarmBoy]

This will be the 39th NCAA women's volleyball championship. Stanford has now made the final four in 23 of those years. An amazing, consistent excellence spanning three coaches across those 39 years.

Match time set for Thursday. Stanford faces Minnesota in the 2nd semifinal at 6:30 pm pacific (or after the conclusion of the 1st match if it runs long).

It's funny, my sister tried to argue with me that Stanford has a lot more variation in outccome than other top programs because their academic standard can create a feast of famine effect (i.e., only in the years when the top players are also top students, Stanford can land a great class). I'll have to share these stats with her.

Also, Stanford and Penn State are the only two schools to participate in all of the tournaments.

I think that's true, but more of a problem for some sports than others.

My theory has always been that this is more of an issue in boys'/men's sports because the boys who get into it have dreams of playing professionally, so they feel more free to slack on school. Girls realize that sports is only opening a door but don't get sucked into the idea they could make millions on their athletics so they still need to work/study. So there is a lot more intersection of top female athletes focused on also achieving in academics than boy athletes. So while there is variability, it seems like there is almost always some strong cohort of girls who are killing it on the field and in the classroom. A gross generalization, but I wonder if there's data to back it up.

[FarmBoy]

This will be the 39th NCAA women's volleyball championship. Stanford has now made the final four in 23 of those years. An amazing, consistent excellence spanning three coaches across those 39 years.

Match time set for Thursday. Stanford faces Minnesota in the 2nd semifinal at 6:30 pm pacific (or after the conclusion of the 1st match if it runs long).

It's funny, my sister tried to argue with me that Stanford has a lot more variation in outccome than other top programs because their academic standard can create a feast of famine effect (i.e., only in the years when the top players are also top students, Stanford can land a great class). I'll have to share these stats with her.

Also, Stanford and Penn State are the only two schools to participate in all of the tournaments.

I think that's true, but more of a problem for some sports than others.

My theory has always been that this is more of an issue in boys'/men's sports because the boys who get into it have dreams of playing professionally, so they feel more free to slack on school. Girls realize that sports is only opening a door but don't get sucked into the idea they could make millions on their athletics so they still need to work/study. So there is a lot more intersection of top female athletes focused on also achieving in academics than boy athletes. So while there is variability, it seems like there is almost always some strong cohort of girls who are killing it on the field and in the classroom. A gross generalization, but I wonder if there's data to back it up.