SMU volleyball establishes itself as a surprise success story in 2024.

SMU volleyball finds success from off-the-court culture

Will JuJu Watkins have a higher or lower usage-rate compared to her previous season

Can JuJu Watkins carry a higher usage rate? 

ACL tears and recovery for women athletes

Dartmouth soccer's Sonoma Adams shines on the sidelines 

Indiana University volleyball player is in law school

Indiana University volleyball and law school: a perfect match

Stanford and California bring talent to and already outstanding soccer conference.

The powerful ACC levels up with Stanford and California

Canisius and Quinnipiac soccer play for undefeated streak in the MAAC.

Battle for the MAAC: Canisius and Quinnipiac face off

The additions of UCLA, USC, Oregon, and Washington to the Big Ten have highlighted the difference in styles between big, physical East Coast teams like Wisconsin and Nebraska and West Coast squads that feature smaller, quicker play.

With conference realignment, West Coast style meets East Coast play

Nikki Quinn, redshirt freshman setter at Duke, credits coaches and mentors with helping her on her volleyball journey.

It takes a village: How mentors set Nikki Quinn on her path to Duke

To prepare for the season ahead, consider a trip abroad

The past, present, and future of number one ranked teams

Many top volleyball players find support from parents or siblings who played the game.

When volleyball runs in the family

What can NCAA volleyball tell us about the growth of women’s college sports? 

The new platform for women's collegiate sports

From Forbes: The new platform for women's collegiate sports

Women can return to play after subbing off, a difference in play with Division I men

New Rules: How rule changes shape soccer strategy

Three storylines for the NCAA volleyball season

A too early prediction of the Los Angeles 2028 US women's soccer roster 

Where to watch the USWNT's next generation 

The Olympic experience as an NCAA sports fan

The Big Ten Volleyball to Olympics pipeline

From Big Ten Volleyball to the Olympics

Analyzing how four NCAA basketball student-athletes look to help their new programs

Revisiting our transfer portal round up

How much of the USA's swim success comes from NCAA programs developing Olympic-level athletes?

How USA Swim remains at the top

Hear 5wins CEO on The CJ Silas Show 

Top teams look for Women's College World Series Opportunity

Ranking NCAA women's basketball players in the transfer portal

The top 10 transfers for 2024-25 season

A look back at the icon fashion that made the WNBA Draft 

Top Five WNBA Draft Looks

South Carolina beats Iowa for National Championship

South Carolina versus Iowa caps a historic season

South Carolina, NC State, Iowa, and UConn battle for spot in finals

Final Four matchups bring the heat

Women's basketball delivers in Elite Eight matchups 

The Elite Eight delivered on high expectations and more

Dyaisha Fair move into third on all-time NCAA Division I scorers list 

Dyaisha Fair moves into third on all-time NCAA Division I scorers list 

Women's basketball tournament Sweet 16 preview 

A Sweet Sixteen Preview

women's basketball tournament weekend one recap

Tournament weekend one is in the books 

Five teams that could pull of upsets in the opening round 

A Cinderella Story: Teams that could bust your bracket 

The Albany 2 region offers several key rematches

A guide to live mascots for tournament teams

Tournament teams coached by women

top matchups in women's college basketball tournament

5wins' top round-one matchups

Millrose Games bring out the best in athletes

Millrose Games brings out the best in athletes

women's basketball freshman will their teams to victories 

Top teams rely on freshmen stars 

South Carolina routs UConn

Caitlin Clark Sets NCAA Women's Scoring Record

Caitlin Clark sets NCAA women's scoring record

Softball top teams struggle opening weekend

Softball's top five struggle during opening weekend

Nebraska upsets No. 2 Iowa in front of sold out crowd

Caitlin Clark and Iowa Basketball play University of Maryland

The Caitlin Clark effect in action

NCAA Softball Rules Committee approves changes for 2024 season

Softball rules committee approves changes for 2024 season

The case for more women's coaches

Are perfect 10s in gymnastics out of control?

Stanford's Tara VanDerveer becomes winningest basketball coach

Tara VanDerveer becomes winningest NCAA basketball head coach

Top programs have players drafted to NWSL

Several universities feature prominently at NWSL draft

NCAA Volleyball Rules Committee Approves Changes

NCAA volleyball rules committee approves changes

Texas volleyball defeats Nebraska in national title game 

Texas wins back-to-back national titles 

Florida State soccers wins national championship

Florida State soccer wins fourth national championship

Four teams earn trip to NCAA Volleyball final four

The final four teams travel to Tampa

Athletes sue Oregon over Title IX infractions

Athletes sue University of Oregon over Title IX violations

Will basketball players sue to go pro earlier? 

NCAA Volleyball Tournament Down to Sixteen Teams 

Volleyball tournament continues with sixteen teams

Florida State and Stanford soccer play for national championship

Florida State and Stanford face off for College Cup championship

Sixteen volleyball teams remain in the tournament

Survive and advance: the round of sixteen is set

parity in women's basketball changes the game 

Increased parity grows the game

non-conference season sees multiple upsets

Basketball sees continued non-conference season upsets

Women's College World Cup kicks off

Let's dance: NCAA volleyball tournament begins

Caitlin Clark reaches 3,000 points

Angel Reese remains missing from LSU lineup and team

What is happening with LSU basketball?

Injuries plague UConn (again)

Wisconsin and Texas drop matches late in season

Top teams stumble late in season

UC Irvine upsets UCLA in tournament upset

UCLA falls to UC Irvine in first round upset

women's basketball thanksgiving tournaments

Thanksgiving tournaments entertain 

NCAA finds slight referee shortcomings in March Madness finals 

Growing the game: referee edition

top basketball teams to watch in the 2023-24 season

Top teams to watch in the 2023-24 season

Kentucky, Florida, Arkansas, and Tennessee seek championship

The race for the SEC championship

The collapse of the Pac-12 will harm women's sports 

The problem with super conferences 

Pittsburgh Head Coach Makes Impact with Nigerian National Team

Pittsburgh head coach makes impact with Nigerian National Team

Nineteen active NCAA player secure roster spots on World Cup teams 

NCAA stars travel to the World Cup

Predicting the 32 winners of the 2024 College Cup's first round

Slow and Steady: What Mia Sowders learned after her ACL tear

Texas defender Breana Thompson shares how Dallas soccer impacted her development

Disguised blessings after an injury

Five basketball storylines to know 

It seemed like a regular summer day in Pullman, Washington. Robin Jeffry, graduate assistant for Washington State (WSU) Women's Basketball, walked into practice and began shooting around with the staff. What else could he do?

The Pac-12 dissolution was swift and painful for West Coast fans and athletic departments alike. Universities now must deal with new rivals, travels, and challenges, with the burden falling on women's and non-revenue sports.

What does that mean for the schools in the conference formerly known as Pac-12?

"I do not envy the girls on the Stanford or Cal tennis teams," said Jeffry. "I can't imagine playing FSU on Tuesday night, landing and going back to school the next day."

On Aug. 4, 2023, Arizona, Arizona State, Utah, Oregon and Washington all announced their exit from the Pac-12 in favor of larger, wealthier conferences with better streaming deals. The announcements that Friday spurred an intense game of University Musical Chairs. While smaller schools like WSU and Oregon State (OSU) scrambled to market themselves as attractive additions, the more powerful schools left in the conference had to carefully choose a defining next move.

While Stanford and California ran off to the ACC, WSU and OSU had to settle for a step down and join the West Coast Conference.

"On some level, we didn't understand the decisions that other schools made," said Jeffry, "We didn't understand why they were choosing to take on these schools with lower viewership than Washington State has."

Cal and Stanford on air talent Kevin Danna couldn't feel bad about the fall of the the Pac-12 for weeks, only because it all seemed so surreal. His own hire for the upcoming seasons was held up as Stanford solidified its future.

"I think most would still want the Pac-12 to be alive. I know I would. But despite the travel, the ACC is the next best option. Change sucks, but it's what these schools need to do to stay at the top," said Danna. "This is a necessary evil for Cal and Stanford to stay at the top of college athletics."

However, what it means to be at the top of college athletics is increasingly being called into question across conferences and sports.

"[Conference realignment] is about making sure you can compete, stay in a power conference and make money, even though Stanford, Cal, Oregon and Washington are going to have to take fractional shares," said Danna.

If joining wealthier conferences is needed to stay at the top of revenue sports, and non-revenue sports need to be cut to maintain that position, the entirety of the goal of college athletics is brought under scrutiny.

With charter flights costing over $80,000 per flight, and commercial airline tickets costing over 100 dollars, the money to fund geographically diverse conference travel plans will have to come from somewhere; usually the smaller and Olympic sports budgets'.

"The undercurrent behind everything about conference realignment asks, 'Do we really want to do this? Are we sure this is all really a good idea?" said Danna. "Increasingly, you hear that football needs to break away as its own separate entity with other sports playing in more regional conferences. Hopefully we get there one day and hopefully the Pac-12 isn't dead forever."

That's the story of conference realignment; big schools and big sports take prestigious steps forward, leaving smaller schools and less urban areas behind.

For the old Pac-12 programs, the big questions will go on the back burner in the name of preparing for new opponents and challenges.

"I know the Stanford women's basketball staff is excited to see new schools and travel to new places," said Danna [They've] been scouting ACC opponents already, and to add a layer of difficulty, the transfer portal increases roster turnover. Everyone needs to do their homework early."

Stanford Women's Basketball will fly charter for next season, but other schools or other sports may not be so lucky; instead, they will rely on commercial coach flights. Charter, or lack thereof, especially taxes the larger body types of the best volleyball and basketball players. Charter or not, this distance means late flights and late returns to campus for teams flying across the country.

In 2023-24, Stanford Women's Basketball played 11 away games and six neutral site games, totaling just over 12,020 miles traveled the entire season. For the 2024-25 season (not including non-conference and potential tournament games), Stanford Women's Basketball projects to travel over 18,060 miles, representing a ⅓ increase from the previous season.

Former Stanford star forward Cameron Brink pointed to that very increase in travel as one of the reasons she jumped to the WNBA a year earlier than necessary.

"I'm kind of tired of school. Stanford is no joke." Brink said on The Bird and Taurasi alt-cast during the Final Four. "As much as I love my coaching staff and my teammates, I don't want to travel across the country."

Cameron Leary finished his baseball career with Boston College last month, smashing in 15 home runs to put him second in school history. He is avoiding the changes but is still accustomed to living out of his bag.

"They're going to fly across the country every other weekend. That's going to take a huge toll on their bodies and academics," Leary said. "All that time in the air dehydrates you a lot and you don't even realize it. If you don't take care of your mobility and stretching, those confined seats will just destroy your body."

The stage is set for 2024-25. Teams have their opponents, players have their matchups, and schools have their clarity, for now. The larger questions about realignment aren't going away anytime soon. If Florida State and Clemson decide the SEC is a better fit for them than the ACC, the game of conference musical chairs will start right back up again. It asks why we play collegiate sports in the first place.

"The majority of college athletes don't go pro. Those men and women need school. Part of the whole thing about playing in college is that you get an education. You could argue because they're getting the NIL stuff that education is less important, but I think that's a reductive way of looking at it." Said Jeffry. "What is the point of providing that education when you're going to make it so extremely difficult in their classes? It doesn't seem there was a genuine priority put on the well-being of student-athletes."

About

Newsletters

Schedule

Join

Log in