Volleyball Magazine ranks the Gophers No. 8 in its preseason national poll. Two-time defending NCAA champion Penn State is No. 1, followed by Texas and Nebraska.

Let’s stop there. Do you know who the U plays in its second match of the season? Those No. 3 Cornhuskers.

The Gophers are in the AVCA Showcase on Aug. 28-29 in Omaha. The U opens with Kansas State, then plays Nebraska.

 OK, continuing with the top 10: No. 4 Washington, No. 5 Stanford, No. 6 Cal, No. 7 Hawaii — No. 8 Minnesota — No. 9 Florida and No. 10 UCLA.

The Gophers finished No. 14 in the final AVCA poll last year and were as high as No. 8. The AVCA’s preseason poll comes out next week.

Other Big Ten teams rated by Volleyball Magazine are Illinois at No. 13 and Michigan at No. 15.

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