The reigning men's volleyball national champs are losing. A lot. Currently, the UCI Anteaters are 2-6 in their conference, the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation.

As of last week they had dropped out of the top ten. But don't count these guys out just yet, because every once in a while, a team's record means absolutely nothing. This is one of those times.

UCI may have lost three starters from the national championship squad, but they still have a strong crew on the floor and one of the best coaches in the game on the sidelines. Four of the six losses on UCI's record came in five set matches. In other words, they almost won.

They almost beat Hawaii twice, USC once and BYU on night one. On night two against BYU, they did win - in straight sets. As we all know, almost doesn't count on a team's record. But knowing they can play with just about anybody may give them the confidence they need to conquer the latter half of the season.

So don't be surprised if the Anteaters channel some of that national champion juice they had last season and put it on display over the next month or two. A little more consistency and a few less missed serves and UCI will once again be a force in the playoffs. Opponents beware.

Matches like last night's between the USC Trojans and the CSUN Matadors are when you wish that men's college volleyball had more TV time.

But alas, the match between this week's new No. 1 team and the team that had been No. 1 every week previous was televised nowhere.

In the end, it seems the Matadors may have the Trojans number in more ways than one. They've managed to beat USC the last 15 times they've played dating back to 2004. On this occasion, CSUN took the match in five sets to protect their new No. 1 ranking.

It certainly wasn't easy this time though. Read more...

The battle continues for the NCAA men. No rest for the top 15 this week, they're going to have to stay consistent week-in and week-out in order to maintain their rankings.

Former No. 1 plays current No. 1 this weekend with USC vs. CSUN. Winner takes the top spot next week.

UC Santa Barbara, on a roll after beating UCI and Stanford will be challenged this weekend to keep it going. They are taking on Pepperdine who is coming off of a great win over USC. Then said Trojans will take on the hot-handed UCSB.

Here are this week's games to watch:

Wednesday, February 3rd
USC @ CSUN
Pepperdine @ UCSB

Thursday, February 4th
UCLA @ Hawaii
BYU @ UCI

Friday, February 5th
Pepperdine @ CSUN
UCLA @ Hawaii
BYU @ UCI
USC @ UCSB
Long Beach State @ UCSD

I can sum up this weekend's men's volleyball results in one word. Crazy. Lots of upsets and more than a few five game matches led to several shifts in the Coaches Poll.

The most stunning upset was No. 11 Pepperdine taking it to No. 1 USC, winning in five sets to dish the Trojans their second loss and a drop to third in the national ranking. No need for the Trojans to panic. It's way too early and this could be just the kick they need to put it in high gear. Plus, it takes the pressure of being #1 off of them, which may be a gift in the long run.

That wasn't the only hard-fought match this past week. No. 3 CSUN beat No. 2 Stanford in five. With that win and USC's loss, CSUN jumps into the No. 1 spot in the rankings and Stanford falls to No. 5.

No. 9 Hawaii beat No. 7 UCI twice, both matches went five sets. Though UCI out-blocked, out-hit and out-dug Hawaii, their 25 serving errors to Hawaii's 12 probably made the difference in who got the W.

In another huge upset, No. 5 Penn State lost to No. 16 Loyola-Chicago in five. The loss sends the Nittany Lions down in the polls to No. 8 while Loyola-Chicago jumps four spots to No. 12.