Natalia Valentin and Florida International are 14-0 in Sun Belt Conference play

With only three and a half weeks left before the NCAA Championship field is announced (Sunday, Nov. 29 at 3 p.m. ET on ESPN News), it's time to examine how some of the big conference races are shaping up. First we'll take a quick look at what's happening at the top of the standings in each of the 13 leagues that have at least one team that is ranked or receiving votes in this week's AVCA poll. Below that, we revisit the 19 squads across the country that continue to remain perfect in conference action.

Atlantic 10
Dayton leads the way with an 11-1 league mark, with four matches to go. No. 21 Saint Louis stands one-half game back, at 10-1, with five to play - though the Flyers topped the Billikens in the teams' only meeting of the regular season. The conference tournament - which has been won by one of those two schools for each of the last six years (Dayton in 2003, '04, '05 and '07; Saint Louis in 2006 and '08) - takes place Nov. 20-22 in Dayton, with six teams qualifying. The championship match (Nov. 22, 4 p.m. ET) will be televised live by CBS College Sports Network.

Atlantic Coast
No. 16 Florida State is atop the standings with a 12-1 conference record, with seven matches remaining. The Seminoles have a one-game lead on Duke (11-2), and those two will meet on Friday in Tallahassee. FSU - which has won just one regular-season ACC crown (co-champions with Duke in 1992) - took a five-set decision in Durham last month. Georgia Tech - the only team to have defeated the Seminoles in ACC action - is 10-3 and will play host to FSU on Nov. 14. The ACC does not have a conference tournament.

Big 12
Second-ranked Texas stands a perfect 13-0 in one of the nation's toughest conferences and has a two-game lead over No. 8 Iowa State (11-2) with seven matches to play. The Longhorns and Cyclones will hook up tonight in Ames. UT - seeking its first outright Big 12 title since 1997 after being co-champs in each of the last two years - won in three sets in Austin in September. Iowa State has never finished higher than fourth since the Big 12 was founded in 1996. The Big 12 does not have a conference tournament.

BIG EAST
Notre Dame remains unbeaten in league play with a 10-0 record and four matches left. Cincinnati - which lost in five sets at Notre Dame in October - is right behind at 9-1, with Pittsburgh at 8-2. The Fighting Irish are seeking their first BIG EAST title since 2005, after having claimed at least of a share of the regular-season crown each year from 1999-2005. The BIG EAST Championship takes place Nov. 20-22 in Louisville (the Cardinals are the defending champions), with the top eight teams qualifying. The championship match (Nov. 22, 3 p.m. ET) will be televised by ESPNU.

Big Ten
Top-reanked Penn State has won 57 consecutive Big Ten matches and again stands atop the conference with a 12-0 record and eight matches to play. No. 5 Illinois is two back at 10-2, and the Fighting Illini will head to Happy Valley on Nov. 13. PSU - which is seeking its seventh consecutive outright Big Ten crown - won in three sets at Illinois in September. The Big Ten does not have a conference tournament.

Big West
UC Davis sits atop the conference standings with a 9-2 mark with five matches to play. UC Santa Barbara - which lost in five at UCD in October - is right behind at 9-3, while Long Beach State is in third at 7-3. The Aggies will play at LBSU - which beat UC Davis in three on Oct. 9 - on Saturday and will play host to UCSB on Nov. 13. In just its third season as a member of the Big West, UC Davis went 1-15 in league action in 2007 and 4-12 a year ago. The Big West does not have a conference tournament.

Missouri Valley
No. 25 Northern Iowa leads the way with a 12-0 record in league action and six matches remaining. Missouri State - which lost in four at UNI on Oct. 17 - is in second place with a 10-2 mark. Those teams will hook up again on Nov. 13 in Springfield, Mo. The State Farm MVC Championship takes place from Nov. 26-28 in Omaha. UNI has won eight of the last 11 MVC tournaments - though the Bears knocked off the Panthers in the title match in 2008.

Mountain West
Colorado State is in first place with a 10-1 record and six matches remaining. TCU - the lone squad to defeat the Rams in league play (3-0 on Oct. 22; CSU won 3-0 at home on Sept. 26) - is right behind at 10-2, while Utah is in third at 8-2. CSU will be at Utah on Nov. 12, having swept the Utes at home on Oct. 17. The MWC does not have a conference tournament.

Pacific-10
No. 4 Washington leads the way with a 9-2 league mark and seven matches remaining, while fifth-ranked Stanford and No. 7 UCLA are right behind with 8-3 records. The Huskies will play host to Stanford on Friday and head to UCLA on Nov. 14. The Cardinal dealt UW its first loss of the season in a five-set decision on Oct. 10, while the Huskies won in four against the Bruins on Oct. 16. Stanford has been the conference champion in each of the past three years. The Pac-10 does not have a conference tournament.

Southeastern
No. 11 Kentucky is atop the Eastern Division with a 10-1 mark and seven matches remaining. Right behind is ninth-ranked Florida, at 10-2, and Tennessee is in third at 8-3. The Wildcats will wind up the season with matches against those two, first visiting Gainesville on Nov. 22 and then welcoming the Lady Vols on Nov. 25. UK won in five at home against Florida on Oct. 2 and lost 3-1 to Tennessee on Oct. 21. In the Western Division, No. 19 LSU is 10-2 with six matches remaining and is three clear of second-place Auburn (6-5). The SEC does not have a conference tournament.

Sun Belt
Florida International is 14-0 in conference play, but Middle Tennessee (12-0) is right behind in the East Division. The Panthers won the first matchup between the teams, in four sets at home on Oct. 4. On Saturday, FIU heads to Murfreesboro, Tenn., for the rematch. The West Division is wide open, with New Orleans and Denver currently tied for first at 8-5. Arkansas State is right behind at 9-6, while Arkansas-Little Rock is 8-7 and North Texas is 6-7. The Pioneers play host to the Privateers on Thursday. The Sun Belt Championship takes place from Nov. 19-21 in Bowling Green, Ky.

West Coast
No. 25 Saint Mary's is on top of the standings with an 8-1 conference mark, with five to play. Right behind is 22nd-ranked San Diego, which is 7-2 and beat the Gaels in four sets on Oct. 17. SMC plays host to the Toreros on Nov. 14. USD has claimed at least a share of the WCC title in each of the last three seasons, while Saint Mary's has not won a conference crown since joining the WCC in 1987. The WCC does not have a conference tournament.

Western Athletic
No. 3 Hawai'i - which has won at least a share of the WAC regular-season title in all 13 years of league membership - is on pace to extend that streak, with an 11-0 record in league action with five to play. New Mexico State is in second with a 9-3 mark, while Idaho is 8-3. The Rainbow Wahine will play at Idaho on Nov. 14 after sweeping the Vandals at home in September. The six-team WAC Championship will be Nov. 23-25 in Las Vegas. The championship match (Nov. 25, 6:30 p.m. MT) will be televised by ESPNU.

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Teams Undefeated in Conference Play

Conference	School	Conf. Record	This Week
America East	Albany	7-0	Friday at UMBC Sunday at Stony Brook
Atlantic Sun	Lipscomb	17-0	Saturday at USC Upstate
Big 12	Texas	13-0	Wednesday at Iowa State Saturday at Missouri
BIG EAST	Notre Dame	10-0	Friday at Marquette Sunday at Syracuse
Big Ten	Penn State	12-0	Friday at Wisconsin Saturday at Iowa
Ivy	Penn	9-0	Friday at Columbia Saturday at Cornell
MEAC	Florida A&M	5-0	Thursday vs. Bethune-Cookman Saturday at Bethune-Cookman
MEAC	Maryland Eastern Shore	8-0	Friday vs. Coppin State Sunday vs. Howard
Missouri Valley	Northern Iowa	12-0	Friday vs. Illinois State Saturday vs. Indiana State
Northeast	Long Island	12-0	Saturday at Saint Francis (Pa.) Sunday at Robert Morris
Ohio Valley	Jacksonville State	14-0	Friday vs. Austin Peay Saturday vs. Tennessee State
Patriot	Army	10-0	Friday at Navy Saturday at American
Southern	Furman	12-0	Friday at UNC Greensboro Saturday vs. Belmont
Southland	Central Arkansas	12-0	Thursday vs. McNeese State Saturday vs. Stephen F. Austin
SWAC	Grambling State	7-0	Wednesday at Mississippi Valley
SWAC	Alabama A&M	6-0	Thursday vs. Alabama State
Summit	North Dakota State	15-0	Saturday vs. South Dakota State
Sun Belt	Florida International	14-0	Friday at Western Kentucky Sunday at Middle Tennessee
WAC	Hawai'i	11-0	Friday vs. Fresno State Sunday vs. Utah State

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TODAY'S SCOREBOARD WATCH
Top 25 and Television Schedule
Purdue at Indiana, 7 p.m. - TV: Big Ten Network | Live Stats
No. 2 Texas at No. 8 Iowa State, 7:30 p.m. - Live Stats
Missouri at No. 10 Nebraska, 8 p.m. - TV: NET | Free Video | Live Stats
Oklahoma at No. 20 Baylor, 8 p.m. - Live Stats
No. 23 Texas A&M at Kansas State, 8 p.m. - TV: FSN | Live Stats
Kansas at Colorado, 9 p.m. - TV: FSN | Live Stats

UCLA's Andy Banachowski earned his 1,100th win as a head coach on Saturday against Stanford

Both of the remaining unbeaten teams faced stiff tests last week, but ended up turning in impressive victories. Second-ranked Texas traveled to No. 25 Texas A&M on Wednesday and came away with a 25-18, 25-14, 25-20 triumph in front of a record crowd of 3,856. Senior setter Ashley Engle led her offense to a .310 hitting mark in the match and had a match-high 13 digs and four blocks in helping UT hold the Aggies to .092 hitting. On Saturday, the Longhorns got 19 kills on .400 hitting from senior outside hitter Destinee Hooker en route to a 25-22, 26-24, 25-19 home win over eighth-ranked Nebraska in front of 4,009 fans. Engle set UT to a .326 mark in the match. Texas is now 13-0 in Big 12 play and holds a two-game lead atop the conference standings. The Longhorns have registered nine consecutive sweeps and have won a school-record 27 straight regular-season matches. They are also the first team to register back-to-back-to-back wins over Nebraska since Long Beach State did so between 1989 and 2001.

Top-ranked Penn State also had a pair of three-set wins, highlighted by a 25-14, 25-16, 25-17 drubbing of No. 7 Minnesota at home on Friday in front of a crowd of 3,512. Senior outside hitter and three-time first-team All-American Megan Hodge led the Nittany Lions with 19 kills on .429 hitting, while senior Alisha Glass set the offense to a .341 team mark. Junior libero Cathy Quilico had 12 digs and junior middle hitter Arielle Wilson was in on six blocks in helping the PSU defense hold the Gophers to 24 kills and 23 errors (.011 attack percentage). In addition to having won 68 straight at home and 57 in a row in Big Ten play, Penn State now has an overall winning streak of 88 consecutive matches. That ties the UCLA men's basketball streak from 1971-74 for the fourth-longest winning streak in Division I history in any sport. The NCAA DI record for longest winning streak belongs to the Miami men's tennis team, which won 137 in a row from 1957-64.

The Gophers couldn't rebound the following night, as Ohio State registered a 25-20, 25-19, 25-15 upset victory on Saturday. Senior setter Ashley Hughes orchestrated a balanced Buckeye attack that saw four players register eight-plus kills and the team hit .294.

One of the other big winners from the weekend was 11th-ranked UCLA, which headed to the Bay Area and came away with two victories to make Andy Banachowski the first Division I women's volleyball coach ever to register 1,100 career victories. The Bruins won 25-20, 25-20, 16-25, 25-19 against 14th-ranked California on Friday and then ended an 18-match losing streak against Stanford the next day, with a 25-18, 34-32, 19-25, 21-25, 15-11 upset of the fourth-ranked Cardinal. Sophomore libero Lainey Gera had 20 digs on Friday and 28 on Saturday. Stanford junior libero Gabi Ailes posted 33 digs in the losing effort. Banachowski now holds a 1,100-298 (.787) career record in 40 years as a head coach. The only women's volleyball coach in any division to have won more matches than him is Larry Bock, the current head coach of Juniata College - who has 1,211 career wins on the Division III level.

UCLA's traveling partner, 16th-ranked USC, did not fare as well in its trip North. The Women of Troy lost 21-25, 25-18, 25-13, 25-23 to Stanford in front of 2,706 on Friday and then fell 25-19, 25-16, 24-26, 25-20 to Cal the next day. Stanford held a 13-7 blocking edge in the former match, while the Golden Bears got 22 kills on .356 hitting from senior outside hitter Hana Cutura to pace their effort.

Another ranked Pac-10 team that returned home from a road trip without a victory was No. 21 Washington State. On Friday, Arizona State snapped an eight-match losing streak with a 25-22, 25-18, 15-25, 25-22 upset of the Cougars in which ASU junior outside hitter Sarah Reaves had 19 kills. No. 18 Arizona then got 15 kills each from junior outside hitters Tiffany Owens and Whitney Dosty in a 25-18, 20-25, 25-11, 25-21 win over WSU on Saturday. That allowed the Wildcats to salvage a split over the weekend, having lost 18-25, 25-20, 25-18, 25-19 to fifth-ranked Washington on Friday. The Huskies - who are now alone atop the Pac-10 standings with a 9-2 league record - got 18 kills from junior outside hitter Kindra Carlson in that match.

No. 9 Iowa State stayed hot and has now won 10 consecutive matches, including a five-set thriller over 22nd-ranked Baylor - the last team to beat the Cyclones - on Wednesday. ISU had to rally from deficits of 12-7 and 14-12 in the final set in order to earn a 24-26, 25-21, 25-23, 23-25, 16-14 win over the Bears. Junior outside hitter Victoria Henson led all players with 24 kills on .310 hitting to go along with 22 digs for the Cyclones - who also got 42 digs from junior libero Ashley Mass. Freshman Torri Campbell had 18 kills and nine blocks for Baylor, while sophomore libero Allison King had 32 digs. Iowa State is all alone in second place in the Big 12 with an 11-2 league mark.

There was a battle of the Big West Conference leaders on Friday night, and UC Davis earned a 25-22, 18-25, 25-17, 25-22 upset of 23rd-ranked UC Irvine. Senior Carson Lowden set the Aggies to a .290 hitting mark, and junior outside hitter Kayla Varney had 15 kills. UCI got 22 kills from junior outside hitter Kari Pestolesi. The Aggies - winners of six in a row - now stand alone atop the Big West standings with a 9-2 league record. In last week's AVCA poll, the conference had one ranked team and two more that were just outside of the top 25 - but UC Davis was not among the squads receiving votes and listed on multiple ballots. On Saturday, Pacific snapped a three-match skid with a 25-18, 25-22, 16-25, 25-20 upset of UC Irvine. Junior outside hitter Svenja Engelhardt had 15 kills for the Tigers, while freshman libero Kristin Winkler notched 30 digs for UCI in the loss.

Wisconsin earned a road upset of 15th-ranked Michigan on Friday, as senior outside hitter Brittney Dolgner notched 16 kills and junior outside hitter Allison Wack had 15. Sophomore right side Alex Hunt posted 19 kills on .359 hitting in the loss. The other big upset of the week came on Wednesday in San Diego, as Pepperdine eventually took a marathon first game and went on to a 36-34, 25-17, 25-18 win over 19th-ranked San Diego. Senior Kiah Fiers set the Waves to 55 kills (18.3 per set) and a .316 hitting mark, while junior right side Ali Troost had 21 kills in the loss for USD.

TODAY'S SCOREBOARD WATCH
Top 25 and Television Schedule - All Times Eastern
No. 3 Hawai'i at San Jose State, 10 p.m. - Live Stats