Bracketology: All the data points comparing UC Irvine, UCSB, UCLA and USC for an at-large bid

It’s tight four-way race for the final at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament just days before Selection Sunday.

UC Irvine, UC Santa Barbara, UCLA and USC all remain in contention last at-large bid, according to the latest bracketology projections from Off the Block.

Off the Block examine each of the 88 data points currently available to the NCAA men’s volleyball selection committee.

There are 10 criteria categories the selection committee uses to determine the seven-team NCAA Tournament field, including the two at-large bids. Each of these categories can also have sub-components depending how the committee evaluates the data:
— RPI ranking
— Strength of schedule
— Won-lost results
— Head-to-head competition
— Results versus non-conference opponents
— Home and away results
— Results against common opponents
— Results against teams already qualified and other teams under consideration
— Eligibility and availability of student-athletes for NCAA championships.

Long Beach State and Hawai’i are locks to make the NCAA Tournament, according to Off the Block’s bracketology. The bracketology is also projecting Pepperdine to be a lock to make the NCAA Tournament if either Long Beach State or Hawai’i win the Big West Tournament.

If there are no significant upsets in the Big West Tournament and Pepperdine wins the MPSF Tournament to secure the conference’s automatic bid, the race for the final at-large bid will be highly contested. UC Irvine, UC Santa Barbara, UCLA and USC entering conference tournament play on Thursday all strong cases for earning the bid.

Below is a comparison among all four teams using the data points currently available to the selection committee. The selection committee will receive updated data points on Selection Sunday with all the updated conference tournament results from this week.

RPI Ranking

RPI Ranking
UC Santa Barbara: No. 4
UC Irvine: No. 5
USC: No. 6
UCLA: No. 7
Edge: UC Santa Barbara

Average RPI Win
UC Santa Barbara: 18
UC Irvine: 15
USC: 17
UCLA: 17
Edge: UC Irvine

Average RPI Loss
UC Santa Barbara: 3
UC Irvine: 7
USC: 7
UCLA: 6
Edge: UC Santa Barbara

Conference RPI
UC Santa Barbara: No. 1
UC Irvine: No. 1
USC: No. 2
UCLA: No. 2
Edge: UC Santa Barbara, UC Irvine

Non-conference RPI
UC Santa Barbara: No. 4
UC Irvine: No. 8
USC: No. 3
UCLA: No. 7
Edge: USC

Conference’s Non-conference RPI
UC Santa Barbara: No. 2
UC Irvine: No. 2
USC: No. 1
UCLA: No. 1
Edge: UCLA, USC

Strength of schedule

Strength of Schedule
UC Santa Barbara: No. 3
UC Irvine: No. 2
USC: No. 7
UCLA: No. 14
Edge: UC Irvine

Opponent Strength of Schedule
UC Santa Barbara: No. 8
UC Irvine: No. 6
USC: No. 9
UCLA: No. 4
Edge: UCLA

Non-conference Strength of Schedule
UC Santa Barbara: No. 13
UC Irvine: No. 14
USC: No. 1
UCLA: No. 10
Edge: USC

Non-conference Opponent Strength of Schedule
UC Santa Barbara: No. 10
UC Irvine: No. 5
USC: No. 20
UCLA: No. 7
Edge: UC Irvine

Won-lost results

Won-Lost Record
UC Santa Barbara: 17-9
UC Irvine: 17-10
USC: 17-9
UCLA: 19-8
Edge: UCLA

Won-Lost Percentage Ranking
UC Santa Barbara: No. 11
UC Irvine: No. 13
USC: No. 11
UCLA: No. 7
Edge: UCLA

Neutral Site Record
UC Santa Barbara: 2-0
UC Irvine: 2-0
USC: 4-1
UCLA: 2-0
Edge: UC Irvine, UC Santa Barbara, UCLA

Conference Record
UC Santa Barbara: 4-6
UC Irvine: 5-5
USC: 9-5
UCLA: 9-4
Edge: UCLA

Conference Neutral Site Record
UC Santa Barbara: 0-0
UC Irvine: 0-0
USC: 1-0
UCLA: 0-0
Edge: USC

Record vs. RPI 1-5
UC Santa Barbara: 0-8
UC Irvine: 3-5
USC: 3-4
UCLA: 2-4
Edge: USC

Neutral Site Record vs. RPI 1-5
UC Santa Barbara: 0-0
UC Irvine: 0-0
USC: 0-0
UCLA: 0-0
Edge: Four-way push

Conference Record vs. RPI 1-5
UC Santa Barbara: 0-6
UC Irvine: 2-4
USC: 2-2
UCLA: 1-1
Edge: UCLA, USC

Conference Neutral Site Record vs. RPI 1-5
UC Santa Barbara: 0-0
UC Irvine: 0-0
USC: 0-0
UCLA: 0-0
Edge: Four-way push

Record vs. RPI 6-10
UC Santa Barbara: 3-1
UC Irvine: 4-2
USC: 2-2
UCLA: 4-2
Edge: UC Santa Barbara

Neutral Site Record vs. RPI 6-10
UC Santa Barbara: 0-0
UC Irvine: 0-0
USC: 0-0
UCLA: 0-0
Edge: Four-way push

Conference Record vs. RPI 6-10
UC Santa Barbara: 0-0
UC Irvine: 0-0
USC: 2-2
UCLA: 2-2
Edge: UCLA, USC

Conference Neutral Site Record vs. RPI 6-10
UC Santa Barbara: 0-0
UC Irvine: 0-0
USC: 0-0
UCLA: 0-0
Edge: Four-way push

Record vs. RPI 11-15
UC Santa Barbara: 5-0
UC Irvine: 3-2
USC: 3-3
UCLA: 3-2
Edge: UC Santa Barbara

Neutral Site Record vs. RPI 11-15
UC Santa Barbara: 0-0
UC Irvine: 0-0
USC: 0-1
UCLA: 0-0
Edge: Four-way push

Conference Record vs. RPI 11-15
UC Santa Barbara: 2-0
UC Irvine: 1-1
USC: 3-2
UCLA: 3-1
Edge: UC Santa Barbara

Conference Neutral Site Record vs. RPI 11-15
UC Santa Barbara: 0-0
UC Irvine: 0-0
USC: 0-0
UCLA: 0-0
Edge: Four-way push

Record vs. RPI 16-43
UC Santa Barbara: 9-0
UC Irvine: 7-1
USC: 9-0
UCLA: 10-0
Edge: UC Santa Barbara, UCLA, USC

Neutral Site Record vs. RPI 16-43
UC Santa Barbara: 2-0
UC Irvine: 2-0
USC: 4-0
UCLA: 2-0
Edge: Four-way push

Conference Record vs. RPI 16-43
UC Santa Barbara: 2-0
UC Irvine: 2-0
USC: 3-0
UCLA: 3-0
Edge: Four-way push

Conference Neutral Site Record vs. RPI 16-43
UC Santa Barbara: 0-0
UC Irvine: 0-0
USC: 1-0
UCLA: 0-0
Edge: USC

Record vs. RPI 21+
UC Santa Barbara: 7-0
UC Irvine: 4-1
USC: 7-0
UCLA: 8-0
Edge: UC Santa Barbara, UCLA, USC

Neutral Site Record vs. RPI 21+
UC Santa Barbara: 2-0
UC Irvine: 1-0
USC: 3-0
UCLA: 2-0
Edge: Four-way push

Conference Record vs. RPI 21+
UC Santa Barbara: 2-0
UC Irvine: 2-0
USC: 3-0
UCLA: 3-0
Edge: Four-way push

Conference Neutral Site Record vs. RPI 21+
UC Santa Barbara: 0-0
UC Irvine: 0-0
USC: 1-0
UCLA: 0-0
Edge: USC

Head-to-head competition

Head-to-Head
UC Santa Barbara: 1-3
UC Irvine: 3-1
USC: 2-2
UCLA: 2-2
Edge: UC Irvine

Non-conference record

Non-conference Record
UC Santa Barbara: 13-3
UC Irvine: 12-5
USC: 8-4
UCLA: 10-4
Edge: UC Santa Barbara

Non-conference Record Percentage Rank
UC Santa Barbara: No. 3
UC Irvine: No. 7
USC: No. 8
UCLA: No. 6
Edge: UC Santa Barbara

Non-conference Home Record
UC Santa Barbara: 9-1
UC Irvine: 3-0
USC: 5-0
UCLA: 3-1
Edge: USC, UC Irvine

Non-conference Road Record
UC Santa Barbara: 2-2
UC Irvine: 7-5
USC: 0-3
UCLA: 5-3
Edge: UCLA

Non-conference Neutral Site Record
UC Santa Barbara: 2-0
UC Irvine: 2-0
USC: 3-1
UCLA: 2-0
Edge: UC Irvine, UC Santa Barbara, UCLA

Non-conference Record vs. RPI 1-5
UC Santa Barbara: 0-2
UC Irvine: 1-1
USC: 2-3
UCLA: 1-3
Edge: UC Irvine

Non-conference Home Record vs. RPI 1-5
UC Santa Barbara: 0-1
UC Irvine: 1-0
USC: 2-0
UCLA: 1-1
Edge: UC Irvine, USC

Non-conference Road Record vs. RPI 1-5
UC Santa Barbara: 0-1
UC Irvine: 0-1
USC: 0-3
UCLA: 0-2
Edge: Four-way push

Non-conference Neutral Site Record vs. RPI 1-5
UC Santa Barbara: 0-0
UC Irvine: 0-0
USC: 0-0
UCLA: 0-0
Edge: Four-way push

Non-conference Record vs. RPI 6-10
UC Santa Barbara: 3-1
UC Irvine: 4-2
USC: 0-0
UCLA: 2-0
Edge: UCLA

Non-conference Home Record vs. RPI 6-10
UC Santa Barbara: 3-0
UC Irvine: 1-0
USC: 0-0
UCLA: 0-0
Edge: UC Irvine, UC Santa Barbara

Non-conference Road Record vs. RPI 6-10
UC Santa Barbara: 0-1
UC Irvine: 3-2
USC: 0-0
UCLA: 2-0
Edge: UCLA

Non-conference Neutral Site Record vs. RPI 6-10
UC Santa Barbara: 0-0
UC Irvine: 0-0
USC: 0-0
UCLA: 0-0
Edge: Four-way push

Non-conference Record vs. RPI 11-15
UC Santa Barbara: 3-0
UC Irvine: 2-1
USC: 0-1
UCLA: 0-1
Edge: UC Santa Barbara

Non-conference Home Record vs. RPI 11-15
UC Santa Barbara: 3-0
UC Irvine: 0-0
USC: 0-0
UCLA: 0-0
Edge: UC Santa Barbara

Non-conference Road Record vs. RPI 11-15
UC Santa Barbara: 0-0
UC Irvine: 2-1
USC: 0-0
UCLA: 0-1
Edge: UC Irvine

Non-conference Neutral Site Record vs. RPI 11-15
UC Santa Barbara: 0-0
UC Irvine: 0-0
USC: 0-1
UCLA: 0-0
Edge: Four-way push

Non-conference Record vs. RPI 16-43
UC Santa Barbara: 7-0
UC Irvine: 5-1
USC: 6-0
UCLA: 7-0
Edge: UC Irvine, UC Santa Barbara, UCLA

Non-conference Home Record vs. RPI 16-43
UC Santa Barbara: 3-0
UC Irvine: 1-0
USC: 3-0
UCLA: 2-0
Edge: Four-way push

Non-conference Road Record vs. RPI 16-43
UC Santa Barbara: 2-0
UC Irvine: 2-1
USC: 0-0
UCLA: 3-0
Edge: UC Santa Barbara, UCLA

Non-conference Neutral Site Record vs. RPI 16-43
UC Santa Barbara: 2-0
UC Irvine: 2-0
USC: 3-0
UCLA: 2-0
Edge: Four-way push

Non-conference Record vs. RPI 21+
UC Santa Barbara: 5-0
UC Irvine: 2-1
USC: 4-0
UCLA: 5-0
Edge: UC Santa Barbara, UCLA, USC

Non-conference Home Record vs. RPI 21+
UC Santa Barbara: 3-0
UC Irvine: 1-0
USC: 2-0
UCLA: 1-0
Edge: Four-way push

Non-conference Road Record vs. RPI 21+
UC Santa Barbara: 0-0
UC Irvine: 0-1
USC: 0-0
UCLA: 2-0
Edge: UCLA

Non-conference Neutral Site Record vs. RPI 21+
UC Santa Barbara: 2-0
UC Irvine: 1-0
USC: 2-0
UCLA: 2-0
Edge: Four-way push

Home record

Home Record
UC Santa Barbara: 11-3
UC Irvine: 6-3
USC: 12-0
UCLA: 10-1
Edge: USC

Conference Home Record
UC Santa Barbara: 2-2
UC Irvine: 3-3
USC: 7-0
UCLA: 7-0
Edge: UCLA, USC

Home Record vs. RPI 1-5
UC Santa Barbara: 0-3
UC Irvine: 2-3
USC: 3-0
UCLA: 2-1
Edge: USC

Conference Home Record vs. RPI 1-5
UC Santa Barbara: 0-2
UC Irvine: 1-3
USC: 2-0
UCLA: 1-0
Edge: UCLA, USC

Home Record vs. RPI 6-10
UC Santa Barbara: 3-0
UC Irvine: 1-0
USC: 2-0
UCLA: 2-0
Edge: Four-way push

Conference Home Record vs. RPI 6-10
UC Santa Barbara: 0-0
UC Irvine: 0-0
USC: 2-0
UCLA: 2-0
Edge: UCLA, USC

Home Record vs. RPI 11-15
UC Santa Barbara: 4-0
UC Irvine: 1-0
USC: 3-0
UCLA: 2-0
Edge: Four-way push

Conference Home Record vs. RPI 11-15
UC Santa Barbara: 1-0
UC Irvine: 1-0
USC: 3-0
UCLA: 2-0
Edge: Four-way push

Home Record vs. RPI 16-43
UC Santa Barbara: 4-0
UC Irvine: 2-0
USC: 4-0
UCLA: 4-0
Edge: Four-way push

Conference Home Record vs. RPI 16-43
UC Santa Barbara: 1-0
UC Irvine: 1-0
USC: 1-0
UCLA: 2-0
Edge: Four-way push

Home Record vs. RPI 21+
UC Santa Barbara: 4-0
UC Irvine: 2-0
USC: 3-0
UCLA: 3-0
Edge: Four-way push

Conference Home Record vs. RPI 21+
UC Santa Barbara: 1-0
UC Irvine: 1-0
USC: 1-0
UCLA: 2-0
Edge: Four-way push

Road record

Road Record
UC Santa Barbara: 4-6
UC Irvine: 9-7
USC: 1-8
UCLA: 7-7
Edge: UC Irvine

Conference Road Record
UC Santa Barbara: 2-4
UC Irvine: 2-2
USC: 1-5
UCLA: 2-4
Edge: UC Irvine

Road Record vs. RPI 1-5
UC Santa Barbara: 0-5
UC Irvine: 1-2
USC: 0-4
UCLA: 0-3
Edge: UC Irvine

Conference Road Record vs. RPI 1-5
UC Santa Barbara: 0-4
UC Irvine: 1-1
USC: 0-2
UCLA: 0-1
Edge: UC Irvine

Road Record vs. RPI 6-10
UC Santa Barbara: 0-1
UC Irvine: 3-2
USC: 0-2
UCLA: 2-2
Edge: UC Irvine

Conference Road Record vs. RPI 6-10
UC Santa Barbara: 0-0
UC Irvine: 0-0
USC: 0-2
UCLA: 0-2
Edge: Four-way push

Road Record vs. RPI 11-15
UC Santa Barbara: 1-0
UC Irvine: 2-2
USC: 0-2
UCLA: 1-2
Edge: UC Santa Barbara

Conference Road Record vs. RPI 11-15
UC Santa Barbara: 1-0
UC Irvine: 0-1
USC: 0-2
UCLA: 1-1
Edge: UC Santa Barbara

Road Record vs. RPI 16-43
UC Santa Barbara: 3-0
UC Irvine: 3-1
USC: 1-0
UCLA: 4-0
Edge: UC Santa Barbara, UCLA, USC

Conference Road Record vs. RPI 16-43
UC Santa Barbara: 1-0
UC Irvine: 1-0
USC: 1-0
UCLA: 1-0
Edge: Four-way push

Road Record vs. RPI 21+
UC Santa Barbara: 1-0
UC Irvine: 1-1
USC: 1-0
UCLA: 3-0
Edge: UC Santa Barbara, UCLA, USC

Conference Road Record vs. RPI 21+
UC Santa Barbara: 1-0
UC Irvine: 1-0
USC: 1-0
UCLA: 1-0
Edge: Four-way push

Record against common opponents

Record vs. Common Opponents
(Common opponents are Long Beach, Pepperdine, BYU, Grand Canyon, Concordia-Irvine)
UC Santa Barbara: 4-4
UC Irvine: 6-3
USC: 8-4
UCLA: 7-4
Edge: UC Irvine, USC

Record against teams qualified or under NCAA Tournament consideration

Record vs. Teams Under NCAA Tournament Consideration
(Projected teams are Long Beach State, Hawai’i, Pepperdine, Princeton, Barton, Lewis, UCLA, USC, UC Santa Barbara and UC Irvine)
UC Santa Barbara: 2-9
UC Irvine: 6-6
USC: 5-6
UCLA: 5-5
Edge: UC Irvine, UCLA

Eligibility and availability of athletes

Eligibility and availability of athletes
No datapoint regarding injuries is currently provided to the selection committee. However, UCLA outside attacker Austin Matautia is out for the season with an injury.
Edge: Four-way push. Unknown if official injury listings will be provided to the selection committee.

Overall edge

[Editor’s note: Committee chairman Lenny Kaplan said Wednesday in an interview with Off the Block that the committee would be taking a holistic look at the data to determine the at-large bids. As a result, Off the Block while determining its overall edge did not place an additional emphasis on a single datapoint. For Off the Block’s calculations, a team received one point if it out-right won a selection criteria category component and received a half-point it finished tied for the lead.]

Overall edge standings (as of April 17)
1. UC Santa Barbara — 31 points
2. USC — 30 points
3. UCLA — 29.5 points
4. UC Irvine 29 points