Follow
Off the Block each week throughout the rest of the regular season and during the postseason will unveil its latest detailed projections to the NCAA Tournament.
The men’s volleyball Division I-II NCAA Tournament is comprised of seven teams. Automatic bids are awarded to the winners of the Big West, ConfCarolinas, EIVA, MIVA and MPSF conference tournaments, and the NCAA men’s volleyball committee selects two teams for at-large bids.
The five-person selection committee meets following all of the conference tournaments to decide the at-large teams and the tournament seeding. The field for the NCAA Tournament is scheduled to be released during Selection Sunday on April 25.
The NCAA Tournament will begin with a play-in match and then two first-round matches. The top-two seeds will receive byes to the semifinals and will play the winners from the first round.
Off the Block is in its 10th season of providing college men’s volleyball bracketology.
PROJECTED NCAA TOURNAMENT FIELD
FIRST-FOUR TEAMS OUT
UCLA (13-4)
Loyola (13-5)
Long Beach State (3-3)
McKendree (11-5)
Quick breakdown: Pepperdine holds the edge for the final at-large bid, but that can all change if UCLA can at least split its two-match home series against BYU this weekend. A win against the Cougars would give the Bruins a significant edge over the Waves in the selection criteria category of record versus teams under NCAA Tournament consideration. Loyola and McKendree following losses last week are likely out of serious consideration for an at-large bid, unless Pepperdine and UCLA struggle in their final regular season matches. Long Beach State despite playing an abbreviated 10-match regular season still has a chance for an at-large bid if it can win its final four regular season matches.