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A new metric will be used to select at-large bids and the NCAA Tournament field.
The NCAA Division I Competition Oversight Committee at its recent meeting approved the men’s volleyball committee using the KPI as a primary selection criteria for the NCAA Tournament starting in 2024.
The KPI is a ranking system that evaluates every match result on a scale with the best positive result receiving about a 1.0 score and the worst possible result garnering about a negative-1.0 score. Among the variables used to determine a match result score includes opponent’s winning percentage, opponent strength of schedule, point differential, match location.
The KPI is an enhanced selection criteria compared to the current RPI system. The RPI rankings does not factor items like margin of victory or match location into its mathematical equation.
Other sports already use the KPI to help determine their NCAA Tournament fields, including men’s basketball. The men’s volleyball committee also spent a year analyzing the KPI before recommending its inclusion to the selection criteria.
While the KPI was not used to determine the 2023 NCAA Tournament field, KPI rankings were generated based on the season’s results.
The NCAA champions UCLA finished atop the KPI rankings last season. The rest of the top five in the rankings were all teams that reached the NCAA Tournament – Hawai’i, Penn State, Long Beach State and Grand Canyon.
The men’s volleyball committee will continue to use multiple criteria categories to determine the at-large bids and NCAA Tournament field. Along with the KPI, the metrics the committee will use features strength of schedule, overall record, head-to-head results and record against teams under NCAA Tournament consideration.
The sport is growing fast and the field should also increase, why can we have a 16 team tournament, budget can’t be an issue. Sweet 16 week and Final 4 weekend!!!!