Division I Council to vote on expanding selection committee for NCAA Tournament

Expansion could be coming to the men’s volleyball NCAA Tournament — for the selection committee.

A proposal to add two more members to the NCAA Division I-II men’s volleyball committee will come up for a vote at the 2019 NCAA Convention that starts Wednesday in Orlando, Florida.

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The men’s volleyball proposal is one of 29 bills that the NCAA announced last week would receive a vote from the Division I Council at the upcoming convention. The men’s volleyball committee expansion bill, which was introduced by the Big West, is considered a “possible non-controversial vote,” according to the committee’s legislation lists on the NCAA website.

The NCAA Division I-II men’s volleyball committee is responsible for selecting the at-large bids and determining the seeding for the seven-team NCAA Tournament. It also oversees the NCAA Tournament and approves any rule changes to the sport.

The committee currently is comprised of three members — an East Coast representative, a Midwest representative and a West Coast representative. Members serve four-year terms and typically are athletics directors from schools that have a NCAA Division I-II men’s volleyball program.

This expansion proposal comes after years of college men’s volleyball experiencing significant growth.

The ConfCarolinas in 2009 became the first multi-sport conference to sponsor NCAA Division I-II men’s volleyball and in 2014 received an annual automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. More than 10 schools in the Southeast have added a NCAA Division I-II men’s volleyball team this decade.

The Big West also started sponsoring men’s volleyball beginning in the 2018 season and was first Division I multi-sport conference to sponsor men’s volleyball.