Hawai’i tops strength of schedule rankings used for Selection Sunday

The team with nation’s best strength of schedule will not be in the NCAA Tournament.

Hawai’i finished atop the latest strength of schedule rankings that the men’s volleyball committee used Sunday to determine the NCAA Tournament field, according to documents that the NCAA released on Monday.

The Rainbow Warriors jumped three spots to No. 1 after reaching the Big West Tournament finals. The team in the last two weeks climbed from No. 15 to No. 1 in the strength of schedule rankings in part because of its three matches during that stretch against Long Beach State, which earned the No. 1 overall seed to the NCAA Tournament and has the nation’s best record.

Hawai’i finished nine spots ahead of UC Irvine in the strength of schedule rankings. The Anteaters beat-out the Rainbow Warriors for the final at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Strength of schedule is one of the criteria categories the selection committee used to determine the NCAA Tournament field. Strength of schedule also is a component in the mathematical formula that determines a team’s RPI ranking, which is another criteria category used to decide the two at-large bids and seeding for the NCAA Tournament.

Hawai’i at No. 4 finished two spots ahead of UC Irvine in the RPI.

The UC Irvine strength of schedule ranking is the lowest strength of schedule for a team receiving an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament since the committee started using strength of schedule in 2014.

The newly reformatted seven-team NCAA Tournament will begin Thursday with Ohio State versus King in the play-in match. The winner of that match will advance to play UC Irvine in the NCAA Tournament first round.

Strength of schedule rankings (Selection Sunday, April 22)

1. Hawai’i — .6041
2. USC — .5958
3. UC Santa Barbara — .5890
4. Lewis — .5858
5. BYU — .5774
6. UCLA — .5751
7. Quincy — .5743
8. Concordia-Irvine — .5739
9. Stanford — .5680
10. UC Irvine — .5668
11. Loyola — .5608
12. George Mason — .5570
13. CSUN — .5561
14. UC San Diego — .5456
15. Long Beach State — .5427
16. Pepperdine — .5376
17. McKendree — .5264
18. Penn State — .5243
19. Ohio State — .5138
20. NJIT — .5062
21. St. Francis — .5042
22. Grand Canyon — .5036
23. Ball State — .4989
24. Lindenwood — .4916
25. Harvard — .4822
26. Barton — .4812
27. Princeton — .4690
28. Fort Wayne — .4667
29. Mount Olive — .4616
30. King — .4490
31. Lees-McRae — .4478
32. North Greenville — .4394
33. Limestone — .4358
34. Emmanuel — .4297
35. Sacred Heart — .4271
36. Lincoln Memorial — .4252
37. Belmont Abbey — .4207
38. Erskine — .4124
39. Charleston — .4015
40. Alderson Broaddus — .3929
41. Queens– .3658
42. Coker — .3565