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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 eight teams. Automatic bids are awarded to the winners of the Big West, ConfCarolinas, EIVA, MIVA, MPSF and SIAC 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 21.
The NCAA Tournament will begin with all four quarterfinal matches on Tuesday, April 30 at Long Beach State.
Off the Block is in its 13th season of providing college men’s volleyball bracketology.
NCAA Tournament projections
Last-four teams out
Hawai’i
Ohio State
BYU
Loyola
Quick breakdown: There is much more clarity in the bracketology after the postseason matches Wednesday. BYU following its loss to USC in the MPSF Tournament quarterfinals is out among the teams competing for the final at-large bid. The Cougars entered the postseason, bolstered by their strength of schedule and KPI rankings, with a narrow path to a possible at-large bid. BYU, though, is projected to remain in the top 10 of the RPI and be among the teams under NCAA Tournament consideration. This is a significant advantage in several key selection criteria categories for UC Irvine and Grand Canyon, which both swept two-match series against BYU this season. Grand Canyon with its No. 2 ranking in the KPI and RPI remains projected to receive an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament if they lose in the conference tournament. The only way Grand Canyon misses the NCAA Tournament is if UCLA and Long Beach State both lose in the conference tournament. The race for the final at-large bid remains tight between Hawai’i and UC Irvine. UC Irvine holds the advantage in nearly every selection criteria category of importance such as KPI, RPI and strength of schedule, but Hawai’i holds the edge in head-to-head record. The Rainbow Warriors are 2-1 against the Anteaters with a chance to improve to 3-1 if they meet in the Big West Tournament semifinals. The top of the NCAA Tournament bracket is much less suspenseful. UCLA is a virtual lock for the No. 1 seed based on its bracketology data, regardless of how it fares in the conference tournament.