Bracketology: Off the Block’s latest NCAA Tournament projections

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. To learn more about the NCAA Tournament selection criteria categories and to view the latest in-depth breakdown of how each team fares in the bracketology, click here.

NCAA Tournament projections

Last-four teams out
Hawai’i
BYU
Stanford
Loyola

Quick breakdown: All the drama about the at-large bids is over. UC Irvine swept Hawai’i in the Big West Tournament semifinals on Friday to lock up a spot in the NCAA Tournament and end the Rainbow Warriors’ hopes of making the NCAA Tournament. UC Irvine holds the advantage Hawai’i in the criteria categories of KPI, RPI, strength of schedule and record against teams under NCAA Tournament consideration and the win evens the head-to-head series between the teams. Based on the bracketology data, the at-large bids will be the loser of the MPSF Tournament finals between UCLA and Grand Canyon and the loser of the Big West Tournament finals between Long Beach State and UC Irvine. The biggest debate entering conference championship Saturday is the possible seeding of the MPSF and Big West teams in the NCAA Tournament field. UCLA remains a virtual lock up for the No. 1 seed regardless of how it fares in the MPSF Tournament finals because of its No. 1 ranking in both the RPI and KPI. The Bruins also have the nation’s best record against teams under NCAA Tournament consideration. Grand Canyon continues to hold the edge against UC Irvine for the No. 3 seed. The Antelopes have a better KPI ranking, RPI ranking, overall record and better record against teams in the top 10 of the RPI. UC Irvine, though, holds the head-to-head advantage and a slightly better record against teams under NCAA Tournament consideration.