Bracketology: Off the Block’s latest NCAA Tournament projections

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Off the Block throughout the rest of the regular season and postseason will unveil its latest detailed projections to the NCAA Tournament.

The men’s volleyball Division I-II NCAA Tournament is comprised of 12 teams. Automatic bids are awarded to the winners of the Big West, ConfCarolinas, EIVA, MIVA, MPSF, NEC and SIAC conference tournaments, and the NCAA men’s volleyball committee selects five 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 26.

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Off the Block is in its 15th season of providing college men’s volleyball bracketology.

NCAA TOURNAMENT PROJECTIONS

TOP-FOUR SEEDS

SeedTeamRecordQualification
No. 1UCLA21-1MPSF champ
No. 2Hawai’i23-3Big West champ
No. 3Ball State21-3MIVA champ
No. 4Long Beach State17-4At-large

About the seeds: Only the top four teams will receive a seed in the NCAA Tournament. Each seed will be placed in a separate region to ensure that seeded teams will not face each other until at least the NCAA Tournament semifinals. There are no requirements that a seeded team needs to be a conference champion.

UNSEEDED TEAMS

TeamRecordQualification
Belmont Abbey16-4CC champ
Fort Valley State12-12SIAC champ
Penn State16-7EIVA champ
Saint Francis12-11NEC champ
Pepperdine18-5At-large
Loyola17-6At-large
UC Irvine15-5At-large
USC16-3At-large

About the unseeded: The eight unseeded teams can be placed into any of the four regions. While geography won’t factor into determining the tournament field, it will factor into the regional placement to reduce travel expenses. Regional locations will be selected from the pool of schools that submit bids to host by the April 17 deadline. A seeded team does not automatically earn the right to host its region, even if its school submits a bid.

LAST IN AND FIRST OUT

Last Two InFirst Two Out
UC Irvine (15-5)Lindenwood (18-6)
USC (16-3)McKendree (16-9)