Volleyball: 2019 NCAA Tourney Bracket, Explanation

64 teams are in, 271 are out. 32 teams are in based on winners their conference however that conference determines how they win; some by tournament, others by record and tie breakers can vary as well.

Lots of discussion this year that Texas is the Big 12 champion while Baylor is the #1 team in the country. It happened because Texas beat Baylor in 3 games and Baylor beat Texas in 5 games. The Big 12 tie breaker is based on who won in few games rather than some decide based on total points scored. #1 in the country is #2 in the conference.

Not to worry, Baylor is the #1 seed in the tournament. Seeding in the volleyball is done by a tournament selection committee. They use a few sources to make their decisions. They start with RPI rankings. They then dig into head to head competitions as well as common opponent outcomes, strength of schedule and last ten matches. The committee is made up of athletic directors and conference commissioners across the country.

Nebraska is the #5 seed. This is a couple higher than what I expected. The committee commented on Nebraska specifically and said their last ten matches as well as strength of schedule played in NUs favor.

Nebraska opens against Ball St at home. Ball State from the MAC is young and got into the tournament by upsetting Miami in the conference championship.

Also in the Devaney Center this weekend is a first round match with University of Northern Iowa vs Missouri. The winner of that match plays the winner of NU vs Ball St.

The Big Ten received seven seeds, most of any conference.

• 4 - Wisconsin
• 5 - Nebraska
• 7 - Minnesota
• 11 - Penn State
• 16 - Purdue

Michigan and Illinois are unranked in the tournament.

Note that Nebraska and Wisconsin are in the same bracket. In order to get to the Final Four, the Huskers will have to beat a team that swept them twice this season.

First round matches are on Friday Dec 6 and times TBD.

Here is the whole bracket.

You should fill one out and see how well you know volleyball this year, or maybe just how lucky you are.