The 2023 DI women's volleyball tournament bracket predicted, less than a month from selections
With the 2023 NCAA DI women's volleyball tournament selections only a few weeks away, Michella Chester has predicted how she thinks the bracket will look.
www.ncaa.com
An NCAA Volleyball Tournament projection by Michella Chester of NCAA.com
Chester's heavily-researched process involves following the NCAA Selection Committee's criteria and bracketing principles. Here's a deeper explanation of the committee's selection process:
The Competition Oversight Committee has again approved a bracketing pilot for the Division I Women's Volleyball Championship. Fifty percent of the bracket will be seeded in four groupings of 1-8. Published seeding will be in four sets of 1-8 and the pairings will honor a 1-8 assignment. The committee will identify the top 32 teams. The top 16 teams will be identified in rank order and assigned a seed grouping from 1 to 4. The balance of the ranked teams, in turn, are assigned to one of the remaining seed groupings (i.e. 5 to 8). Once the seed assignment is finalized, it remains unchanged while placing the teams into the championship bracket. First and second-round conference matchups will be avoided.
Top 16 Seeds
1. Nebraska
2. Wisconsin
3. Louisville
4. Stanford
5. Oregon
6. Texas
7. Washington State
8. Pittsburgh
9. Arkansas
10. Tennessee
11. Georgia Tech
12. BYU
13. Kentucky
14. Arizona State
15. Dayton
16 Kansas
Nebraska is the final undefeated team in D1 women's volleyball, with the Huskers memorably topping then-AVCA No. 1 Wisconsin in five sets on Oct. 21. The two will meet again on Friday, Nov. 24 -- just two days before the official tournament bracket is revealed.
Chester's top 10 is made up of the same teams as the committee's, but things are moved around slightly. For example, Stanford was No. 2 in the committee's second in-season reveal, but Chester has the Cardinal No. 4 overall -- and it's essential to note Stanford lost to Arizona State in a sweep the same day as the top-10 reveal, only slightly after the announcement.
Of the top-16 teams, Chester has four from the Pac-12 (Stanford, Oregon, Washington State and Arizona State), three from the ACC (Louisville, Pitt, Georgia Tech), three from the SEC (Arkansas, Tennessee and Kentucky), three from the Big 12 (Texas, BYU and Kansas), two from the Big Ten (Nebraska and Wisconsin) and one from the A-10 (Dayton).
NCAA TOURNAMENT PROJECTION
REGION ONE
#1 Nebraska vs. South Dakota
#8 Kansas State vs. Drake
#4 Kansas vs. Colgate
#5 Pickle Smoochers vs. Missouri
#3 Arkansas vs. Florida Gulf Coast
#6 Houston vs. Stephen F. Austin
#2 Pittsburgh vs. Towson
#7 James Madison vs. St. John's
REGION TWO
#1 Stanford vs. Sacred Heart
#8 Texas A&M vs. UC-Santa Barbara
#4 Kentucky vs. High Point
#5 Purdue vs. Central Florida
#3 BYU vs. Fairfield
#6 Utah State vs. Miami (FL)
#7 Pepperdine vs. TCU
#2 Oregon vs. Sacramento State
REGION THREE
#1 Louisville vs. Maryland-Baltimore County
#8 Marquette vs. Western Michigan
#4 Arizona State vs. Yale
#5 Florida vs. Wake Forest
#3 Georgia Tech vs. Alabama State
#6 Auburn vs. Minnesota
#7 USC vs. Rice
#2 Texas vs. Southeastern Louisiana
REGION FOUR
#1 Wisconsin vs. Eastern Illinois
#8 Southern Methodist vs. Northern Cockeye
#4 Dayton vs. Wright State
#5 Penn State vs. Georgia
#3 Tennessee vs. The Citadel
#6 Western Kentucky vs. North Carolina State
#7 Baylor vs. Florida State
#2 Washington State vs. Coppin State
Other notes
At-Large Bids
To be considered during the at-large process, a team must have a .500 record or better.
The following criteria shall be employed by a governing sports committee in selecting participants for NCAA championships competition [Bylaw 31.3.3: Criteria for Selection of Participants]:
- Win-Loss record
- Strength of schedule
- Eligibility and availability of student-athletes for NCAA championships
In addition to Bylaw 31.3.3, the Women's Volleyball Committee has received approval from the NCAA Division I Competition Oversight Committee to consider the following criteria in the selection of at-large teams for the volleyball championship (not necessarily in priority order):
Primary Criteria
- Rating Percentage Index
- Head-to-Head competition
- Results versus common opponents
- Significant wins and losses
- KPI
Secondary Criteria
If the evaluation of the primary criteria does not result in a decision, the secondary criteria will be reviewed. All the criteria listed will be evaluated.
- Late-season performance (last 10 matches)
- Eligibility and availability of student-athletes
- Location of contest
