The push for the NCAA volleyball tournament is heating up with just a few weekends left until Selection Sunday, and berths to conference tournaments have already been punched.
That also means opportunities
are getting scarcer for teams on the bubble to get off. It's also getting tougher for teams to improve their seeding lines before Nov. 29 when the full 64-team bracket is revealed by the NCAA selection committee.
The top four overall seeds remain untouched in the third iteration of USA TODAY Sports' NCAA volleyball bracketology with Nebraska, Pitt, Louisville and Florida all owning those spots for a third consecutive week.
Penn State was one team that moved up a seed line from last week's version after a five-set win over No. 9 Wisconsin. The Nittany Lions' road victory over the Badgers marked Katie Schumacher-Cawley's squad's seventh consecutive win. Five of those victories have come against ranked opponents, further strengthening Penn State's resume in one of the nation's toughest volleyball conferences.
Selection Sunday for the NCAA Volleyball Tournament is set for 6 p.m. ET on Sunday, Nov. 29. As noted by the NCAA website, there are once again 31 automatic conference qualifiers, while the remaining 33 teams in the field will be selected as at-large bids, despite the Pac-12 being back in the fold.
That said, here's USA TODAY Sports' updated projected 64-team field for the NCAA volleyball tournament, which takes into account games played through Sunday, Nov. 8:
NCAA Volleyball Tournament Bracketology
* Denotes AQ bid
National Seeds
No. 1 seeds
- Nebraska (25-0, 12-0 Big Ten, RPI No. 1) *
- Pitt (22-1, 13-1 ACC, RPI No. 2)
- Louisville (24-2, 14-0 ACC, RPI No. 7) *
- Florida (21-2, 12-1 SEC, RPI No. 5) *
No. 2 seeds
- BYU (20-1, 12-0 Big 12, RPI No. 6) *
- SMU (20-4, 12-2 ACC, RPI No. 4)
- Wisconsin (18-5, 10-3 Big Ten, RPI No. 3)
- Penn State (18-5, 10-3 Big Ten, RPI No. 9)
No. 3 seeds
- Kentucky (18-5, 10-3 SEC, RPI No. 8)
- Oregon (20-4, 11-2 Big Ten, RPI No. 10)
- Arizona State (20-4, 11-2 Big 12, RPI No. 11)
- Vanderbilt (19-3, 10-3 SEC, RPI No. 12)
No. 4 seeds
- Tennessee (18-5, 9-4 SEC, RPI No. 16)
- TCU (18-5, 9-3 Big 12, RPI No. 13)
- Texas (13-8, 9-4 SEC, RPI No. 14)
- Kansas (18-5, 11-2 Big 12, RPI No. 15)
No. 5 seeds
- Purdue (16-7, 9-5 Big Ten, RPI No. 19)
- Washington (18-5, 9-5 Big Ten, RPI No. 17)
- Minnesota (15-6, 9-5 Big Ten, RPI No. 20)
- Western Kentucky (20-6, 14-0 Conference USA, RPI No. 18) *
No. 6 seeds
- North Carolina (16-6, 11-3 ACC, RPI No. 25)
- Texas A&M (14-11, 7-6 SEC, RPI No. 24)
- Baylor (14-7, 6-5 Big 12, RPI No. 23)
- Illinois (17-8, 9-5 Big Ten, RPI No. 26)
No. 7 seeds
- UCLA (16-9, 7-7 Big Ten, RPI No. 21)
- Indiana (14-9, 7-7 Big Ten, RPI No. 27)
- Marquette (17-7, 12-2 Big East, RPI No. 32) *
- Colorado State (20-3, 12-0 Pac-12, RPI No. 29)
No. 8 seeds
- Stanford (15-9, 8-5 ACC, RPI No. 31)
- Missouri (15-10, 8-5 SEC, RPI No. 30)
- Creighton (17-9, 12-2 Big East, RPI No. 28)
- Toledo (20-4, 12-2 MAC, RPI No. 22) *
At-Large Selections
Conference AQs ordered first; then at-large selections
* Denotes AQ bid
** Denotes Last Four Team In
- UMBC (14-5, 8-0 America East, RPI No. 95) *
- Florida Atlantic (18-7, 11-3 American Conference, RPI No. 89) *
- Lipscomb (18-5, 11-2 ASUN, RPI No. 42) *
- Dayton (21-8, 13-3 Atlantic 10, RPI No. 34) *
- Utah Tech (20-4, 13-1 Big Sky, RPI No. 72) *
- Cal Poly (17-7, 13-1 Big West, RPI No. 74) *
- High Point (18-6, 12-1 Big South, RPI No. 37) *
- Charleston (22-3, 13-1 CAA, RPI No. 63) *
- Wright State (19-5, 14-0 Horizon League, RPI No. 45) *
- Cornell (15-6, 11-1 Ivy League, RPI No. 80) *
- Fairfield (22-5, 16-0 METRO, RPI No. 116) *
- Coppin State (21-8, 12-1 MEAC, RPI No. 209) *
- Northern Iowa (20-5, 14-0 Missouri Valley, RPI No. 64) *
- Hawaii (21-4, 13-1 Mountain West, RPI No. 41) *
- LIU (16-7, 12-0 NEC, RPI No. 202) *
- Lindenwood (21-3, 11-1 in Ohio Valley, RPI No. 55) *
- American (19-5, 14-1 Patriot, RPI No. 60) *
- Wofford (21-7, 14-2 SoCon, RPI No. 108) *
- Southeastern Louisiana (15-12, 12-2 Southland, RPI No. 249) *
- South Dakota (18-5, 11-1 Summit League, RPI No. 46) *
- Florida A&M (17-10, 12-2 SWAC, RPI No. 258) *
- Arkansas State (17-8, 13-1 Sun Belt, RPI No. 58) *
- Eastern Kentucky (24-2, 14-0 UAC, RPI No. 35) *
- Pepperdine (21-3, 12-1 WCC, RPI No. 39) *
- Colorado (16-7, 7-6 Big 12, RPI No. 33)
- Ball State (18-7, 9-5 MAC, RPI No. 38)
- Michigan State (17-7, 7-7 Big Ten, RPI No. 40 RPI)
- LMU (21-3, 12-1 WCC, RPI No. 43)
- Utah (13-10, 5-7 Big 12, RPI No. 36 RPI) **
- Bowling Green (18-7, 10-4 MAC, RPI No. 47) **
- Michigan (15-10, 6-8 Big Ten, RPI No. 44) **
- DePaul (17-8, 9-5 Big East, RPI No. 49) **
On The Bubble
Last Four In
- Utah (13-10, 5-7 Big 12, RPI No. 36 RPI) **
- Bowling Green (18-7, 10-4 MAC, RPI No. 47) **
- Michigan (15-10, 6-8 Big Ten, RPI No. 44)**
- DePaul (17-8, 9-5 Big East, RPI No. 49)**
First Four Out
- Miami (13-10, 11-13 ACC, No. 48)
- Georgia (15-8, XX-XX SEC, RPI No. 52)
- Georgia Tech (15-10, 7-7 ACC, RPI No. 53)
- Cal (17-8, 7-7 ACC, RPI No. 57)
NCAA Volleyball Tournament Dates
Below are the key dates for the 2026 NCAA Volleyball Tournament:
- Selection Sunday: Sunday, Nov. 29 at 6 p.m. ET
- First and Second Rounds: Thursday, Dec. 3 to Sunday, Dec. 6
- Regionals: Thursday, Dec. 10 to Sunday, Dec. 13
- National Semifinals: Thursday, Dec. 17 (Alamodome — San Antonio)
- National Championship: Sunday, Dec. 20 (Alamodome — San Antonio)
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NCAA volleyball bracketology: Who's in 64-team tournament field? Version 3.0
