2016 NCAA Volleyball Tournament

[flyingMoose]

I'll crank up this thread with the latest Bracketology thoughts.


Bracketology (11/21)
-Big East and MVC Tournaments this Weekend (Nov. 24-26)
-One more update to this will come, after all matches conclude on Saturday night.
-NCAA Selection Show at 9:00pm EST on Sunday, November 27th.

-This is the 5th-year edition of Trojan Bracketology. Quick history:
2012: All at-larges picked correctly.
2013: All at-larges picked correctly.
2014: Missed one at-large. Picked Virginia Tech to make the tournament, but Michigan State made it in. (In all honesty, the most deserving pick was PACIFIC - but the 2nd place WCC team was left out)
2015 Missed one at-large. Picked Pittsburgh to make the tournament, but Northern Iowa made it. (Convinced this one was a conspiracy)


32 PREDICTED Conference Champions (Auto-Qualifiers)
11/22 RPI number is in parentheses

MVC – Missouri State (46)


(18) Locked At-Large Bids
(None for the Valley)


(25) Bubble Teams competing for (13) spots

Missouri Valley

35 Wichita State
44 Northern Iowa
63 Southern Illinois

MVC Tournament takes place this weekend. Every team needs to win it to guarantee a bid. For Loyola-Chicago and Illinois State, it is absolutely their only hope. For Southern Illinois, they most likely will not get an at-large bid. Even if SIU wins two and loses in the Final, an at-large is probably not gonna happen.

Northern Iowa, Wichita State, and Missouri State all may or may not need to win the conference to get the bid. Ironically, Missouri State, the #1 seed, has the lower RPI, with Wichita St. and UNI slightly higher. I think if any of these three advance to the Finals, they will get an at-large bid. The losers in the semifinals are assuredly in the most jeopardy. I think three teams get in. Southern Illinois winning the conference would send a bunch of havoc through the MVC, and anywhere from 2-4 bids would be the result.

I think the MVC is in a good position to get three bids. I don't think SIU is strong enough to win the tournament, and I think Missouri State continues their hot streak and wins this.


At-Large Bid Summary

2 at-large bids from MVC (Wichita State, Northern Iowa)

Last 4 in: Miami(OH), Colorado State, Illinois, Northern Iowa

[1972Shocker]

Wouldn't that be 25 bubble teams competing for 14 spots?

[flyingMoose]

Deleted by OP

[flyingMoose]

Wouldn't that be 25 bubble teams competing for 14 spots?

Not sure if my cut-and-paste skills have deteriorated since the first grade, or if the OP over on Volleytalk changed something(s).

In addition to the 32 AQs, he now has 21 locked at-large bids with 25 teams competing for 11 at-large bids.

[1972Shocker]

Not sure if my cut-and-paste skills have deteriorated since the first grade, or if the OP over on Volleytalk changed something(s).

In addition to the 32 AQs, he now has 21 locked at-large bids with 25 teams competing for 11 at-large bids.

I am a little surprised if they went from 18 to 21 locked in that the number of teams competing for the remaining bids would not have dropped to 22. Where did those 3 additional locked in teams come from. Not that it really makes much difference.

[flyingMoose]

I am a little surprised if they went from 18 to 21 locked in that the number of teams competing for the remaining bids would not have dropped to 22. Where did those 3 additional locked in teams come from. Not that it really makes much difference.

There were a number of conference tournaments over the weekend, mostly one-bid conferences but not all. So his numbers changed as those were completed. (The Valley and the Big East still have conference tournaments to play.) Additionally, as the Pac12 and B1G and Big12 complete their conference schedules (no conference tournaments for them), those results are causing other modifications. I have not tried to keep up with his changes on a daily basis, but the Bracketology above maybe the fourth iteration or so in the last two weeks. Plus he is trying to keep a lot of balls in the air at this point - I truly believe he had some typos, not catching everything when he did make his changes.

This Saturday night, he issues his final Bracketology.

[flyingMoose]

Bracketology thoughts after the Friday matches:


Missouri Valley
35 Wichita State
44 Northern Iowa

Northern Iowa fell to the Shockers today, so they'll be nervous on Selection Sunday. I still think they are in. Kentucky, Iowa State, Wichita State(x2), and Miami(OH) are good enough wins. I don't think UNI really deserved a bid last year - but they got in as the last team in.

I think Wichita State is more safe than Missouri State. They have an RPI advantage of about 10 spots, so Wichita St. can afford a loss much more than Missouri State can. Missouri State has 4 top 50 wins, but none of those are Top 25. Missouri State has a H2H win over Illinois - that could be crucial and the difference between a bid or not.

As of right now, UNI, Wichita State, and Missouri State in!

[flyingMoose]

Some joker on VT was claiming Northern Iowa had no chance of making the tournament, being behind some B1G schools with noticeably worse RPIs than UNI. Both @WuDrWu and @JayJ79 jumped him!

[JayJ79]

I'm alright if UNI doesn't make the tourney (I mean, I'd prefer that they make it, but I'm not going to harbor a grudge against the selection committee if they don't).
However, I'll really be pissed if they get passed over for the 52nd team getting in from the Big "Ten", unless there is some valid explaination other than "they play in the Big Ten"

[1972Shocker]

Shockers take the suspense out of selection Sunday for the 2nd year in a row and they can now enjoy a relaxing Selection Sunday Watch Party.

I think both Missouri State and UNI will be in the field was well but they both will have a bit of anxiety, especially UNI.

[flyingMoose]

Since I don't get the U, who is going to post the play-by-play of the parts of the bracket involving Valley teams?

[1972Shocker]

Since I don't get the U, who is going to post the play-by-play of the parts of the bracket involving Valley teams?

You could head out to the watch party at the Champions Club in Koch Arena. Doors open at 7:45 pm.

http://www.goshockers.com/news/2016/11/26/volleyball-watch-party-on-sunday.aspx

[flyingMoose]

You could head out to the watch party at the Champions Club in Koch Arena. Doors open at 7:45 pm.

http://www.goshockers.com/news/2016/...on-sunday.aspx

Great! I thought Lambo had sworn off these things, even when the Shockers are the AQ.

[shocks771]

Totally screwed, Kansas and Kansas State are hosting and they send us to Nebraska. Thanks committee.

[ShockerFever]

Totally screwed, Kansas and Kansas State are hosting and they send us to Nebraska. Thanks committee.

And that is why NCAA Volleyball will never catch on and will always be seen as an intramural. Sad but true.