There is a rule (somewhere) which is a bit unclear to me. If a team has at least as many losses as wins (i.e. winning percentage of 0.500 or less), then either that team is not eligible for the NCAA VB tourney or is not eligible for an at-large bid to the NCAA VB tourney. I'm not sure which is correct but this rule has apparently kept Arizona out of the NCAA VB tourney recently. The following are examples of teams were in the 2007 NCAA tourney, will have winning records of 0.500 or less and cannot/didn't earn an automatic bid.
Missouri 13-15 with two games left; no conference tourney.
Oklahoma 12-15 with one game left; no conference tourney.
The following teams were in the 2007 NCAA VB tourney:
Stanford
Santa Clara
Sacremento St.
Minnesota
Purdue
Ohio
Cal Poly
Xavier
Kansas St.
Tulsa
Oregon
Missouri St.
Clemson
Alabama
UCLA
Alabama A&M
USC
Pepperdine
Long Beach St.
UNLV
Delaware
Princeton
St. John's
Long Island
Florida
Col. Of Charleston
Oklahoma
Florida A&M
LSU
New Mexico St.
Texas
Texas St.
Penn St.
Siena
Cleveland St.
Albany
Michigan
Miami-Ohio
Colorado St.
Illinois St.
Hawaii
Tenn. St.
Middle Tenn.
Louisville
BYU
Mississippi
Washington
Missouri
Wisconsin
N. Iowa
Iowa St.
San Diego
Duke
American
California
Liberty
Dayton
Lipscomb
Michigan St.
Kentucky
Wichita St.
Western Ky.
Nebraska
S. Dakota St.
Missouri 13-15 with two games left; no conference tourney.
Oklahoma 12-15 with one game left; no conference tourney.
The following teams were in the 2007 NCAA VB tourney:
Stanford
Santa Clara
Sacremento St.
Minnesota
Purdue
Ohio
Cal Poly
Xavier
Kansas St.
Tulsa
Oregon
Missouri St.
Clemson
Alabama
UCLA
Alabama A&M
USC
Pepperdine
Long Beach St.
UNLV
Delaware
Princeton
St. John's
Long Island
Florida
Col. Of Charleston
Oklahoma
Florida A&M
LSU
New Mexico St.
Texas
Texas St.
Penn St.
Siena
Cleveland St.
Albany
Michigan
Miami-Ohio
Colorado St.
Illinois St.
Hawaii
Tenn. St.
Middle Tenn.
Louisville
BYU
Mississippi
Washington
Missouri
Wisconsin
N. Iowa
Iowa St.
San Diego
Duke
American
California
Liberty
Dayton
Lipscomb
Michigan St.
Kentucky
Wichita St.
Western Ky.
Nebraska
S. Dakota St.