December is where college volleyball legends are made. Nebraska has climbed the mountain six times, Penn State owns seven national championships and Stanford has more NCAA titles than anyone with nine. But every championship run has to start somewhere.
So let's move the calendar forward a couple of months and pretend Selection Sunday is already here.
Which means it's time to build a bracket and find out who would be dancing if the NCAA Women's Volleyball Tournament started today.
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Nobody is cutting down a net in October. Conference races are still developing, résumés will change and the selection committee has considerably more to consider than one RPI number. But that's what makes this fun.
If the road to the 2026 national championship began today, these 64 teams would have a ticket.
NCAA Volleyball Tournament Projected Automatic Qualifiers
The NCAA invites 31 conference winners to the dance. Here's who we project to receive those automatic invites.
- ACC: Pittsburgh, RPI No. 1
- SEC: Kentucky, RPI No. 2
- Big Ten: Nebraska, RPI No. 3
- Big 12: TCU, RPI No. 8
- MAC: Toledo, RPI No. 25
- Conference USA: Western Kentucky, RPI No. 28
- ASUN: Lipscomb, RPI No. 35
- Atlantic 10: Dayton, RPI No. 38
- Big East: Creighton, RPI No. 41
- WCC: Loyola Marymount, RPI No. 42
- American: Tulane, RPI No. 43
- Mountain West: Hawaii, RPI No. 44
- Big South: High Point, RPI No. 47
- Big West: Long Beach State, RPI No. 49
- Ivy League: Yale, RPI No. 50
- Sun Belt: James Madison, RPI No. 53
- UAC: Eastern Kentucky, RPI No. 55
- CAA: College of Charleston, RPI No. 59
- Patriot League: American, RPI No. 69
- OVC: Lindenwood, RPI No. 78
- Big Sky: Idaho State, RPI No. 82
- Horizon League: Wright State, RPI No. 84
- Summit League: South Dakota, RPI No. 87
- Missouri Valley: Northern Iowa, RPI No. 98
- SoCon: Wofford, RPI No. 103
- MAAC: Fairfield, RPI No. 149
- Southland: Stephen F. Austin, RPI No. 157
- America East: New Hampshire, RPI No. 158
- NEC: Long Island University, RPI No. 181
- MEAC: Coppin State, RPI No. 218
- SWAC: Alabama A&M, RPI No. 269
NCAA Volleyball Tournament Projected At-Large Teams
Once the projected automatic qualifiers are removed, 33 spots remain.
For this first projection, we're using RPI as the primary measuring stick for the at-large field. As the season progresses and teams build deeper résumés, significant wins and losses, head-to-head results, strength of schedule and other selection factors will carry more weight.
Here are the 33 teams currently taking those spots:
- SMU, RPI No. 4
- Wisconsin, RPI No. 5
- Florida, RPI No. 6
- Louisville, RPI No. 7
- Texas, RPI No. 9
- Washington, RPI No. 10
- Vanderbilt, RPI No. 11
- Penn State, RPI No. 12
- BYU, RPI No. 13
- UCLA, RPI No. 14
- Oregon, RPI No. 15
- Indiana, RPI No. 16
- North Carolina, RPI No. 17
- Purdue, RPI No. 18
- Tennessee, RPI No. 19
- Baylor, RPI No. 20
- Georgia, RPI No. 21
- Michigan State, RPI No. 22
- Arizona State, RPI No. 23
- Texas A&M, RPI No. 24
- Utah, RPI No. 26
- Kansas, RPI No. 27
- Colorado State, RPI No. 29
- Stanford, RPI No. 30
- Georgia Tech, RPI No. 31
- Ball State, RPI No. 32
- Illinois, RPI No. 33
- Oklahoma, RPI No. 34
- Colorado, RPI No. 36
- Bowling Green, RPI No. 37
- Minnesota, RPI No. 39
- Michigan, RPI No. 40
- California, RPI No. 45
NCAA Volleyball Tournament Last Four In
If the tournament started today, these would be the final four at-large teams in our projected field:
- Bowling Green, RPI No. 37
- Minnesota, RPI No. 39
- Michigan, RPI No. 40
- Cal, RPI No. 45
California gets the uncomfortable seat at the edge of the table.
The Golden Bears are 12-3 and sit at No. 45 in the RPI, making them the final team into our field after all 31 automatic qualifiers are accounted for.
NCAA Volleyball Tournament First Four Out
And right on the other side of the bubble:
- Xavier, RPI No. 46
- Missouri, RPI No. 48
- Pepperdine, RPI No. 51
- Kansas State, RPI No. 52
Who Would Be The Top 16 Seeds In The NCAA Volleyball Tournament?
The NCAA selection committee ultimately determines seeding using a broader résumé than RPI alone, so consider this our starting point rather than an attempt to recreate the committee's November seed list.
If we followed the current RPI order, however, these would be the top 16 teams in the field:
- Pittsburgh
- Kentucky
- Nebraska
- SMU
- Wisconsin
- Florida
- Louisville
- TCU
- Texas
- Washington
- Vanderbilt
- Penn State
- BYU
- UCLA
- Oregon
- Indiana
Pittsburgh owns the early No. 1 spot with a 14-0 record, while Nebraska is also unbeaten at 15-0 and sits No. 3 in the RPI.
And then there is the depth.
The Big Ten alone places Nebraska, Wisconsin, Washington, Penn State, UCLA, Oregon and Indiana inside this projected top 16. The ACC has Pittsburgh, SMU and Louisville, while the SEC puts Kentucky, Florida, Texas and Vanderbilt into the group.
That's 14 of the 16 spots occupied by teams from just three conferences.
There is a long way to go before Selection Sunday, but the first RPI rankings have finally given the 2026 NCAA Tournament picture some shape.
Now the fun begins.
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