The Cornhuskers come in at No. 1 on the Committee's top 10 rankings.
INDIANAPOLIS -- With a few weeks of competition left before Selection Sunday, the NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball Committee has provided a top 10 ranking that was announced during the ESPNU televised Alabama vs. Auburn volleyball match on Wednesday, Nov. 9.
Using the selection criteria and results through games as of Nov. 6, the defending NCAA champion University of Nebraska, Lincoln is the top ranked team in the nation with 22-1 mark. They are followed by fellow Big Ten Conference members, the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities (19-4) and the University of Wisconsin-Madison (20-3) at second and third, respectively. The Big 12’s University of Texas at Austin (18-3) ranked fourth followed by the University of San Diego (21-3) of the West Coast Conference to round out the top five.
“This is the first time the Division I Women’s Volleyball Committee has released a Top 10 ranking to increase excitement and awareness about the sport. It was a great exercise for the committee as selection Sunday approaches,” said Lisa Peterson, chair of the committee and Deputy Athletic Director/SWA at the University of Oregon.”
“We still have a lot of volleyball that will be played in the next few weeks and things may change, but this ranking allowed us to have discussions with input from our Regional Advisory Committee members that are like those that we will have during selection weekend. The parity in women’s volleyball is noteworthy and will make those selections challenging. The committee looks forward to the opportunity to re-evaluate the teams as the season progresses.”
If the #NCAAVB Championship started today, these would be the top 10 seeds, according to the Selection Committee! pic.twitter.com/Xo7QuWvNid
— NCAA Volleyball (@NCAAVolleyball) November 10, 2016
The remainder of the top-10 includes the University of Kansas (22-2) another Big 12 member, at sixth, Stanford University (16-6) of the Pac-12 Conference, seventh, and the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (21-3) an Atlantic Coast Conference member at eighth. The Southeastern Conference’s University of Florida (22-2) is No. 9 followed by Pac-12 member the University of Washington (20-4) in the 10th position.
The ranking is based on the criteria used to select and seed the 64 teams for the Division I Women’s Volleyball Championship and includes strength of schedule, Rating Percentage Index, head-to-head competition, results versus common opponents, significant wins and losses and locations of contests. Additionally, input is provided by the regional advisory committees for consideration by the Division I Women’s Volleyball Committee.
The ranking announcement is part of the continued team evaluations that will culminate with the final bracket that will be revealed during the selection show on Sunday, November 27, at 9 p.m. ET on ESPNU.
First and Second round competition will be held at 16 non-predetermined campus sites December 1-3 with the winning team from each of the 16 second rounds advancing to the regional round.
Regionals for the NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship will be held at four non-predetermined campus sites December 9-10. At each site, four teams compete in single-elimination regional semifinal competition. The two advancing teams then compete against each other in single-elimination regional final.
The winning team from each of the four regions will advance to the DI Women’s Volleyball Championship at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. The national semifinals will be held December 15 at 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. and will air live on ESPN2. The national championship will take place December 17 at 9 p.m. and will also air live on ESPN2.
Top 10 ranking (record through games played on November 6):
1. Nebraska (22-1)
2. Minnesota (19-4)
3. Wisconsin (20-3)
4. Texas (18-3)
5. San Diego (21-3)
6. Kansas (22-2)
7. Stanford (16-6)
8. North Carolina (21-3)
9. Florida (22-2)
10. Washington (20-4)
