Of the four teams remaining in the NCAA volleyball tournament, only two won their respective conferences and earned an automatic bid.
The last time all four national semifinals were conference champions was in 2000. But, more often than not, conference champions advance to the national semifinals over non-conference champions.
We looked at every NCAA volleyball tournament from 2000 through 2017 to determine whether or not conference champions — historically — make the national semifinals, national championship match and win the national championship more than the teams that didn’t win their conferences.
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Since the NCAA volleyball tournament awarding 16 total national seeds in 2000, conference champions have made it to the national semifinals 45 times compared to 27 times for at-large teams. And, with Nebraska last season, conference champions have won 13 of the past 18 national championships.
Conference champions are likely to get a better draw being a higher seed than most at-large bids. Still, only five teams in the past 18 tournaments having won the national title as non-conference champs seems like a significant difference.
To clarify, when we say a team was a conference champion, we are talking about the team that received an automatic bid from its conference. Some conference championships were split; however, we are not including the co-champion that received an at-large bid as a conference champion.
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Here are a few other big picture numbers we noticed and some recent trends:
- Of the past 18 national runners-up, 11 of them won their conference tournaments.
- Starting with 2000, nine championship matches have been played between conference champions.
- It’s likely at least one conference champion will be in the national championship match because only three times has it been played between two non-champs.
- Of the 27 non-champs to make the semifinals, 18 of those teams were from a conference that had its champion in the national semifinals that same year.
- Eight times since the 2000 tournament, there have been two conference champions and two non-champs in the national semifinals. Only twice has there been just one conference champion. Never has there been all non-conference champs in the semifinals.
- Three of the past four national champions did not win their conferences.
| Year | Seed | Team | Result | Conference champ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 1 | Nebraska | Champion | Yes |
| 3 | Southern California | Semifinalist | Yes | |
| 5 | Hawaii | Semifinalist | Yes | |
| 7 | Wisconsin | Runner-up | Yes | |
| 2001 | 1 | Long Beach State | Runner-up | Yes |
| 2 | Nebraska | Semifinalist | Yes | |
| 3 | Stanford | Champion | Yes | |
| 5 | Arizona | Semifinalist | No | |
| 2002 | 1 | Southern California | Champion | Yes |
| 2 | Stanford | Runner-up | No | |
| 5 | Florida | Semifinalist | Yes | |
| 6 | Hawaii | Semifinalist | Yes | |
| 2003 | 1 | Southern California | Champion | Yes |
| 2 | Hawaii | Semifinalist | Yes | |
| 3 | Florida | Runner-up | Yes | |
| 13 | Minnesota | Semifinalist | No | |
| 2004 | 4 | Minnesota | Runner-up | No |
| 7 | Washington | Semifinalist | No | |
| 8 | Southern California | Semifinalist | Yes | |
| 11 | Stanford | Champion | No | |
| 2005 | 1 | Nebraska | Runner-up | Yes |
| 3 | Washington | Champion | Yes | |
| 15 | Tennessee | Semifinalist | No | |
| -- | Santa Clara | Semifinalist | Yes | |
| 2006 | 1 | Nebraska | Champion | Yes |
| 2 | Stanford | Runner-up | Yes | |
| 4 | UCLA | Semifinalist | No | |
| 6 | Washington | Semifinalist | No | |
| 2007 | 1 | Stanford | Runner-up | Yes |
| 3 | Penn State | Champion | Yes | |
| 5 | Southern California | Semifinalist | No | |
| 10 | California | Semifinalist | No | |
| 2008 | 1 | Penn State | Champion | Yes |
| 2 | Stanford | Runner-up | Yes | |
| 3 | Texas | Semifinalist | No | |
| 4 | Nebraska | Semifinalist | Yes | |
| 2009 | 1 | Penn State | Champion | Yes |
| 2 | Texas | Runner-up | Yes | |
| 11 | Minnesota | Semifinalist | No | |
| 12 | Hawaii | Semifinalist | Yes | |
| 2010 | 4 | Penn State | Champion | Yes |
| 6 | Southern California | Semifinalist | Yes | |
| 7 | California | Runner-up | No | |
| 9 | Texas | Semifinalist | No | |
| 2011 | 3 | Illinois | Runner-up | No |
| 7 | Southern California | Semifinalist | Yes | |
| 9 | UCLA | Champion | No | |
| 12 | Florida State | Semifinalist | Yes | |
| 2012 | 1 | Penn State | Semifinalist | Yes |
| 3 | Texas | Champion | Yes | |
| 5 | Oregon | Runner-up | No | |
| -- | Michigan | Semifinalist | No | |
| 2013 | 1 | Texas | Semifinalist | Yes |
| 2 | Penn State | Champion | Yes | |
| 3 | Washington | Semifinalist | Yes | |
| 12 | Wisconsin | Runner-up | No | |
| 2014 | 1 | Stanford | Semifinalist | Yes |
| 2 | Texas | Semifinalist | Yes | |
| 5 | Penn State | Champion | No | |
| -- | BYU | Runner-up | Yes | |
| 2015 | 2 | Minnesota | Semifinalist | Yes |
| 3 | Texas | Runner-up | Yes | |
| 4 | Nebraska | Champion | No | |
| 9 | Kansas | Semifinalist | No | |
| 2016 | 1 | Nebraska | Semifinalist | Yes |
| 2 | Minnesota | Semifinalist | No | |
| 4 | Texas | Runner-up | No | |
| 6 | Stanford | Champion | No | |
| 2017 | 1 | Penn State | Semifinalist | No |
| 2 | Florida | Runner-up | Yes | |
| 3 | Stanford | Semifinalist | Yes | |
| 5 | Nebraska | Champion | Yes |
