2018 NCAA volleyball tournament: Bracket, analysis, schedule and how to watch the DI championship

The NCAA volleyball selection committee has spoken. After three months of play, 64 teams get to compete for the national championship, beginning with the NCAA tournament first round on Nov. 29.

Stanford, Minnesota, Illinois and BYU took the top four seeds, which means each team will host a regional if it advances past the first weekend.

Here is the full bracket, schedule of games and viewing information, followed by a region-by-region look at the 2018 NCAA Division I women’s volleyball tournament bracket.

BRACKET: 2018 NCAA DI women’s volleyball interactive bracket | Printable bracket | Field announced

NCAA volleyball tournament schedule:

Below are the top 16 seeds in the NCAA Division I women’s volleyball tournament that will host the first two rounds on campus sites. We will update the information on how to watch these games when those details become available. All games will be available on WatchESPN.

1. Stanford
2. Minnesota
3. Illinois
4. BYU
5. Texas
6. Wisconsin
7. Nebraska
8. Penn State
9. Creighton
10. Kentucky
11. Southern California
12. Pittsburgh
13. UCF
14. Marquette
15. Oregon
16. Washington State

Region-by-region look at the 2018 bracket

Starting with No. 1 Stanford, the first thing that jumps off the page is a potential matchup with No. 8 Penn State in the regional final. The Nittany Lions were the No. 1 seed last year but have a much younger team this year, led by freshman outside hitter Jonni Parker. Still, it’ll be tough to pick against the Cardinal in Palo Alto. Loyola Marymount appeared to not really be in the tournament conversation until its late win against then-undefeated BYU. Quite the comeback for the Lions.

MORE: 2018 championship info | Championship tickets

Playing in the Big East, Creighton hasn’t received a lot of attention this season, but Taryn Kloth is an All-American capable of carrying a team. For the best matches in the first weekend, it has to be Tennessee vs. Colorado State and the winner of that possibly against Washington State. The Volunteers have had an incredible season, finishing second in the SEC with a first-year coach.

BYU ended up getting a top-four seed after all. Heading into the final weekend, many around the sport speculated whether or not BYU or Stanford would get the No. 1 seed. Once BYU lost in its final game of the year, the question became whether or not the Cougars would hold on for a top-four seed.

1st & 2nd Rounds
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But this region is one of the best from top to bottom. No. 5 Texas should never be taken for granted and No. 12 Pittsburgh has been one of the best stories this season at 29-1. For the best matchups of the first weekend, look no further than in Orlando. No. 13 UCF has had a phenomenal year, winning the American Conference, but last year’s national runner-up Florida could be a sleeper here as an unseeded team.

The No. 2 Minnesota Golden Gophers could theoretically have home-court advantage throughout the tournament. There’s no question the Big Ten champs want to play for a championship in Minneapolis.

MORE: A list of all the teams in the NCAA tournament | 2018 automatic qualifiers

The two teams most likely to thwart those opportunities are the reigning national champion, No. 7 Nebraska, and No. 10 Kentucky. Those two teams could meet in the Big Ten regional semifinals after last season’s regional final matchup. For an unseeded sleeper, it has to be Purdue which has been a top-15 team pretty much all season.

Illinois made the national final as the No. 3 seed in 2011 and the Fighting Illini are very well deserving of that seed this season. If the bracket goes chalk, there could be a Big Ten vs. Big Ten regional final with No. 6 Wisconsin, which is also a championship caliber team.

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Southern California at No. 11 was a bit surprising, given its losses to Arizona State and Utah at the end of the season. This region also has one of the most exciting players to watch in Cincinnati’s Jordan Thompson, who is leading the country with an astonishing 6.28 kills per set.

You’ll want to watch as much action as you can through the national championship on Dec. 15 in Minneapolis. This tournament almost always ends up being one of the best of the year.

MORE: The 9 greatest upsets in NCAA volleyball history

Championship History