NCAA Volleyball Tournament: Nebraska Regional Matchups Hot Read

2016 NCAA Volleyball Tournament

• Rounds 1 & 2: December 1-3
• Regional Rounds (3 & 4): December 9-10
• Semifinals & Final: December 15 and 17
• Full bracket

Earlier tonight, the NCAA announced the first-round matchups and host sites for its 2016 National Championship Tournament. Here’s a quick look at the matchups in the top left of the bracket, featuring #1 seed Nebraska:

Here is the top left quarter of the bracket! #NCAAVB pic.twitter.com/KBhgvLFDIw

— NCAA Volleyball (@NCAAVolleyball) November 28, 2016

#1 Nebraska vs New Hampshire

• Host site: Nebraska
• 2016 Head-to-Head: N/A
• 2015 NCAA Tournament Results:
  • Nebraska: NCAA champs
  • New Hampshire: lost 0-3 to Florida in 1st round

Nebraska begins its NCAA title defense in a loaded bracket and could meet 2013 and 2014 NCAA champs Penn State by the third round. America East champs New Hampshire get easily their toughest test of the year, but enter the tournament on a 10-match win streak that comprises a 30-4 set record.

Wichita State vs TCU

• Host site: Nebraska
• 2016 Head-to-Head: N/A
• 2015 NCAA Tournament Results:
  • Wichita State: Lost 0-3 to Nebraska in 2nd round
  • TCU: lost 2-3 to Hawaii in 1st round

Wichita State stole the Missouri Valley title from Missouri State Saturday, but might have wound up in a tougher bracket. A win over TCU would likely set up a rematch with Nebraska, which ended Wichita State’s season in a sweep last year. TCU, meanwhile, will get another shot after nearly upsetting Hawaii in the opening round a year ago.

#16 Penn State vs LIU Brooklyn

• Host site: Penn State
• 2016 Head-to-Head: N/A
• 2015 NCAA Tournament Results:
  • Penn State: lost 0-3 to Hawaii in 3rd round
  • LIU Brooklyn: N/A

Penn State gets NEC champs LIU Brooklyn in the first round. LIU Brooklyn started the season 0-6 but rallied back to a winning overall record (16-14) and a conference title. Penn State is battle-tested from arguably the NCAA’s toughest conference and only finished behind top-4 seeds Nebraska, Minnesota and Wisconsin in the conference.

Pittsburgh vs Dayton

• Host site: Penn State
• 2016 Head-to-Head: N/A
• 2015 NCAA Tournament Results:
  • Pitt: N/A
  • Dayton: lost 1-3 to Penn State in 2nd round

Pitt will show down with Atlantic-10 champ Dayton at a neutral site (Penn State). Dayton was 30-1 this year, but only played one NCAA tournament team – Miami. Pitt, meanwhile, has a couple of massive upsets to its credit, including ACC champs UNC.

#8 Washington vs A&M Corpus Christi

• Host site: Washington
• 2016 Head-to-Head: N/A
• 2015 NCAA Tournament Results:
  • Washington: lost 1-3 to Nebraska in quarterfinals
  • A&M Corpus Christi: lost 0-3 to Texas A&M in 1st round

26-4 and sole Pac-12 champs Washington will battle Southland Conference champs Texas A&M Corpus Christi. Washington, too, could see a rematch of the game that ended its 2015 season, as three wins would likely pit the Huskies against Nebraska in the quarterfinals. Corpus Christi went undefeated in its conference, but dropped 7 matches in non-conference play, including sweeps against most ranked opponents.

Kentucky vs Colorado State

• Host site: Washington
• 2016 Head-to-Head: N/A
• 2015 NCAA Tournament Results:
  • Kentucky: lost 0-3 to American in 1st round
  • Colorado State: lost 1-3 to Loyola Marymount in 1st round

Kentucky led the SEC late, but faltered and wound up with a tough bracket slot. Colorado State was a bubble team, but made the tournament despite losing the Mountain West title for the first time since 2008. Both teams bowed out of the tournament in round 1 a year ago.

#9 Michigan State vs Fairfield

• Host site: Michigan State
• 2016 Head-to-Head: N/A
• 2015 NCAA Tournament Results:
  • Michigan State: lost 1-3 to Washington in 2nd round
  • Fairfield: lost 0-3 to Texas in 1st round

MAAC champs Fairfield will head to East Lansing, Michigan to take on Michigan State, coming off a nation-leading 22-match win streak. 18 of those 22 wins came within the MAAC, though, and Fairfield was 10-5 outside the conference this year. Michigan State won’t see Washington in the 2nd round like they did last year, but could meet the Huskies by round 3 if both teams win out.

Cleveland State vs Arizona

• Host site: Michigan State
• 2016 Head-to-Head: N/A
• 2015 NCAA Tournament Results:
  • Cleveland State: lost 1-3 to USC in 1st round
  • Arizona: lost 0-3 to Western Kentucky in 1st round

A couple of first-round exits from a year ago meet, with Horizon League champs Cleveland State and Arizona of the Pac-12. It’ll be the second year in a row that Cleveland State meets a Pac-12 opponent in the tournament after losing to USC last year. It’s the first-ever meeting between the two programs. It’s the 4th-ever NCAA tournament appearance for Cleveland State and the 4th-straight for Arizona.

Other notes:

• Very likely the toughest bracket in the tournament, this group features the winners of 9 of the last 11 NCAA titles: Nebraska (2006, 2015), Penn State (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2013, 2014) and Washington (2005).
• We could see a Penn State-Nebraska rematch as early as round 3. Nebraska won 3-0 at home earlier this year, but Penn State brought the Huskers to 5 sets in Pennsylvania a few weeks earlier.