INDIANAPOLIS — The NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball committee announced the 64-team field that will compete in the 2023 NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball Championship. Thirty-two conferences were awarded an automatic qualification, while the remaining 32 positions were filled with at-large selections to complete the bracket.
Nebraska, Stanford, Wisconsin and Pittsburgh earned the top seeds in this year’s tournament. The top four seeds have combined for 15 national titles in the tournament’s history. Nebraska claimed the Big Ten Conference title after posting nearly an unblemished record, finishing with an overall record of 28-1 and 19-1 in conference play. The Huskers have held the top spot in the RPI since October 15. Stanford finished the season with eight consecutive wins, while winning its 24th Pac-12 Conference title in program history. Wisconsin secured their spot after going 8-2 in its last ten games (and 26-3 overall), as well as handing Nebraska its only loss of the season. Pittsburgh will be making its 19th appearance in the tournament after posting a 25-4 record and a share of the ACC Championship.
For the second year, the top 32 teams were seeded nationally in pods of four and placed within four regions. Per the established bracketing principles, the top seeds were provided the opportunity to host. Additionally, team pairings are determined within the pods (ones paired with eights, twos paired with sevens, threes paired with sixes and fours paired with fives) and assigned geographically within their pods, with the exception that teams from the same conference are not paired during the first- and second rounds.
The Southeastern Conference led all conferences with eight teams selected from the league to compete in the championship tournament. The Big-12 was second with seven programs advancing to the post season, followed by the ACC, Big Ten, and Pac-12 who finished with five advancing programs.
This year’s field features 44 teams who played in the 2022 NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball Championship. Four teams are making their first-ever tournament appearance: Coppin State, Grand Canyon, Omaha and Wofford. The longest hiatus belongs to Eastern Illinois with its last appearance coming in 2001. Penn State remains the only team that has earned a berth to all 43 championship tournaments while Nebraska and Stanford have appeared in all but one.
During the previous 40 years of the championship, 12 schools have won a national title, eight of which earned a place in this year’s bracket. Previous winners competing in the field are: Hawaii (1982, 83, 87), Kentucky (2020), Nebraska (1995, 2000, 06, 15, 17), Southern California (1981, 2002, 03), Stanford (1992, 94, 96, 97, 2001, 04, 16, 18, 19), Penn St. (1999, 2007, 08, 09, 10, 13, 14), Texas (1988, 2012, 2022), and Wisconsin (2021).
First- and second-round matches will be played November 30- December 3 at 16 campus sites. Teams winning both matches will continue to regional play December 7 & 9. Regionals for the NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship will be held at four non-predetermined campus sites, which will be announced on December 4. At each site, four teams will compete in single-elimination regional semifinal competition.
The regional winners will advance to the national semifinals and championship final hosted by the University of South Florida, in conjunction with the Tampa Bay Sports Commission December 14&17 at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Fla. The national semifinal matches will broadcast on ESPN, and the championship match will broadcast on ABC.