Make Your NCAA Volleyball Bracket...Because USC is Seeded #1!
By: Emily Young
Hey sports fans! Do your Fantasy Football picks have you down this season? Can’t wait for March Madness? Need something to brag about during the holidays? I bring you NCAA Women’s Volleyball Bracketology. Why? Because USC is seeded #1 in the entire tournament!
—And yes, there’s a NCAA Women’s Volleyball Bracket but don’t worry if you aren’t in the know, blame SIRI.—
Just
like March Madness, 64 teams are selected based on overall season performance
and RPI. Only the top 16 seeds are
ranked, making the NCAA Volleyball Bracket more challenging than March Madness,
if you believe in the rankings. Be
warned, there’s far less extensive NCAA Volleyball bracketology research, thus
you have to make your predictions on season performance, school loyalty, and
gut feelings alone. Check out my NCAA
Bracketology tips.
For the Full Bracket Visit: http://www.ncaa.com/interactive-bracket/volleyball-women/d1/2015
Beginner Tips: You don’t know the game of volleyball that well, but you’re competitive.
- Know the power conferences for volleyball: Big
10 and PAC 12 are the big two.
- Follow your team loyalty….it’s not totally
unheard of for unranked teams to make it to the final four; however, it is
rare.
- Use the rankings as a crutch.
- Flipping a coin usually payoffs in the marginal
games.
- Remember the power of the upset.
- Review other’s brackets: http://herosports.herosports.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/d1-womens-volleyball-2015-ncaa-tournament-bracket-predictions.pdf
- Review Last Year’s Bracket, past NCAA experience
is often important, http://www.ncaa.com/interactive-bracket/volleyball-women/d1/2014
Moderate Level Tips: You have a basic understanding of volleyball, but you just started making your bracket now.
- Follow beginner tips.
- Review the post-game reports of important upsets (TCU beating Texas in 3) and
key rematches you foresee i.e. (Penn State Vs. Minnesota, Florida vs. Florida
State, USC vs. Stanford)
- Investigate well performing unranked teams for
potential upsets: Hawaii? American University again? Arkansas St.?
- Know the power of home court/crowd advantage.
- Key NCAA Tournament match ups in the past (Nebraska Vs. Washington, USC vs. Stanford, Texas vs. Penn St.)
Advanced Level Tips: You’ve been watching key teams all season, watched the selection show Sunday, and you’ve made a bracket before and are looking to get better.
Follow beginner and moderate level tips.
Review Volley Talk and other experts brackets, but also understand who posted them and why they may be biased (i.e. I played for USC so I may rank PAC 12 schools higher)
Know the stats of the “big hitters on the team.” Does the team rely on several players to have a good performance or just one?
Make several bracket drafts.
Vote on the team that is earning more points per set.
Disclaimers:
Know that there is no such thing as a perfect bracket and the Volley-Gods will always spite you!
Gambling and wagering on NCAA sports is a violation for all NCAA student-athletes, myself included. I won’t be posting a bracket that others could potentially wage on, but I’m excited to share my opinions about the match play of the tournament.
GO TROJANS!!!
About the Author:
Emily Young completed a four-year career with the USC indoor volleyball team in the fall of 2014. She was named to the 2014 Capital One CoSIDA Academic All-District 8 First Team, a three-time Pac-12 All-Academic honorable mention and served as a team captain during her senior season. Emily helped the Women of Troy to four NCAA tournament appearances; three in the regional championship match, and once to the 2010 national semifinal. She currently is finishing her graduate degree at USC, while playing on the USC Beach Volleyball team.
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