The NCAA Volleyball Tournament, Just Like the Hunger Games Movies
By Emily Young
Everyone knows that the new “Hunger Games movie: Mockingjay Part 2” is killing it at box offices, but that’s not this week’s top release or box-office smash for volleyball fans across the country. For them (myself included), it’s the NCAA Division I volleyball championships!
The NCAA tournament pairings came out Sunday night. Sixty-four teams out of 332 are selected based on overall season performance and RPI, which stands for “rating percentage index.” The top 16 seeds host first- and second-round matches this week. USC, No. 1 seed in the 2015 NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball Tournament, and will host the Horizon League champion, Cleveland State (26-6), at Galen Center in the first round of the tournament on Thursday, Dec. 3, at 7:30 p.m. PT.
The tournament is a single-elimination format and by the end of this weekend, only 16 teams will still be in the hunt for the championship. The following weekend, Dec. 11 and 12, play will continue at four regional sites (San Diego, CA.; Lexington, Ky.; Austin, TX.; and Des Moines, IA.). The four regional champions will meet in Omaha, Nebraska to determine The National Champion.
In so many ways, the NCAA tournament is like the “Hunger Games.” It’s a fight to “stay alive” and it’s an annual tourney that determines who is the best. Looking for reasons why the NCAA tournament is as good as, or better, than the “Hunger Games”? Here’s 8 reasons.
1. The NCAA tournament has 32 times the amount of entertainment! With each match averaging about two hours and 63 total matches, you get 126 hours of gut-wrenching entertainment compared with a mere four-hour sit-down movie.
2. Like the “Hunger Games’’ series, this volleyball tournament has action, love, rivalries and just enough of that occasional violence, you know, when someone takes a spike to the face. We call that a six-pack in the volleyball world.
3. The tournament is a lot like the Hunger Games movie because each of the of the respective volleyball conferences is represented. All teams are respected opponents that bring there own unique qualities to the court.
4. Can’t decide between Team Peeta and Team Gale? Try that times 64.
5. We’ll gladly volunteer for tribute. If your team loses, that’s basically the end of your volleyball life this season. It’s single elimination and for players that are seniors, it’s their last chance to play collegiately. Every team wants to be in the tournament because that elusive prize of being the best is worth the fight.
6. We’ve got Jennifer Lawrence beat. Sixty-four teams times 15 girls equals 960 top female athletes in spandex. Enough said!
7. You can’t read the books to find out what’s going to happen!
8. Good Luck to all the teams participating and “may the odds be ever in your favor.”
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