Here's an article outlining the latest seeding and at large bid projections for the NCAA men's volleyball tournament:

http://www.offtheblockblog.com/2014/04/ ... etology-2/

Interesting that they say Loyola is a lock to get the #1 seed even if the Ramblers don't win the MIVA tourney.

Not sure if I agree, given the West Coast bias you've documented.

I'm shocked to see Erskine projected to be in the tournament. I went to Loyola vs Erskine in January, and we beat the crap out of them. The match was over in less than an hour.

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There's a new conference in men's volleyball this year, Conference Carolinas, and they'll get an automatic bid to the tournament. Erskine is running away with this new conference this year. This addition is why the tournament is expanding from four to six teams this year-- four automatic bids, two at-large.

Oh, I didn't make that connection. Doesn't say much for that conference.

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The story said that they've locked it up "barring" losing, etc.

Conference Carolinas is a newer conference with D2 teams that formed a few years ago that has kept adding teams. They finally have enough for an automatic bid. If I remember correctly, there have not been any big time upsets coming out of Conference Carolinas against the rest of the country since the conference formed and they don't play too many top tier schools. I don't think any of their teams have ever been ranked in the coaches poll. Thus, the perception is that they are clearly the weakest of the four DI/II conferences. Whoever wins the conference tournament would likely be seeded no higher than 6.

Erskine did beat a lower tier MPSF team (Cal Baptist) on the road a few weeks back. They also beat Sacred Heart, a lower tier EIVA team, at home.

In terms of conference strength, the MPSF is like the Big 12 or Big 10 in college basketball. They have 13 teams, nine of which are ranked, and a long history. The top half of the teams in the MPSF are probably capable of making a run to a national championship if they get hot at the right time (like UC Irvine did last year). In addition to men's volleyball, they also compete in water polo, track and other sports.

The MIVA is probably similar in strength to the new Big East or A-10 in men's hoops. The conference ususally has two or three out of eight teams that are capable of knocking off teams in the top half of the MPSF.

The EIVA is probably similar to the MVC. They are, and have been for a long time, dominated by Penn State. They have some teams like Harvard, Princeton, and George Mason that sometimes have good, but not great teams. The top two or three teams in the EIVA could probably knock off the lower half teams of the MPSF on a good night. Penn State won the national championship in 2008 with a 30-1 record.

And Conference Carolinas is comparable to the lower mid majors, like the Southern, Ohio Valley, Big South, etc. Probably only Erskine and Mount Olive could beat a lower tier MPSF team or lower half MIVA team (Lindenwood, Quincy, Grand Canyon, etc.) on a good night.