Pleas from several college volleyball coaches recently wasn’t enough for the NCAA to revisit a months-old decision to reduce the field for the upcoming NCAA Tournament.
So the previous plan remains with the field reduced to 48 teams, which is 16 fewer than in a normal season. Volleyball will stay with other sports that had reduced fields after their normal fall championships were moved to the spring due to the pandemic.
The entire tournament will be played in Omaha from April 14-24.
The decision to postpone the championship from the fall and move play to the spring was made in September. The decision for reduced fields wasn’t revisited, according to Kristin Fasbender, a director of championships for the NCAA who manages tournament operations for the Division I volleyball tournament.
The decision to reduce the number of teams was recommended by the Division I council, and supported by the Division I Presidential Forum and Division I Board of Directors. So while there is a Division I volleyball committee, made up of college administrators from several conferences, that committee reports to the competition oversight committee.
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In team sports the brackets were reduced to 75% of their normal size. Men’s and women’s soccer and field hockey were among the eight sports with reduced tournament fields. Women’s soccer also went from 64 to 48 teams. In football, the FCS championship bracket will have 16 teams instead of 24.
“Everybody got reduced some, but everybody is getting an opportunity for a good experience,” Fasbender said
Some of the frustration from coaches came from seeing the men’s and women’s basketball tournaments go on with their normal sizes. But none of the teams in those sports had a tournament last season, while the most recent NCAA volleyball tournament wasn’t affected by the pandemic.
Still, some teams will be left wondering if they would have made it during a normal season, and then how far they would have gone. There were 312 teams that played matches this season.
“I think it’s ridiculous we’re at 48,” said Nebraska coach John Cook. “Basketball didn’t cut back, why are we cutting back? Football didn’t cut back, why are we cutting back? Especially the fact that it’s all in one place.”
Fasbender is well aware of how big volleyball is both in Nebraska and the Big Ten Conference. She grew up in Omaha, graduated from UNL and ran the tournament during past seasons when the Final Four set attendance records in Omaha.
“The goal is to give those student-athletes the opportunity for a championship experience so they don’t lose out on it this year,” Fasbender said. “If they watched their counterparts, whether it’s men’s or women’s basketball or ice hockey or other sports this winter, they all did not get an opportunity last year. While it’s not a 64-team bracket, it’s a 48-team field that's going to have a great opportunity for a championship experience.”
The tournament bracket will be announced at 3 p.m. Sunday on ESPNU. The 30 conferences that played volleyball this spring still got one automatic spot in the tournament. Then 18 more teams will join them, with No. 4-ranked Nebraska a virtual lock to be one of them.
And in 10 days the teams will begin to arrive in Omaha for COVID-19 testing and practices.
“I think folks also need to remember the Division II and III student-athletes didn’t get an opportunity this fall. Those championships were completely canceled,” Fasbender said. “So while I know there are folks that would really wish that we were having 64 teams — and we would love to be having a 64-team bracket in a normal year and playing in December — but the opportunity that these student-athletes are still getting a chance to compete is amazing in our eyes.”
Here are more details about the tournament:
The city
Omaha was already scheduled to host the Final Four this season, so when the decision was made to have the full tournament in one city, Omaha was an easy choice. In a normal year, the first and second rounds are held at 16 sites.
The venue
All of the practices and matches will be played at CHI Health Center Omaha, which includes both a large convention center and 18,000-seat arena.
But no matches will be played in the arena during the first three rounds, in part so it's equitable for all teams. The general public isn’t allowed to attend matches until the tournament shifts to the arena for the final three rounds.
Playing matches at other arenas — Creighton, UNO and Ralston may have been options that would have accommodated more fans — was discussed. But they chose to limit the exposure to one group of event workers instead of four. Also, the COVID-19 testing site will be at the convention center.
There will be four courts for matches in the convention center, split among two halls. There also are eight courts for practice.
For the matches in the convention center, they’re working with Nebraska, Creighton and UNO to use the Taraflex courts that many schools use. For the first and second rounds, each team can have about 80 spectators. That number will grow as teams are eliminated.
The accommodations
The teams will stay at six hotels near downtown Omaha.
The NCAA recently faced backlash because some of the accommodations weren’t equitable for the men’s and women’s basketball tournaments, including the weight room.
But Fasbender said to date that hasn’t changed anything about the plans for the volleyball tournament.
“We’re learning from all of our colleagues,” Fasbender said. “None of us have done this before where we’re putting everybody in one spot. We’ve learned and we’re continuing to learn and work through it and see what we can do to provide a great experience.
“It’s going to be different. It’s going to be unique and something that everybody has worked really hard on so far to make sure they have the best opportunity to have a championship experience this year."
The bracket
In the 48-team bracket, the top 16 seeds will get a bye in the first round. Unlike in men’s and women’s basketball, the entire volleyball tournament is not seeded. During a traditional season, that can keep teams closer to home and cut down on travel expenses. Even though all the teams are in the same city this year, the tournament still won’t officially seed all 48 teams.
“Per the competition oversight committee, we’re only allowed to seed 16,” Fasbender said. “But as we’ve said over the years, the committee tries to put teams in some kind of an order if they can. But the other bracketing policies that come into play override that opportunity sometimes. We want to avoid first- and second-round conference matchups.”
The arrivals
The 32 teams that play in the first round will arrive April 11, three days before they play. Those teams begin COVID-19 testing the next day and practice on the 13th. Teams with first-round byes will start the process one day later.
The health considerations
For the men’s basketball tournament, one team (VCU) wasn’t able to play after arriving in Indianapolis due to COVID-19 protocols.
There isn’t a definitive rule on what would force a team to have to withdraw due to COVID-19 after arriving.
“I think every circumstance is different depending on the potential contact tracing would be, or what the pieces and parts are. Each case would be evaluated on its own,” Fasbender said.
A team won’t need to have a minimum number of players available in order to play.
The schedule
If you have access to ESPN3, you’ll get to watch a lot of volleyball, with matches running from 11 a.m. to at least 10:30 p.m. for the first two days of the tourney. Four matches will start at the same time on those days.
The Elite Eight on April 19 is all on the same court, with two sessions of two matches each beginning at 11 a.m. and 5:30 p.m.
The TV lineup
Each of the matches in the first and second round (April 14-15) will be broadcast online on ESPN3, and for the third round, a few matches will be on ESPNU. To get ESPN3 you’ll need to access it via the ESPN website or app and have a cable subscription.
By the Elite Eight, most matches will be on ESPNU. The semifinals and finals will be on ESPN2.