Volleyball: Women's

Now that conference play is underway, I will be posting my own version of NCAA women's volleyball Bracketology every Monday for your viewing pleasure. I will post in the morning, before the new AVCA coaches poll is released. Each Monday, I will update my predictions based off the results of the week. There will be nine more editions of Bracketology before the NCAA Tournament begins on Dec. 2. The final three weeks will include bubble teams, the last teams four in, the first four teams out and possibly some other details. After the official bracket is released, Matt, Steve and I will predict the tournament and keep track of everything on the blog.

Since conference play has only just begun, my predictions are a little rough right now since there isn't much to base them off of. This is mostly the case for minor conference schools, since they are not as familiar. The major conference schools and ranked schools are a little easier to predict. As the regular season progresses, teams will begin to stand out in their conferences, while others teeter on the verge of making or missing the tournament.

Here are some guidelines to maximize your Bracketology experience. I will include these in every subsequent edition.

• The NCAA Women's Volleyball Tournament follows a 64-team, six-round, single elimination format.
• Every conference must be represented by at least one school.
• The top 16 overall teams are denoted by numbers before the school.
• Match sites for the first two rounds are determined by the residing top-16 team in every cluster of four teams. For example, No. 1 Illinois, Bethune-Cookman, Kentucky and Nicholls State all play at Huff Hall in Champaign, Ill., for the first two rounds.
• The next two rounds -- the Regional semifinals and finals -- are played at the regional location denoted in bold at the top of each grouping of 16 teams.
• The last two rounds -- the National semifinal and final -- are played in San Antonio, Texas.

Lexington Regional

1 Illinois (Big Ten)
Bethune-Cookman (MEAC)

Kentucky (SEC)
Nicholls St.(Southland)

Penn (Ivy League)
Bowling Green (MAC)

Missouri St. (Missouri Valley)
16 Iowa State (Big 12)

9 USC (Pac 12)
Samford (Southern)

Arizona (Pac 12)
Colorado St (Mountain West)

LSU (SEC)
Creighton (Missouri Valley)

Morehead St. (Ohio Valley)
8 Penn State (Big Ten)

Minneapolis Regional

5 UCLA (Pac 12)
Oral Roberts (Summit League)

Long Beach State (West Coast)
Duke (ACC)

Belmont (Atlantic Sun)
Michigan (Big Ten)

BYU (West Coast)
12 Texas (Big 12)

13 Minnesota (Big Ten)
Wichita State (Missouri Valley)

Florida State (ACC)
Duquesne (Atlantic 10)

Western Kentucky (Sun Belt)
James Madison (Colonial)

Milwaukee (Horizon)
4 Stanford (Pac 12)

Gainesville Regional

3 Cal (Pac 12)
Army (Patriot)

Northern Arizona (Big Sky)
Pepperdine (West Coast)

Tennessee (SEC)
UC Daivs (Big West)

Winthrop (Big South)
14 Oregon (Pac 12)

11 Purdue (Big Ten)
Niagara (MAAC)

Kansas (Big 12)
Arizona (Pac 12)

Tulsa (Conference USA)
Colorado State (Mountain West)

Sacred Heart (NEC)
6 Florida (SEC)

Honolulu Regional

7 Nebraska (Big Ten)
New Mexico State (WAC)

Texas A & M (Big 12)
Louisville (Big East)

Dayton (Atl 10)
Troy (Sun Belt)

St. Mary's (CA) (West Coast)
10 Hawaii (WAC)

15 Northern Iowa (Missouri Valley)
Central Florida (Conference USA)

Oklahoma (Big 12)
Michigan State (Big 10)

San Diego (West Coast)
Northern Illinois (MAC)

2 Washington (Pac 12)
Alabama State (SWAC)