NCAA women’s volleyball bracket takeaways: Nebraska is the top seed

The regular season is over and the bracket is set. In a few weeks, women’s college volleyball will crown its next national champion in Kansas City, Missouri.

In the bracket unveiled on ESPN on Sunday night, the undefeated Nebraska Cornhuskers — to the surprise of no one — received the No. 1 overall seed. Nebraska, under first-year coach Dani Busboom Kelly, completed a 30-0 regular season campaign after getting sweeps this past weekend over Penn State and Ohio State. It’s the third time in school history — and first time since 2000 — that the Huskers have gone undefeated in a regular season.

Nebraska has only lost one set in Big Ten play and only seven in the entire regular season. Led by National Player of the Year candidate Harper Murray, the Huskers are also No. 1 in Evollve Rating, which measures the expected probability of winning a point against an average opponent and is determined by adjusting team performance for schedule strength.

Only two teams have forced Nebraska to a fifth set this season: Kentucky and Creighton. The Wildcats join the Huskers on the one-line as the third overall seed, while the Bluejays — who are riding a 20-game winning streak and went 16-0 in Big East play — are seeded No. 3 in Kentucky’s quadrant of the bracket. An Elite Eight matchup between Kentucky and Creighton could be incredibly watchable.

Louisville is the No. 2 seed in Nebraska’s corner of the bracket, which would set up a potential Elite Eight matchup between Busboom Kelly’s old squad and the one she coaches now.

Joining Nebraska and Kentucky on the one-line are Texas and Pitt.

Here are a few other takeaways from the bracket reveal…

In addition to Nebraska landing the No. 1 overall seed, the Big Ten made out pretty well on Selection Sunday. Six teams from the conference landed top 16 seeds, the most of any league. The ACC was second with four top 16 seeds.

The way the bracket is set up, there could be multiple intra-Big Ten matchups in the Sweet 16, including a rivalry clash between USC and UCLA.

Powered by reigning National Player of the Year Olivia Babcock, Pitt is a top-four seed in the college volleyball tournament for the fifth straight year. Winners of five straight and owners of a 26-4 overall record, Pitt is eyeing what would be its fifth consecutive trip to the Final Four.

But standing in the Panthers’ way could be another strong ACC opponent in No. 2 SMU, the fifth overall seed. Pitt did beat the Mustangs twice in the regular season, 3-2 and 3-1, but SMU has won nine in a row and also owns wins this season over Stanford, Louisville, Miami, Texas A&M and Baylor.

Beating a team three times in one season is often difficult.

The Badgers landed the No. 3 seed in Texas’ quadrant. Wisconsin has won nine straight games and ranks seventh nationally in Evollve Rating. The Badgers are also second nationally in assists per set with 13.9.

To set up what could be an entertaining second-round matchup, Wisconsin will have to top Eastern Illinois, and North Carolina has to defeat No. 6 UTEP.

While the Tar Heels were one of the last four teams to crack the field, they do own some impressive wins this season, notching victories over Florida, SMU and Georgia Tech. Jackie Taylor leads UNC in service aces and blocks this season, and ranks eighth nationally in block assists with 142.

Elsewhere in the bracket, TCU vs. Texas A&M, Miami vs. Kansas, and Baylor vs. Purdue are among the other intriguing potential matchups in the second round.