No matter….the seniors need to will this team not to lose.

RPI # 1-10 = 95% seeding certainty

RPI # 11-12 = 75% seeding certainty = hosting unless proven to be not host worthy

RPI # 13-25 = 50-50 or on the “bubble” for seeding = not hosting unless proven to be host worthy

[Note 1: This year the Volleyball Committee will consider seeding any top 25 team in the AVCA Poll, Pablo Rankings, or RichKern Poll that is not among the top 25 RPI. Thus, the following teams are eligible for seeding consideration but don’t hold your breath: #30 California (Pablo Rankings #17) and #61 St. Mary’s (Pablo Rankings #14).]

[Note 2: If a team that’s eligible for seeding consideration is NOT seeded, that does not necessarily mean it will automatically receive an at-large bid (e.g. St. Mary’s).]

BIG TEN [12 conf. teams]
RPI # 1-10 = 2 hosting [#2 Penn State, #8 Nebraska]
RPI # 11-12 = 0
RPI # 13-25 = 3 teams are on the “bubble” and could be hosting 1 of the 16 subregionals [#13 Minnesota, #14 Wisconsin, #17 Illinois]
FYI: Nebraska and Illinois are 2 of the 4 predetermined regionals

PAC-12 [12 conf. teams]
RPI # 1-10 = 3 hosting [#3Washington, #6 USC, #7 Stanford]
RPI # 11-12 = 0
RPI # 13-25 = 2 [#24 Arizona, #25 Oregon]
FYI: Southern California is 1 of the 4 predetermined regionals

SEC/SOUTHEASTERN [13 conf. teams]
RPI # 1-10 = 3 hosting [#4 Florida, undefeated #5 Missouri, #9 Kentucky]
RPI # 11-12 = 0
RPI # 13-25 = 0
FYI: Kentucky is 1 of the 4 predetermined regionals

BIG 12 [12 conf. members]
RPI # 1-10 = 1 hosting [#1 Texas]
RPI # 11-12 = 1 [#12 Kansas]
RPI # 13-25 = 2 [#22 Iowa State, #23 Oklahoma]

ACC/ATLANTIC COAST [15 conf. members]
RPI # 1-10 = 0
RPI # 11-12 = 0
RPI # 13-25 = 3 [#18 Duke, #19 Florida State, # 21 North Carolina]
FYI: Conf. standings heading into the final week: 1/Duke (16-2), 2/N. Carolina (15-3), and 3/Florida St (14-3)

BIG EAST [9 conf. teams]
RPI # 1-10 = 1 hosting [#10 Marquette]
RPI # 11-12 = 0
RPI # 13-25 = 1 [#16 Creighton]
FYI: Big East has its conf. championship tournament Nov 29-30: Seed 1/Marquette (15-1) vs Seed 4/Butler (11-5) and Seed 2/Creighton (12-4) vs Seed 3/Xavier (12-4)

BIG WEST [9 conf. teams]
RPI # 1-10 = 0
RPI # 11-12 = 1 [#11 Hawaii]
RPI # 13-25 = 0
FYI: #59 UCSB must win the conf. title or it has no chance for an at-large bid; #38 CSUN may see its sun setting on Selection Sunday

WEST COAST/WCC [10 conf. teams]
RPI # 1-10 = 0
RPI # 11-12 = 0
RPI # 13-25 = 1 [#15 San Diego]

MOUNTAIN WEST/MWC
RPI #1-10 = 0
RPI # 11-12 = 0
RPI # 13-25 = 1 [undefeated #20 Colorado State]

Commentary: In spite of what you hear from the TV commentator — “everywhere you look across the country … teams that are suppose to be winning are losing” — this has been a sameold sameold ending to the regular season as far as the winners are concerned.

Texas was ranked #1 in the national preseason poll and guess where it is ranked at the end of the regular season. [Conf. coaches picked Iowa St to finish second and Kansas third in the Big 12 but Kansas (12-3) should clinch second ahead of Iowa St (11-3) in the final week.]

PSU was ranked #2 in the national preseason poll and guess where it is ranked at the end of the regular season. [Conf. coaches chose Minnesota and Nebraska to finish behind the Nittany Lions, but it looks like Nebraska will take second followed by Minnesota in the final Big Ten standings.] Note: In 2012, the Big Ten had a contingent of 7 conf. teams in the Big Dance.

Stanford, USC, and Washington were ranked #3, #4, and #5 in the national preseason poll, and all three will end the regular season in the RPI top 7. [7 Pac-12 teams earned NCAA Championship tournament bids in 2012.]

There were only 2 surprises, but by the end of the regular season these weren’t surprises at all as unstoppable Missouri was expected to run the table (and it did) and UH/Stella was expected to find her groove back (and it did).

In the SEC, in which the conf. coaches picked Florida to finish first overall, followed by Kentucky and Missouri, Mizzou (in its 2nd year in the SEC), dominated team after team. Nevertheless, all 3 teams finished in the RPI top 10, and so the SEC coaches were off only in their preseason ranking of the 3, not in their selection of the top 3. [For the records, yours truly was the first on this blog to call attention to Mizzou — weeks before the Star-Advertiser writer wrote on this team.]

And in the Big West, in which Hawai’i was expected to romp, the conf. dominance of the Rainbow Wahine came to an end, only to return with a vengence at the end of the regular season.

stanford may very well be the #3 team in the country, but they’re ahead of washington (who’s in first place in the pac-12, and as a practical matter, the two teams split this season), and they’re ahead of usc, who stanford lost to twice. very few programs will end up at the #3 spot on the avca poll after that kind of a resume … maybe save for stanford … hence the “stanford mystique” … 😉

Last year Kentucky leapfrogged over Hawaii for a seed since it was argued that although Hawaii had a better RPI, Kentucky played a tougher schedule and had a better nitty gritty. After this I don’t see how the committee can with a straight face leapfrog Colorado State over Hawaii because they have a better record but worse RPI and a worse nitty gritty than Hawaii.

In fact don’t be surprised to see Colorado State sent to Hawaii, just like they were in 2011.