Five-time NCAA-champion USC is the top seed in the NCAA’s National Collegiate Beach Volleyball Championship that begins Friday in Gulf Shores Alabama.
And the only other team that has won the crown, UCLA, is the No. 2 seed.
The 17-team bracket was announced Sunday morning and the at-large bids went to UCLA, Stanford, Cal Poly, Cal, Long Beach State, LSU, Arizona State and Washington.
Three-time defending-champion USC (33-5), which beat UCLA to win the Pac-12 tourney, awaits the winner of the play-in match between No. 16 North Florida (24-11), winner of the ASUN, and No. 17 Chattanooga (19-9), winner of the Ohio Valley Conference and like UNF in the field for the first time.
Second-seeded UCLA (32-6) plays Southland-champion Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (28-9). UCLA has lost just twice since March 8, both times to USC.
Third-seeded Stanford (31-5) of the Pac-12 plays No. 14 Georgia State (26-12), which won the Sun Belt.
Fourth-seeded Florida State (29-7), winner of the CCSA, plays 13th-seeded Washington (20-15) of the Pac-12, in the field for the first time.
The No. 5 seed is Cal Poly (29-6) of the Big West, which plays 12th-seeded Arizona State (21-9) of the Pac-12, also in for the first time.
At No. 6 is Conference USA-champion TCU (25-11), which plays LSU (25-11) of the CCSA.
Seventh-seeded Cal (19-13) of the Pac-12 plays No. 10 Long Beach State (28-9) of the Big West.
And No. 8 Loyola Marymount (27-13), which won the West Coast Conference, plays Big West-champion Hawai’i (24-11).
Since the NCAA took over the tournament from the AVCA in 2016, just USC and UCLA have won titles.
USC won in 2016 and 2017, UCLA won the next two, the tournament was canceled in 2019, and USC has won the last three.
Click here for the bracket: https://www.ncaa.com/brackets/beach-volleyball/nc/2024
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