A quicker, hopefully still useful guide to the NCAA volleyball regional round

Which one-seed has the most favorable path? Are there live long shots? Who are the can't-miss players?

Courtesy Nebraska Athletics

It was mid-August, 2016, and John Cook and I were just ramping up work on the book that would become “Dream Like a Champion.”¹ The preseason AVCA rankings came out right before one of our interview sessions—Nebraska was No. 1—and I asked him what he thought of them.

Answer: He didn’t.

Makes sense for a coach, but those of you that follow the AVCA rankings know they’re not the most aggressive or ambitious set out there. Last year’s final ranking is often this year’s preseason ranking with only minor changes. There’s little movement week to week. At times, they feel like a formality.

“But pay attention to the Pablo rankings,” Cook told me.

I always have since getting that recommendation. I used Pablo as a way into a preview of last year’s NCAA Regional rounds, and I’m bringing it back² today for each quadrant of the bracket because those rankings tell a slightly different story than the seeding.

Since the NCAA declines to slap directional names on the regions in this tournament, it is once again my right to name them myself. Last year I went with a housing development theme, this year it’s local restaurants.