This probably has more to do with the nature of the sports than with the NCAA’s acumen in seeding team, but 15 of the top 16 seeds in Womens’ Volleyball all will be playing in the Sweet 16. In 7 of the 8 brackets, the #1 will play the #4 and the #2 will play the #3.
The only “bracket buster” is #5 Houston, which made it in place of #4 Creighton.
The mens’ soccer tournament seeded 16 teams. Only 2 of them are in the final 4: number 3 Syracuse and #13 Indiana. Pitt beat #1 Kentucky in the Sweet 16 and #16 Akron in the 2nd Round. All 16 seeds got first round byes. Six of the 16 lost their second round matches. Six more lost in the Sweet 16. Two more lost in the Elite 8.
Either mens’ soccer is much more difficult to seed or the soccer committee did a poor job. I think it’s mainly the former. I do think, however, that the committee overrated certain conferences, particularly the PAC-12. Washington, the overall #2 seed, went out in its first match, as did #8 Oregon State. UCLA and #5 Stanford fell in the Sweet 16. The ACC has had 4 teams go out but still has two in the Fibal Four and had 3 in the Elite Eight.
The only “bracket buster” is #5 Houston, which made it in place of #4 Creighton.
The mens’ soccer tournament seeded 16 teams. Only 2 of them are in the final 4: number 3 Syracuse and #13 Indiana. Pitt beat #1 Kentucky in the Sweet 16 and #16 Akron in the 2nd Round. All 16 seeds got first round byes. Six of the 16 lost their second round matches. Six more lost in the Sweet 16. Two more lost in the Elite 8.
Either mens’ soccer is much more difficult to seed or the soccer committee did a poor job. I think it’s mainly the former. I do think, however, that the committee overrated certain conferences, particularly the PAC-12. Washington, the overall #2 seed, went out in its first match, as did #8 Oregon State. UCLA and #5 Stanford fell in the Sweet 16. The ACC has had 4 teams go out but still has two in the Fibal Four and had 3 in the Elite Eight.