Nebraska, Stanford, Wisconsin, Pitt get top 4 NCAA volleyball bracket seeds

The 64-team NCAA Division I women’s volleyball tournament bracket was announced Sunday and the No. 1 seeds are Big Ten-champion Nebraska, Pac-12-champion Stanford, Big Ten-runner-up Wisconsin and ACC-champion Pittsburgh.

There were, as there are every year, some surprises. The SEC led with eight teams and the Big 12 got seven. The Sun Belt Conference, which hadn’t gotten an at-large since 2011, got four teams.

Top 16 seeds

The top four teams, if they win, get to be the hosts for the third and fourth rounds. The top 16 are home for the first and second rounds:

 1. Nebraska (28-1): The Huskers were the leaders from wire to wire. Their only loss came this past Friday at Wisconsin in a season in which Nebraska dominated. Nebraska plays LIU and Delaware plays Missouri.

 2. Stanford (26-3): The Cardinal won the Pac-12 by three games and had few stumbles all season. Stanford plays Fresno State and Houston plays UC Santa Barbara.

 3. Wisconsin (26-3): Wisconsin was hitting on all cylinders when it swept Nebraska on Friday. The Badgers play Jackson State and Miami plays Northern Iowa.

 4. Pittsburgh (25-4): Pittsburgh went to the last two national semifinals. The Panthers. loaded with freshmen, play Coppin State and USC plays UMBC.

 5. Louisville (24-4): Louisville went to the 2021 national semifinals and then lost in last year’s title match to Texas. The Cardinals play Wright State and Western Michigan plays Auburn.

 6. Oregon (26-5): The Ducks finished second to Stanford and have won five in a row and eight of nine. The only loss was to Stanford. Oregon plays Southeastern Louisiana and Iowa State plays Hawai’i.

 7. Texas (22-4): The defending national champions dominated the Big 12, winning by three games. The Longhorns play Texas A&M and Texas State plays SMU.

 8. Kentucky (19-7): The Wildcats are not only the SEC champions, but have won 16 in a row, the last eight against teams in the NCAA…