Florida Gulf Coast is one of six teams that earned their first NCAA tournament bid in 2018.
In 2018, Bryant, Eastern Michigan, Florida Gulf Coast, Navy, South Dakota and Syracuse all earned their first-ever bid to the NCAA volleyball tournament. Some teams, however, are still longing for that first selection.
Since the first NCAA Division I volleyball tournament in 1981, there have been 1,963 total selections ranging from every conference. But there are 86 teams that have not made an NCAA tournament appearance as a Division I program.
Before volleyball became an NCAA sport in 1981, California-Riverside won a AIAW national championship in Division II and then won two Division II titles at the NCAA level (1982, 1986), but it hasn’t made a tournament appearance in the NCAA era in Division I. On the other side of spectrum, Kennesaw State made its first-ever national tournament appearance last season as a Division I program by winning the A-Sun tournament and finishing the year 21-4.
North Alabama is included on the list, however the Lions haven’t had a chance to shine on the national scene yet given they’re in their first year as a Division I team.
Only three conferences — the Big East, Big Ten and Pac-12 — have had every member-school in the NCAA tournament.
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Here is the list of the 86 teams that have never made the NCAA tournament.
| Team | Conference |
|---|---|
| Abilene Christian | Southland |
| Air Force | Mountain West |
| Akron | MAC |
| Alcorn State | SWAC |
| Arkansas Pine Bluff | SWAC |
| Bethune-Cookman | MEAC |
| Boston College | ACC |
| Bradley | Missouri Valley |
| Buffalo | MAC |
| Campbell | Big South |
| Canisius | MAAC |
| Central Connecticut State | Northeast |
| Charleston Southern | Big South |
| Charlotte | C-USA |
| Chicago State | WAC |
| Columbia | Ivy League |
| Dartmouth | Ivy League |
| Delaware State | MEAC |
| Drake | Missouri Valley |
| East Carolina | American |
| Elon | CAA |
| Evansville | Missouri Valley |
| Fairleigh Dickinson | Northeast |
| Fordham | A-10 |
| Gardner-Webb | Big South |
| Grand Canyon | WAC |
| Hartford | America East |
| Holy Cross | Patriot |
| Houston Baptist | Southland |
| Illinois-Chicago | Horizon |
| Incarnate Word | Southland |
| Indiana State | Missouri Valley |
| Kent State | MAC |
| La Salle | A-10 |
| Lafayette | Patriot |
| Louisiana | Sun Belt |
| Louisiana Tech | C-USA |
| Louisiana-Monroe | Sun Belt |
| Loyola Maryland | Patriot |
| Marist | MAAC |
| McNeese | Southland |
| Mercer | SoCon |
| Mississippi State | SEC |
| Mississippi Valley State | SWAC |
| UMKC | WAC |
| Montana State | Big Sky |
| New Orleans | Southland |
| NJIT | A-Sun |
| Norfolk State | MEAC |
| North Alabama | A-Sun |
| North Carolina A&T | MEAC |
| North Carolina Central | MEAC |
| North Florida | A-Sun |
| Northern Kentucky | Horizon |
| Omaha | Summit |
| Portland | West Coast |
| Presbyterian | Big South |
| Quinnipiac | MAAC |
| Saint Francis (PA) | Northeast |
| Saint Peter’s | MAAC |
| Savannah State | MEAC |
| Southeast Louisiana | Southland |
| SIU Edwardsville | Ohio Valley |
| South Alabama | Sun Belt |
| South Carolina Upstate | Big South |
| Southern Miss | C-USA |
| Southern Utah | Big Sky |
| St. Francis Brooklyn | Northeast |
| Stetson | A-Sun |
| The Citadel | SoCon |
| Toledo | MAC |
| Troy | Sun Belt |
| UC Davis | Big West |
| UC Riverside | Big West |
| UConn | American |
| UMass Lowell | America East |
| UNC Asheville | Big South |
| UNC Greensboro | SoCon |
| Utah Valley | WAC |
| UTEP | C-USA |
| West Virginia | Big 12 |
| Western Carolina | SoCon |
| Western Illinois | Summit |
| Wofford | SoCon |
| Wright State | Horizon |
| Youngstown State | Horizon |
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