Not one Power conference team reached the Final Four.
Three of the four are from THE BIG WEST.
https://x.com/VAviaCA/status/2050895887946178598?s=20
Stories like this give me hope.
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A byproduct of CA being dominant in men’s volleyball. I believe a sponsored high school sport in recent years, not common in other states.
And semirelated, in women’s beach volleyball, LMU and Cal Poly were in the Final 8; 6 California teams incl the 4 former Pac12’s.
And LMU was runner-up in 2025. I think Pepp and USD have been national qualifiers recently and I think only 16 qualify.
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That’s only because volleyball (like most other NCAA sports) does not generate positive revenue and thus is not a target for NIL $$.
It’s football and basketball, and that’s pretty much it.
The vast majority of NIL money is in football and basketball, no doubt that’s accurate, but it’s also surprising how many other sports do have NIL money. All sports sponsored by the SEC you’ll find NIL money invested in programs. I don’t know why. But they all do. That’s not the reason why three of the final four are from the Big West. The reason is because there are only 24 Men’s Division I Volleyball programs in the country, and the Big Ten, SEC, Big 12, Big East, Pac 12, and basically every other conference doesn’t sponsor the sport. The only Power 4 schools that sponsor the sport are Stanford, UCLA, USC, Penn State, and BYU.
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