Each team has a tough road to maneuver if it wants to play for a national title Dec. 21 in Kansas City, Mo. The Longhorns, seeded No. 1 in their part of the bracket, are hosting this weekend’s games after taking down Florida A&M and defending champion Penn State last week in Austin. Up first is No. 4 Indiana on Friday. The winner of that match will play Sunday against either Stanford or Wisconsin, teams that the Longhorns beat earlier this season.
For A&M, it hosted the first two rounds as a No. 3 seed, dispatching Campbell and TCU. Now, the Aggies are playing in the Nebraska Regional hosted by the mighty Cornhuskers. They’ll get Louisville on Friday before a potential Sunday matchup with top-seeded Nebraska or Kansas.
So who will win this weekend’s games? And the national title? Two of American-Statesman staffers make their predictions, differing slightly on the Elite Eight and Final Four.
Here are our bracket predictions:
Thomas Jones covers Texas volleyball for the Statesman. He has the Longhorns making an impressive run, but not quite hoisting the trophy at season’s end.
Round of 16 winners
Texas
Wisconsin
Arizona State
Kentucky
Nebraska
Louisville
Purdue
Pittsburgh
Quarterfinal winners
Texas
Kentucky
Nebraska
Pittsburgh
Semifinal winners
Texas
Nebraska
National champion
Nebraska
Zoe Collins Rath, the Statesman’s sports producer, has covered both Texas and Texas A&M volleyball this season. Here’s what she thinks:
Round of 16 winners
Texas
Wisconsin
Creighton
Kentucky
Nebraska
Louisville
SMU
Pitt
Quarterfinal winners
Texas
Kentucky
Nebraska
SMU
Semifinal winners
Nebraska
Kentucky
National Champion
Nebraska