NCAA DI/DII Men's Volleyball - General Overview, Conferences, Teams

Overview
As the NCAA Men's Division 1/2 volleyball season is underway, I thought it would be helpful for many of our casual volleyball fans to get a brief overview of Men's NCAA Volleyball. What men's teams are there? What divisions are there? How is everything structured? 

We are in a period of rapid growth and change in NCAA Men's Volleyball. Teams are being added on a yearly basis, thanks in part to the work of UCLA Head Coach John Speraw's First Point Foundation, and also the general push from the boy's/men's volleyball community to #growthegame. Despite boy's volleyball being among the fastest growing sports in America over the last ten years, the number of schools playing collegiate volleyball is still remarkably limited. As of today, there are 28 Division I Men's teams, and 32 Division II teams in all of the NCAA. Compare this to the Women's game, where there are currently 345 and 289 respectively! As such, on the men's side, Division I and II compete together in what is essentially a combined division. The men's end of season NCAA Tournament will feature the top 8 D1/D2 teams, where all 8 have a chance at being crowned NCAA National Champions. More on this year's expansion here : NCAA Tournament to be eight-team, single-venue format for 2024 season.

Also, because of the limited number of teams and the cross between D1 and D2, men's volleyball has set up its own unique set of volleyball conferences. Below is a list of how the conferences are set up today, but keep in mind that these shift year to year as teams are added and new conferences are being formed.

The Conferences

	The Big West https://bigwest.org/ DI: California State University, Northridge, Long Beach State University, University of California, Irvine, University of California, San Diego, University of California, Santa Barbara, University of Hawaii, Manoa
	Conference Carolinas https://conferencecarolinas.com/ DII: Barton College, Belmont Abbey College, Emmanuel University (Georgia), Erskine College, King University, Lees-McRae College, North Greenville University, University of Mount Olive
	Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association  https://www.eivavolleyball.com/ DI: George Mason University, Harvard University, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Pennsylvania State University, Princeton University DII: University of Charleston (West Virginia)
	Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball https://mivavolleyball.com/ DI: Ball State University, Lindenwood University, Loyola University Chicago, Purdue University Fort Wayne, Queens University of Charlotte, The Ohio State University DII: Lewis University, Maryville University of Saint Louis, McKendree University, Quincy University
	Mountain Pacific Sports Federation https://mpsports.org/ DI: Brigham Young University, Grand Canyon University, Pepperdine University, Stanford University, University of California, Los Angeles, University of Southern California DII: Concordia University Irvine
	Northeast Conference http://www.northeastconference.org/ DI: Farleigh Dickinson University, Metropolitan Campus, Long Island University, Merrimack College, Sacred Heart University, Saint Francis University (Pennsylvania) DII: D'Youville University, Daemen University
	Southern Intercol. Ath. Conf. https://thesiac.com/ DII: Benedict College, Central State University, Edward Waters University, Fort Valley State University, Kentucky State University, Morehouse College
Independent Volleyball Association	Independent Volleyball Association DII:  American International College (AIC), Lincoln Memorial University, Menlo College (soon to join MPSF), Missouri University of Science and Technology, Thomas More University, Tusculum University, University of Puerto Rico, Bayamon, University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez, University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras, Vanguard University (soon to join MPSF)