NCAA playoff updates for field hockey, cross country, football and volleyball

November 9, 2022
For NCAA fall sports, it’s already the most wonderful time of the year. Unwrap these early playoff snapshots and prepare to celebrate…confetti showers are right around the corner.
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NCAA playoff updates for field hockey, cross country, football and volleyball
SOURCE: TWITTER/TEXASVOLLEYBALL

The GIST: For NCAA fall sports, it’s already the most wonderful time of the year. Unwrap these early playoff snapshots and prepare to celebrate…confetti showers are right around the corner.

🏑 Natty (hi)jinks: The 18-team bracket is set, and field hockey’s best will bring their sticks to the national tourney today. While 14 squads received byes to Friday’s second round, four teams hit the field this afternoon: Delaware plays Lehigh at 2 p.m. ET and No. 25 Miami (OH) faces Rider at 3 p.m. ET. On the line? A shot at No. 1 UNC or No. 3 Northwestern on Friday.

👟 Racing toward Stillwater: The nine Division I regional cross country meets hit starting lines on Friday, with the top two teams from each region securing bibs for the national meet in Stillwater, OK, on November 19th.

  • The women’s meets to watch? The Mountain (including No. 2 New Mexico and No. 4 Northern Arizona), Great Lakes and West, which have seven, six and five ranked teams, respectively, runnin’ runnin’ and runnin’ runnin’.
  • For the men, the Mountain meet reigns supreme with six ranked teams, including No. 2 BYU and No. 3 Northern Arizona. The Southeast and West (with No. 1 Stanford) boast five top squads each. Take your marks!

🏈 Shuffling the gridiron giants: The closer to December, the clearer the CFP picture. Last night, the CFP committee dropped its second rankings of the season…and they may have used the AP poll as a cheat sheet. Both sets of rankings have an identical Top 8.

  • Unsurprisingly, undefeated Georgia is now the top ’Dawg after beating last week’s No. 1 Tennessee, who slid to No. 5 behind the other 9-0 squads: No. 2 Ohio State, No. 3 Michigan and No. 4 TCU. Rising to No. 6? Oregon, whose lone L was at the paws of Georgia in Week 1.

🏐 Court queens’ rankings report: With women’s volleyball conference tourneys just over a week away and the national bracket reveal set for the end of the month, rankings are increasingly vital. The No. 1 Texas Longhorns remain at the top this week, with No. 2 San Diego and 2021 champs No. 3 Wisconsin hoping to hook Texas’ spot.

  • They might have a shot, too: The infamous Iowa State Cyclones — the only squad to defeat Texas — descend on Austin tonight at 8 p.m. ET, hoping to blow away the Longhorns for the second time this season. Spicy.