NCAA women's volleyball tournament

The field: 64 teams, including 32 automatic qualifiers

Top four seeds: No. 1 Southern California (San Diego bracket), No. 2 Gophers (Des Moines), No. 3 Texas (Austin, Texas), No. 4 Nebraska (Lexington, Ky.)

Conference breakdown: The Big Ten leads all leagues with nine teams in the tournament. The Pac-12 is next with seven.

First and second rounds: Thursday-Saturday at 16 campus sites

Regionals: Dec. 11-12

Final Four: Dec. 17 and 19 at CenturyLink Center in Omaha

Defending champion: Penn State

This week at the U Sports Pavilion

Friday: Marquette (21-11) vs. Northern Iowa (19-14), 4:30 p.m.; Jackson State (15-21) vs. Gophers (26-4), 6:30 p.m.

Saturday: Friday's winners, 6:30 p.m.