The Gophers volleyball team, ranked No. 15 nationally, will open the NCAA tournament on Thursday in Lexington, Ky., against Western Kentucky.
Minnesota was placed in the four-team Lexington region, where host Kentucky is the top seed and will play Cleveland State in Thursday's other first-round match.
On Thursday, Minnesota (20-10) plays Western Kentucky (28-6) at 3:30 p.m., then Kentucky takes on Cleveland State at 7 p.m. The winners meet Friday night at Memorial Coliseum in Lexington.
Friday's winner will advance to the four-team Pittsburgh Region on Dec. 12-14, where host Pitt (29-1) is the tournament's No. 1 overall seed. The survivor in Pittsburgh advances to the Final Four on Dec. 19-22 in Louisville.
Western Kentucky won the Conference USA championship with an 18-0 league record. This is Western Kentucky's 17th NCAA tournament appearance. The Hilltoppers have a 9-16 record in NCAA tournament matches over the years.
The 2024 season marks the 29th year the Gophers have advanced to the NCAA tournament. Receiving an at-large bid this year, the Gophers have now advanced to the tournament in 10 straight seasons and 25 of the last 26 overall. As a program, Minnesota has had 29 straight winning seasons, dating back to the 1995 season.
Minnesota is one of nine Big Ten teams to make the 2024 NCAA tournament. Nebraska holds the No. 2 overall seed, while No. 3 seed Penn State also will host a regional.
The Gophers tied for sixth in the Big Ten with a 13-7 record, trailing Nebraska (19-1), Penn State (19-1), Wisconsin (17-3), Purdue (16-4) and Oregon (14-6) in the conference standings.
In all, the Gophers faced 14 teams that made up the NCAA field of 64 teams. Along with the other Big Ten teams Minnesota faced this season, the Gophers also competed against Baylor, Chicago State and Texas Christian.
Thirty-one conferences were awarded an automatic qualification in the tournament, while the remaining 33 positions were filled with at-large selections to complete the bracket.
Pittsburgh, Nebraska, Louisville and Penn State earned the four top seeds in this year's tournament.
The Big Ten, ACC and SEC led all conferences with nine teams selected from their leagues to compete in the tournament. The Big 12 was next with six programs advancing to the postseason.