Tourney Talk: HoopsHD interviews Siena dancer Julianna Volk

Last Tuesday Siena beat Merrimack 64-54 in the MAAC tourney title game to earn an automatic bid to next week’s NCAA tournament. The Saints made 3 NCAA tourney appearances in a row under Coach Fran McCaffery from 2008-2010 but had to wait 16 years to get back there this month. Earlier today HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to speak with Siena dancer Julianna Volk about being a captain and making the NCAA tourney.

You are from Rotterdam, NY: what made you choose Siena? It is a close-knit community. I own a dance studio, and a lot of the parents whose kids are enrolled went to Siena.

You are majoring in management with a track in sports management: how did you choose those subjects? The dance studio I grew up in was a family-run business. I played a few sports as a kid so I find sports management very interesting: my professor was also a big influence on that.

You are a SR: what is the post-graduation plan? I will be going for my masters’ in business administration.

You are captain of the dance team: what is the key to being a good leader?
Listening to everyone else to see where they are coming from. Our coach makes sure we look good, so I just try to understand what everyone is going through.

You made the Dean’s List a couple of years ago: how do you balance your work on the dance team with your work in the classroom? Time management is the key. Practice is from 7-10 and school comes 1st: our coaches are very adamant about us getting our work done before we show up.

Last Tuesday in the MAAC tourney title game Siena had a 10-PT win over Merrimack to clinch the title: what was your reaction when the final buzzer sounded, and what has the reaction been like on campus this week? As a senior it feels like a great ending to my college career. People doubted this team, but they showed they could fight back and win. We are having a selection party on Sunday so there is a lot of hype/excitement on campus.

In 2024 the Saints only won 4 games: could you have ever believed back then that just 2 years later they would make it to the NCAA tourney? Yes…with a new coach in Gerry McNamara. He incorporates the fans/alumni, puts his best foot forward, and wants all of us to support the team.

How does your school decide who gets to attend the NCAA tourney, and what will it mean to you to see your group doing its thing in front of a national TV audience? We decide by seniority/skill so I will be going with my fellow seniors. We are excited to see some history go down!

Does your squad have anything extra-special planned for next week? Not yet: just waiting to see where we are going, but we will put on a very good performance.

Any predictions for next week? Everyone is just hoping we are going somewhere warm!

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Bracketology 2026: March Madness Predictions (Version 10.5)

For our latest CHAMPIONSHIP WEEK VIDEO NOTEBOOK, where we recap a busy night of games, preview another busy day of games, have conference tournament brackets, schedules, and other important links – CLICK HERE

We are 2 days away from Selection Sunday as we continue to make our NCAA tourney predictions. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel correctly picked 66 of the 68 teams that made the 2025 tourney: 62 of his 66 were within 1 spot of their actual seed and 52 were right on the money. He will spend the upcoming days predicting which 68 teams will hear their names called on March 15th. See below for his list of who would make the cut if they picked the field today and if you agree or disagree then feel free to tweet us. To see how he stacks up with other websites (ranked 7th out of 186 bracket veterans over the past 5 years), check out: www.bracketmatrix.com

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SEED: TEAM (CONFERENCE)
1: Duke (ACC)
1: Michigan (Big 10)
1: Arizona (Big 12)
1: Florida (SEC)

2: Houston (Big 12)
2: Connecticut (Big East)
2: Michigan State (Big 10)
2: Iowa State (Big 12)

3: Illinois (Big 10)
3: Nebraska (Big 10)
3: Gonzaga (WCC): AUTO-BID
3: Purdue (Big 10)

4: Virginia (ACC)
4: Kansas (Big 12)
4: Alabama (SEC)
4: Texas Tech (Big 12)

5: Vanderbilt (SEC)
5: Arkansas (SEC)
5: St. John’s (Big East)
5: Tennessee (SEC)

6: North Carolina (ACC)
6: Wisconsin (Big 10)
6: Louisville (ACC)
6: Kentucky (SEC)

7: Miami FL (ACC)
7: BYU (Big 12)
7: St. Mary’s (WCC)
7: Clemson (ACC)

8: Villanova (Big East)
8: Georgia (SEC)
8: UCLA (Big 10)
8: Utah State (MWC)

9: TCU (Big 12)
9: Ohio State (Big 10)
9: Iowa (Big 10)
9: St. Louis (A-10)

10: Texas A&M (SEC)
10: UCF (Big 12)
10: NC State (ACC)
10: Santa Clara (WCC)

11: Missouri (SEC)
11: Miami OH (MAC)
11: Texas (SEC)
11: SMU (ACC)
11: VCU (A-10)
11: Akron (MAC)

12: South Florida (American)
12: Yale (Ivy)
12: McNeese (Southland): AUTO-BID
12: High Point (Big South): AUTO-BID

13: Northern Iowa (MVC): AUTO-BID
13: Utah Valley (WAC)
13: Hofstra (CAA): AUTO-BID
13: Sam Houston (C-USA)

14: UC Irvine (Big West)
14: Troy (Sun Belt): AUTO-BID
14: North Dakota State (Summit): AUTO-BID
14: Wright State (Horizon): AUTO-BID

15: Tennessee State (OVC): AUTO-BID
15: Furman (SoCon): AUTO-BID
15: Idaho (Big Sky): AUTO-BID
15: Siena (MAAC): AUTO-BID

16: Queens (Atlantic Sun): AUTO-BID
16: UMBC (America East)
16: LIU (NEC): AUTO-BID
16: Howard (MEAC)
16: Lehigh (Patriot): AUTO-BID
16: Alabama A&M (SWAC)

1ST 4 OUT
Auburn (SEC)
Indiana (Big 10)
New Mexico (MWC)
Seton Hall (ACC)

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Tourney Talk: HoopsHD interviews McNeese Cowgirl Kicker Hallie Marie Kleckley

Last Wednesday McNeese beat Stephen F. Austin 76-59 in the Southland tourney title game to earn an automatic bid to next week’s NCAA tournament. The Cowboys made NCAA tourney appearances in 2024/2025 and were able to make it 3 years in a row by winning 28+ games for the 3rd year in a row. Earlier today HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to speak with McNeese Cowgirl Kicker Hallie Marie Kleckley about being a captain and making the NCAA tourney.

You are from Lake Charles, LA: what made you choose McNeese? My sister and some other family members went to school here, so it was always my dream to come here and be on the dance team.

You are majoring in marketing: how did you choose that subject? My family owns a retail business and I also own a dance studio, so marketing is a big part of running a business. I love social media and producing things so marketing comes naturally to me.

You are a SR: what is the post-graduation plan? I still have a little more school left to do before I finish up next year. After that I plan to try out for some pro teams and continue my dance career.

You are captain of the dance team for the 2nd year in a row: what is the key to being a good leader? Just being positive, looking for the best outcomes, and trusting God. You must put your best foot forward when talking with your team: good communication is very important.

You own a dance studio where you teach daily classes (www.halliemarieandcompany.net): how do you balance being a student/dancer/business owner? It is crazy, but I am used to it because I have always filled my plate up to the tip-top. I started my studio in high school when I was 16 years old: my family helps me a lot and supports me so it works out very well. I was able to program it the way I want so everything runs smoothly. There is very little time left in each week, but when you love what you do it is easy.

In the Southland tourney the Cowboys had a 3-OT win over UTRGV in the semifinals and a win over SFA in the title game: how exhausted were you after the 1st game, and how excited were you after the 2nd game? We were exhausted after the 1st 1 but it was nothing too crazy. We have 6AM practices and workouts during the week so our bodies/minds are prepared. We had a doubleheader the other day with our men’s & women’s teams but we just cheered them on as always.

Last season you had major surgery but recovered in time for March Madness: how is your health doing, and what is your favorite memory from last year’s NCAA tourney? It is great: the surgery put into perspective how important your health is. My favorite memory was knowing that I could push through: I would not sure if I could make it back onto the court, but anything is possible with God.

How does your school decide who gets to attend the NCAA tourney, and what will it mean to you to see your group doing its thing in front of a national TV audience? There are only 12 spots on the court for spirit groups so we bring 6 cheerleaders/6 dancers. It runs by seniority and we love being there for our school and hyping everyone up. To get to do this for the 2nd year in a row: I know it will be great.

Does your squad have anything extra-special planned for next week? Not as of now: our national competition is a couple weeks away so while we are cheering for the men’s team we will practice wherever we can: in the hallway, in the parking lot, anywhere!

Any predictions for next week? We made our guesses at practice yesterday. The team has a strong bond and feeds off our energy so I think they will do great!

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Championship Week Video Notebook – Day 11

The Hoops HD Mock Committe started its first night of meetings tonight. CLICK HERE TO SEE THE BOARD

Check out the HOOPS HD SURVIVAL BOARD, which shows who is a lock, who is on the bubble, and who needs the auto-bid

Also, don’t miss our CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT PAGE, which has brackets, times, and viewing information for all 31 conference tournaments

Check out our new HOOPS HD TEAM SHEETS AND DEFCON RATINGS for all 365 D1 teams

Finally, be sure to keep an eye on our most recent BRACKET PROJECTIONS

It was another crazy day of conference tournament action! Duke got a scare from Florida State in the ACC, but held on to win. Kansas also got a scare from TCU, but also held on to win in the Big 12. Miami OH lost their first game of the season as they fell in the quarterfinals of the MAC Tournament. We recap the busiest week of Championship Week and preview all of tomorrow’s games.

And for all you radio lovers, below is an audio only version of the show…

BIG 12 SEMIFINALS:

ACC SEMIFINALS:

BIG EAST SEMIFINALS:

MOUNTAIN WEST SEMIFINALS:

MAC SEMIFINALS:

BIG WEST SEMIFINALS:

CONFERENCE USA SEMIFINALS:

WAC SEMIFINALS:

SWAC SEMIFINALS:

MEAC SEMIFINALS:

BIG TEN QUARTERFINALS:

SEC QUARTERFINALS:

ATLANTIC 10 QUARTERFINALS:

AMERICAN QUARTERFINALS:

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The 2026 Hoops HD Selection Committee – Thursday, March 12th

Tonight was our first night of deliberations with the Hoops HD Selection Committee. After a formality where most of the UTR regular season champions were scrubbed off our board (with the exception of Belmont, Yale and South Florida), we voted on our Centenary and Stallings Awards for 2026. The Stallings Award was a unanimous vote for Boston College, but the Centenary Award featured a non-UTR team for the first time as Air Force ended up winning the award on the strength of a 25-game losing streak to complete their season. Surprisingly, only one human and one puppet did not vote for Air Force (Western Ilinois was the runner-up).

We also made a motion to scrub West Virginia off of our Under Consideration board; we then began the process of debating teams to add to the at-large board. In the first round of voting, the top 8 vote getters were Georgia, Miami, Kentucky, BYU, Clemson, Saint Mary’s, Villanova and TCU (via tiebreaker against Ohio State). We then ranked these teams 1 through 8; the top four vote getters were added to the at-large board. The first four teams we voted in were BYU, Miami, Kentucky and Saint Mary’s. The remaining 4 teams carried over to the next round of voting; we then individually nominated 8 more teams to add to the board.

The next top 4 vote getters were NC State, Ohio State, Santa Clara and Iowa; they were ranked 1 through 8 along with the previous 4 carryover teams. The next 4 teams added to our field were Clemson, Georgia, TCU and Villanova. The remaining four teams carried over to the next round and were joined in the next round of voting by Mother Miami (who lost to UMass earlier today – this means that the Redhawks will have to get in the NCAAs via an at-large bid now), Texas A&M, UCLA and Utah State. After another round of ranking the teams 1 through 8, we added Ohio State, UCLA, NC State and Utah State to our field. Mother Miami and Texas A&M carry over to tomorrow’s next round of voting; Santa Clara and Iowa returned to Under Consideration since teams cannot carry over in consecutive rounds of voting.

As of the time this article was published; we are assured of bids opening up in the ACC, Big 12 and Big Ten since bid thieves are no longer possible in those 3 conferences. The SEC has potential bid thieves in Ole Miss and Oklahoma who are still alive, the Big East has Seton Hall (and maybe Georgetown) still alive, and there are also conferences like the Mountain West, Atlantic 10 and even the MAC where bids could be stolen. I mention the MAC because whoever wins the autobid could end up stealing the Redhawks’ bid.

Tomorrow night, we will begin the process of seeding the top 8 seed lines and we will vote more teams into the field as more results go final. Also pay attention to two different color markers on the Under Consideration board: Mother Miami and Texas A&M are highlighted in red since they are temporarily carryover teams for at-large voting. Teams highlighted in yellow have been eliminated from their conference tournaments and can no longer add anything else to their profiles. Stay tuned tomorrow when we post our next update!

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The 2026 Hoops HD Selection Committee – Initial Board

Our Selection Committee has completed its initial phase of selecting the NCAA Tournament for 2026; each of our Committee members have submitted 2 lists to our chairman Chad Sherwood. The first list is our first ballot of up to 24 teams; teams that were selected on all but two lists were added to our At-Large tournament board. These teams (along with the first 15 autobid winners) are now in our initial NCAA Tournament field.

The second list is for teams Under Consideration; teams that got a minimum of 3 votes from our Committee were added to this group and will be among the group of teams that can also qualify for the NCAA Tournament.

This is what our initial board looks like:

22 teams made the initial at-large list; 35 teams were added to the Under Consideration board. All of the regular season champions were automatically added to Under Consideration, although it is likely they will be moved off of that list during our meeting tonight.

However, our first order of business will be to name our 2026 Centenary and Stallings Award winners; they will remain Under Consideration for the duration of our Committee’s meetings. We will then begin the process of debate and votes for the remainder of the at-large field; it is expected that we will add anywhere from 8 to 12 teams into the group highlighted in green. Stay tuned for later tonight when we recap the proceedings of tonight’s meeting!

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