The Colorado State volleyball team, which earned a bid to the NCAA Division I tournament for a 15th consecutive season, on Sunday learned it will host the first two rounds of the tournament for the first time since 2005.
The Rams (23-5) clinched the Mountain West Conference title and its automatic tournament bid two weeks ago and have since waited to learn their postseason placing.
CSU, ranked No. 23 in the national coaches poll, will face Sun Belt champ Middle Tennessee (25-9) on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. at Moby Arena.
Northern Colorado (21-11), winner of the Big Sky in just its fourth season as a team, will play Washington (23-5), the No. 4-ranked team in the country and the sixth-seed overall, at 5 p.m. Washington is the only seeded team competing in Fort Collins.
The winners advance to Friday’s second round at 7 p.m.
The 64-team bracket finishes with the national championship on Dec. 19 in Tampa, Fla.
CSU plays host for the 10th time overall. Because of travel considerations, the often highly ranked Rams have trekked to other locations to start the tournament in recent seasons.
Northern Colorado, one of five teams which earned first bids to the tournament, on Saturday upset regular-season champion Portland State to win the Big Sky tournament and earn an automatic bid.
