Four months ago, we released our preseason ranking for the 2016 NCAA Division I women's volleyball season, listing the teams we predicted would be the best in the country this year. Now that it's down to four teams in the hunt for the 2016 NCAA title, we're taking a look back to see how we did.

Our first four teams in the preseason ranking, which was released August 26, were, in order, Nebraska, Minnesota, Texas, and Stanford. Yes, that's right. The four teams that will play in the national semifinals on Thursday, Dec. 15.

Three of the teams that were eliminated in the regional finals ranked in the top eight in the FloVolleyball preseason ranking--Wisconsin at No. 5, UCLA at No. 6, and Washington at No. 8. Out of this year's elite eight, only Creighton was not in the top 10.

Four of the eight teams to end their seasons in the round of 16 appeared in the top 20 (Penn State at No. 12, Ohio State at No. 13, and North Carolina at No. 20).

The biggest miscalculation in the preseason ranking was ranking USC far too high. The Trojans failed to live up to our expectations, exiting the tournament in the first round with a loss to Hawaii.

Preseason No. 20 Louisville also had a disappointing season, finishing 12-18 overall and 10th in the final ACC standings.

Compare the preseason poll with our most recent rankings, which were released Monday.

 

Preseason		December 12
Rank	School	Rank	School	Record
1	Nebraska	1	Nebraska	31-2
2	Minnesota	2	Minnesota	29-4
3	Texas	3	Stanford	25-7
4	Stanford	4	Texas	26-4
5	Wisconsin	5	Wisconsin	28-5
6	UCLA	6	UCLA	27-7
7	Kansas	7	Washington	29-5
8	Washington	8	BYU	29-4
9	Hawaii	9	UNC	29-4
10	USC	10	Penn State	24-10
11	Florida	11	Kansas	27-3
12	Penn State	12	Ohio State	22-13
13	Ohio State	13	Creighton	28-6
14	Oregon	14	Missouri	27-6
15	Texas A&M	15	Michigan	24-11
16	Purdue	16	Michigan State	25-9
17	Illinois	17	Florida	27-4
18	BYU	18	Florida State	26-5
19	UNC	19	Arizona	20-14
20	Louisville	20	Hawaii	23-6

Get more NCAA tournament coverage here.