As of the current 2024 NCAA men's volleyball season, five "major conferences", defined here as leagues that include full members of Division I, represent these regions.

As of the 2024 season, three Division II conferences sponsor men's volleyball at the National Collegiate level.

The East Coast Conference began sponsoring men's volleyball in the 2024 season, but started play with only four members, two short of the number needed to eventually receive an automatic berth.

In addition to the impending NEC automatic bid, the Great Lakes Valley Conference will add the sport in the 2026 season with seven members (one from the MIVA, five independents, and one new program), putting it in position for an automatic bid in 2028.

Because of the historic lack of an official divisional structure in men's volleyball, four of the five major conferences have members that normally compete in Division II.

The new format featured two quarterfinal matches involving the four lowest-seeded teams in the field, with the winners joining the two top seeds in the semifinals.

With the Big West Conference adding men's volleyball for the 2018 season and qualifying for an automatic tournament berth, the championship expanded to seven teams.

[1] The championship expanded to eight teams for 2024, coinciding with the SIAC receiving an automatic bid for the first time.

[3] Since that time, the number of such teams has moderately increased, with 26 in 2022 and 29 in each season from 2023 to 2025, with three more D-I schools adding the sport in 2026.

The other two, Lindenwood and Queens (NC), already sponsored the sport at the National Collegiate level, and started transitions from D-II to D-I in July 2022.

[14] Thirteen additional schools, most of them either current Division II members or transitioning to D-II, have either added National Collegiate programs for the 2025 season or will do so in the near future.

Historically, California-based universities have dominated the men's volleyball national championship; Loyola Chicago, Penn State, Ohio State, BYU, and Hawaii are the only non-California universities to have won the National Collegiate championship; Lewis also won the championship tournament, but had their victory vacated due to NCAA rules violations.

In addition, Stanford (1996–97) and Penn State (2007–08) are the only universities whose men and women's volleyball programs won the national championship in the same academic year.