The 2018 Regional Duals begin Saturday at Western High School in Las Vegas. This is the third season that the western-based schools in the NCWA have competed in a duals tournament that has been a part of the NCWA Collegiate Cup Series. The top six teams placing from the 12-team Regional Duals bracket will earn team points that will carry over to the 2018 NCWA Championships in March -- 6 team points for the champion, 5 points for the runner-up, 4 for third-place down to 1 point for sixth-place.

The teams will compete in a standard 12-team bracket, with the top four teams receiving byes to the second round. A coaches' meeting Friday night will determine the seeding. The competing teams are: Colorado State, USC, Wayne State, Richland College, UNLV, Cal State Northridge, Utah State, Arizona, Dixie State, BYU, North Texas and Fresno State. BYU is ranked ninth and Utah State 15th in the latest NCWA Division I rankings. Colorado State is tied for seventh in the latest Division II rankings. The Regional Duals is an open tournament for NCWA schools, so other programs could attend, but are not expected.

The opening rounds begin at 9 a.m. The championship match is at 4:30 p.m.

The tournament will also host women's matches. Cal State Northridge, Colorado State, Fresno State and Utah State will have their women's teams competing. The women's matches are scheduled for 2 p.m.

The NCWA established the Regional Duals as a geographic alternative to its National Duals Tournament, which has a 16-team bracket competing concurrently at Liberty University in Virginia with advance team points also on the line. Of note is that this season Grays Harbor College (Wash.) and Washington State are the first programs from the Northwest or West Coast Conferences to compete at the National Duals.

The NCWA will reverse the locations of its duals championship events in 2019 and the National Duals will be hosted out west, while the Regional Duals will host other programs that either did not qualify or elected not to attend the National Duals in the eastern regions.