NCAA Division I men's soccer tournament

Men's Division I soccer tournament
Organising body	NCAA
Founded	1959
Region	United States
Number of teams	48
Current champions	Syracuse ; (1st title)
Most successful team(s)	Saint Louis ; (10 titles)
Television broadcasters	ESPNU; ESPN+
Website	ncaa.com/soccer
	2022

The NCAA Division I men's soccer tournament, sometimes known as the College Cup, is an American intercollegiate soccer tournament conducted by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), and determines the Division I men's national champion. The tournament has been formally held since 1959, when it was an eight-team tournament. Since then, the tournament has expanded to 48 teams, in which every Division I conference tournament champion is allocated a berth. Among the most successful programs, Saint Louis won 10 titles during dynasty years between 1959 and 1973. Indiana has won 8 titles beginning in 1982, whereas Virginia has won 7 titles beginning in 1989. Syracuse won its first national title in its first appearance in 2022.

Although the tournament is frequently referenced as the "College Cup", the NCAA applies the title only to the semifinal and championship rounds of the tournament proper. Since the tournament began, the semifinal and final fixtures have been held at a neutral site predetermined by the NCAA prior to the start of the regular season.

Format

The NCAA Division I men's soccer tournament is a 48-team, single-elimination tournament. Currently, 23 spots are reserved for the winners of automatic bids.

As of the 2022 editions, the following conferences were granted automatic qualification:

Each conference determines the format for its conference championship, which determines the school that receives its automatic bid. Many use conference tournaments, although three conferences award the championship and automatic bid to the regular season champion. The remaining 25 teams have received at-large bids. The at-large teams are selected by a committee consisting of representatives from each of the eight regions the NCAA has divided the country into. The committee uses a number of criteria, the most influential supposedly being the Ratings Percentage Index, a mathematical formula designed to objectively compare the results and strength of schedule of all Division I teams.^[2]

The top 16 teams are seeded into the bracket and receive first round byes. The other 32 are grouped by geographical proximity. The first four rounds are played on campus sites, with matches being hosted by the higher seed. The College Cup, comprising the semifinal and final matches, is played at a predetermined site.

Clemson is the current champion, defeating Washington 2–0 in overtime in the 2021 final.

List of champions

Below is a complete list of winning teams and finals held:^[3]

NCAA Division I men's soccer tournament
Ed.	Year		Final				Third-place match/semifinalists			City	Stadium
Ed.	Year		Champion	Score	Runner-up		3rd Place	Score	4th Place	City	Stadium
1	1959		Saint Louis (1)	5–2	Bridgeport		CCNY	–	West Chester	Storrs	Memorial Stadium
2	1960		Saint Louis (2)	3–2	Maryland		West Chester	–	Connecticut ^{[n 1]}	Brooklyn	Brooklyn College Field
3	1961		West Chester (1)	2–0	Saint Louis		Bridgeport	–	Rutgers	St. Louis	Public Schools Stadium
4	1962		Saint Louis (3)	4–3	Maryland		Springfield	–	Michigan State	St. Louis	Francis Field
5	1963		Saint Louis (4)	3–0	Navy		Maryland	–	Army	Piscataway	Rutgers Stadium
6	1964		Navy (1)	1–0	Michigan State		Saint Louis	–	Army	Providence	Brown Stadium
7	1965		Saint Louis (5)	1–0	Michigan State		Navy	–	Army	St. Louis	Francis Field
8	1966		San Francisco (1)	5–2	LIU ^{[n 2]}		Michigan State	–	Army	Berkeley	California Memorial
9	1967		Michigan State (1) Saint Louis (6) ^{[n 3]}	0–0	—		Navy	–	LIU ^{[n 2]}	St. Louis	Francis Field
10	1968		Maryland (1) Michigan State (2) ^{[n 4]}	2–2	—		Brown	–	San Jose State	Atlanta	Grant Field
11	1969		Saint Louis (7)	4–0	San Francisco		Maryland	–	Harvard	San Jose	Spartan Stadium
12	1970		Saint Louis (8)	1–0	UCLA		Hartwick	–	Howard ^{[n 5]}	Edwardsville	Cougar Field, SIUE
13	1971		Howard (0) ^{[n 5]}	3–2	Saint Louis		Harvard	–	San Francisco	Miami	Orange Bowl
14	1972		Saint Louis (9)	4–2	UCLA		Howard	–	Cornell	Miami	Orange Bowl
15	1973		Saint Louis (10)	3–2 (a.e.t.)	UCLA		Brown	–	Clemson	Miami	Orange Bowl
15	1974		Howard (1)	2–1 (a.e.t.)	Saint Louis		Hartwick	3–1	UCLA	St. Louis	Busch Memorial Stadium
16	1975		San Francisco (2)	4–0	SIU Edwardsville		Brown	2–0	Howard	Edwardsville	Cougar Field
17	1976		San Francisco (3)	1–0	Indiana		Hartwick	4–3	Clemson	Philadelphia	Franklin Field
18	1977		Hartwick (1)	2–1	San Francisco		SIU Edwardsville	3–2	Brown	Berkeley	California Memorial
19	1978		San Francisco (0) ^{[n 5]}	2–0	Indiana		Clemson	6–2	Philadelphia Textile ^{[n 6]}	Tampa	Tampa Stadium
20	1979		SIU Edwardsville (1)	3–2	Clemson		Penn State	2–1	Columbia	Tampa	Tampa Stadium
21	1980		San Francisco (4)	4–3 (a.e.t.)	Indiana		Hartwick	–	Alabama A&M	Tampa	Tampa Stadium
22	1981		Connecticut ^{[n 1]} (1)	2–1 (a.e.t.)	Alabama A&M		Eastern Illinois ^{[n 5]}	–	Philadelphia Textile ^{[n 6]}	Palo Alto	Stanford Stadium
23	1982		Indiana (1)	2–1 (a.e.t.)	Duke		Connecticut ^{[n 1]}	–	SIU Edwardsville	Fort Lauderdale	Lockhart Stadium
24	1983		Indiana (2)	1–0 (a.e.t.)	Columbia		Connecticut ^{[n 1]}	–	Virginia	Fort Lauderdale	Lockhart Stadium
25	1984		Clemson (1)	2–1	Indiana		Hartwick	–	UCLA	Seattle	Kingdome
26	1985		UCLA (1)	1–0 (a.e.t.)	American		Hartwick	–	Evansville	Seattle	Kingdome
27	1986		Duke (1)	1–0	Akron		Harvard	–	Fresno State	Tacoma	Tacoma Dome
28	1987		Clemson (2)	2–0	San Diego State		Harvard	–	North Carolina	Clemson	Riggs Field
29	1988		Indiana (3)	1–0	Howard		Portland	–	South Carolina	Bloomington	Bill Armstrong
30	1989		Santa Clara (1) Virginia (1) ^{[n 4]}	1–1 (a.e.t.)	—		Indiana	–	Rutgers	Piscataway	Rutgers Stadium
31	1990		UCLA (2)	0–0 (a.e.t.) (4–3 p)	Rutgers		Evansville	–	NC State	Tampa	USF Soccer Stadium
32	1991		Virginia (2)	0–0 (a.e.t.) (3–1 p)	Santa Clara		Indiana	–	Saint Louis	Tampa	USF Soccer Stadium
33	1992		Virginia (3)	2–0	San Diego		Duke	–	Davidson	Davidson	Richardson Stadium
34	1993		Virginia (4)	2–0	South Carolina		Cal State Fullerton	–	Princeton	Davidson	Richardson Stadium
35	1994		Virginia (5)	1–0	Indiana		UCLA	–	Rutgers	Davidson	Richardson Stadium
36	1995		Wisconsin (1)	2–0	Duke		Virginia	–	Portland	Richmond	Richmond Stadium
37	1996		St. John's (1)	4–1	FIU		Creighton	–	UNC Charlotte^{[n 7]}	Richmond	Richmond Stadium
38	1997		UCLA (3)	2–0	Virginia		Indiana	–	Saint Louis	Richmond	Richmond Stadium
39	1998		Indiana (4)	3–1	Stanford		Maryland	–	Santa Clara	Richmond	Richmond Stadium
40	1999		Indiana (5)	1–0	Santa Clara		Connecticut ^{[n 1]}	–	UCLA	Charlotte	Ericsson Stadium
41	2000		Connecticut ^{[n 1]} (2)	2–0	Creighton		Indiana	–	SMU	Charlotte	Ericsson Stadium
42	2001		North Carolina (1)	2–0	Indiana		Stanford	–	St. John's	Columbus	Columbus Crew Stadium
43	2002		UCLA (4)	1–0	Stanford		Maryland	–	Creighton	University Park	Gerald J. Ford Stadium
44	2003		Indiana (6)	2–1	St. John's		Maryland	–	Santa Clara	Columbus	Columbus Crew Stadium
45	2004		Indiana (7)	1–1 (a.e.t.) (3–2 p)	UC Santa Barbara		Maryland	–	Duke	Carson	Home Depot Center
46	2005		Maryland (2)	1–0	New Mexico		SMU	–	Clemson	Cary	SAS Soccer Park
47	2006		UC Santa Barbara (1)	2–1	UCLA		Wake Forest	–	Virginia	St. Louis	Hermann Stadium
48	2007		Wake Forest (1)	2–1	Ohio State		Virginia Tech	–	Massachusetts	Cary	SAS Soccer Park
49	2008		Maryland (3)	1–0	North Carolina		St. John's	–	Wake Forest	Frisco	Pizza Hut Park
50	2009		Virginia (6)	0–0 (a.e.t.) (3–2 p)	Akron		Wake Forest	–	North Carolina	Cary	WakeMed Soccer Park
51	2010		Akron (1)	1–0	Louisville		North Carolina	–	Michigan	Santa Barbara	Harder Stadium
52	2011		North Carolina (2)	1–0	Charlotte		UCLA	–	Creighton	Hoover	Regions Park
53	2012		Indiana (8)	1–0	Georgetown		Maryland	–	Creighton	Hoover	Regions Park
54	2013		Notre Dame (1)	2–1	Maryland		New Mexico	–	Virginia	Chester	PPL Park
55	2014		Virginia (7)	0–0 (a.e.t.) (4–2 p)	UCLA		Providence	–	UMBC	Cary	WakeMed Soccer Park
56	2015		Stanford (1)	4–0	Clemson		Akron	–	Syracuse	Kansas	Children's Mercy Park
57	2016		Stanford (2)	0–0 (a.e.t.) (5–4 p)	Wake Forest		Denver	–	North Carolina	Houston	BBVA Compass Stadium
58	2017		Stanford (3)	1–0 (a.e.t.)	Indiana		North Carolina	–	Akron	Chester	Talen Energy Stadium
59	2018		Maryland (4)	1–0	Akron		Indiana	–	Michigan State	Santa Barbara	Harder Stadium
60	2019		Georgetown (1)	3–3 (a.e.t.) (7–6 p)	Virginia		Stanford	–	Wake Forest	Cary	WakeMed Soccer Park
61	2020		Marshall (1)	1–0 (a.e.t.)	Indiana		North Carolina	–	Pittsburgh	Cary	WakeMed Soccer Park
62	2021	Clemson (3)	2–0	Washington	Notre Dame	–	Georgetown	Cary	WakeMed Soccer Park
63	2022	Syracuse (3)	2-2 (AET) (7-6 p)	Indiana (13)				Cary	WakeMed Soccer Park
64	2023							Louisville	Lynn Family Stadium
65	2024							Sacramento	Railyards Stadium
66	2025							Cary	WakeMed Soccer Park

Notes

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f The University of Connecticut did not adopt "UConn" as its sole athletic brand until 2013.
^ ^a ^b This team represented the Brooklyn campus of Long Island University. In 2019, LIU merged the Brooklyn athletic program with the NCAA Division II program of its Post campus. The merged men's soccer team, which now plays as the LIU Sharks, inherited the history and records of the Brooklyn program.
^ Title game was suspended due to bad weather conditions, with both teams sharing the title.
^ ^a ^b Title shared after the game ended in a tie, with no extra time played.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Disqualified at a later time so the title was declared vacated.
^ ^a ^b The "Philadelphia College of Textiles & Science", known for sports purposes as "Philadelphia Textile", changed its name to 'Philadelphia University' (PhilaU) in 1999. In 2017, PhilaU merged with Thomas Jefferson University, a healthcare-only institution also in Philadelphia that had no athletic program. The merged university adopted the Thomas Jefferson name and inherited the PhilaU athletic program, which now competes as "Jefferson".
^ The University of North Carolina at Charlotte did not adopt its current athletic brand name of "Charlotte" until 2000.

Most successful schools

Team titles

Akron

Duke

Hartwick

Marshall

Notre
Dame

Santa Clara

SIUE

St. John's

UCSB

Wake Forest

West Chester

Wisconsin

Saint
Louis

Indiana

Virginia

San Francisco

UCLA

Stanford

Clemson

Michigan
State

North Carolina

UConn

DC/Maryland schools

Maryland

Georgetown

Howard

Navy

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Teams that have won the National Championship: 10, 8, 7, 4, 3, 2, 1

Team	Titles	Years won
Saint Louis	10	1959, 1960, 1962, 1963, 1965, 1967^{[n 1]}, 1969, 1970, 1972, 1973
Indiana	8	1982, 1983, 1988, 1998, 1999, 2003, 2004, 2012
Virginia	7	1989^{[n 2]}, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 2009, 2014
Maryland	4	1968^{[n 2]}, 2005, 2008, 2018
UCLA	4	1985, 1990, 1997, 2002
San Francisco	4	1966, 1975, 1976, 1980
Clemson	3	1984, 1987, 2021
Stanford	3	2015, 2016, 2017
North Carolina	2	2001, 2011
UConn	2	1981, 2000
Michigan State	2	1967^{[n 1]}, 1968^{[n 2]}
Syracuse	1	2022
Marshall	1	2020
Georgetown	1	2019
Notre Dame	1	2013
Akron	1	2010
Wake Forest	1	2007
UC Santa Barbara	1	2006
St. John's	1	1996
Wisconsin	1	1995
Santa Clara	1	1989^{[n 2]}
Duke	1	1986
SIU Edwardsville	1	1979
Hartwick	1	1977
Howard	1	1974
Navy	1	1964
West Chester	1	1961

Notes

^ ^a ^b Title game was suspended due to bad weather conditions, with both teams sharing the title.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Title shared after the final ended in a tie, with no extra time played.

Appearances

This list consists of the top 25 men's college soccer teams in terms of appearances in the NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship.

Rank	Team	Appearances
Top 25 rankings as of 10 December 2017^[4]
1	Saint Louis	48
2	UCLA	44
3	Indiana	43
4	Virginia	39
5	UConn	35
5	Maryland	35
7	Penn State	32
8	Clemson	31
8	San Francisco	31
8	SMU	31
11	Akron	28
12	Brown	27
13	Duke	26
14	Hartwick	25
14	North Carolina	25
16	Creighton	24
17	Washington	23
18	South Carolina	22
19	Wake Forest	21
20	Notre Dame	20
20	Santa Clara	20
20	South Florida	20
20	St. John's	20
24	California	19
24	Michigan State	19

Highest attendances

The highest recorded attendance for championship games are listed below:^[5]

22,512 – Saint Louis (5) vs. SIU Edwardsville (1), Busch Stadium, St. Louis Oct. 30 1980
21,319 – Wisconsin (1) vs. Portland (0) / Duke (3) vs. Virginia (2), Richmond, Virginia (NCAA semifinals) Dec. 8, 1995
20,874 – St. John's (NY) (4) vs. FIU (1), Richmond, Virginia (NCAA final) Dec. 15, 1996
20,703 – Wisconsin (2) vs. Duke (0), Richmond, Virginia (NCAA final) Dec. 10, 1995
20,269 – St. John's (NY) (2) vs. Creighton (1) / FIU (4) vs. Charlotte (0), Richmond, Virginia (NCAA semifinals) Dec. 13, 1996
20,143 – UCLA (2) vs. Virginia (0), Richmond, Virginia (NCAA final) Dec. 14, 1997
20,112 – Saint Louis (1) vs. SIU Edwardsville (0), Busch Stadium, St. Louis Nov. 9, 1973

Numbers in parenthesis indicate goals scored by participating teams.

References

^ Elchlepp, Kimberly (November 10, 2022). "ESPN Platforms Present Full NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Championship for First Time". ESPN.
^ "DI Men's College Soccer Rankings – NCAA Men's Soccer RPI". NCAA.com.
^ Men's Soccer - Championship history at NCAA
^ "Division I Men's Soccer Championships Records Book" (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association. Archived (PDF) from the original on 20 June 2018. Retrieved 20 June 2018.
^ "Men's Soccer Attendance Records" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on March 5, 2017.

External links

Official website

[UConn-4] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f The University of Connecticut did not adopt "UConn" as its sole athletic brand until 2013.

[liu-5] This team represented the Brooklyn campus of Long Island University. In 2019, LIU merged the Brooklyn athletic program with the NCAA Division II program of its Post campus. The merged men's soccer team, which now plays as the LIU Sharks, inherited the history and records of the Brooklyn program.

[wea-6] Title game was suspended due to bad weather conditions, with both teams sharing the title.

[shared-7] Title shared after the game ended in a tie, with no extra time played.

[disqual-8] Disqualified at a later time so the title was declared vacated.

[Jefferson-9] The "Philadelphia College of Textiles & Science", known for sports purposes as "Philadelphia Textile", changed its name to 'Philadelphia University' (PhilaU) in 1999. In 2017, PhilaU merged with Thomas Jefferson University, a healthcare-only institution also in Philadelphia that had no athletic program. The merged university adopted the Thomas Jefferson name and inherited the PhilaU athletic program, which now competes as "Jefferson".

[10] The University of North Carolina at Charlotte did not adopt its current athletic brand name of "Charlotte" until 2000.

[wea-11] Title game was suspended due to bad weather conditions, with both teams sharing the title.

[noextra-12] Title shared after the final ended in a tie, with no extra time played.

[1] Elchlepp, Kimberly (November 10, 2022). "ESPN Platforms Present Full NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Championship for First Time". ESPN.

[2] "DI Men's College Soccer Rankings – NCAA Men's Soccer RPI". NCAA.com.

[3] Men's Soccer - Championship history at NCAA

[NCAA_Appearances-13] "Division I Men's Soccer Championships Records Book" (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association. Archived (PDF) from the original on 20 June 2018. Retrieved 20 June 2018.

[14] "Men's Soccer Attendance Records" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on March 5, 2017.

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v t e NCAA Division I men's soccer tournament
NCAA Tournaments	1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
NCAA Finals	2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
National tournaments	Spring College Program
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v t e National Collegiate Athletic Association
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