NCAA Men's Soccer Championship

The NCAA began conducting a men's soccer national championship tournament in 1959 with an eight-team tournament. Currently, the tournament field consists of 48 teams. In 1972, the Division II tournament was added, and in 1974, the Division III tournament began. Saint Louis (10 titles), Indiana (7 titles), and Virginia (5 titles) have historically been the most successful Division I schools.

The semifinals and finals of the Division I championship, for both men and women, are also known as the College Cup.

Championship formats

All three NCAA divisions use a slightly different structure and selection criteria for their tournaments.

Division I

The NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship is a 48-team, single-elimination tournament. 22 spots are reserved for the winners of automatic bids. Conferences granted automatic qualification are:

* America East Conference
* Atlantic Coast Conference
* Atlantic Sun Conference
* Atlantic 10 Conference
* Big East Conference
* Big South Conference
* Big Ten Conference
* Big West Conference
* Colonial Athletic Association
* Conference USA
* Horizon League
* Ivy Group
* Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference
* Mid-American Conference
* Missouri Valley Conference
* Mountain Pacific Sports Federation
* Northeast Conference
* Pacific-10 Conference
* Patriot League
* Southern Conference
* The Summit League
* West Coast Conference

Each conference determines the format for their conference championship, which determines the school who receives the automatic bid. Many use conference tournaments, although some conferences award the championship and automatic bid to the regular season champion. The remaining 26 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 being the Ratings Percentage Index, a mathematical formula designed to objectively compare the results and strength of schedule of all Division I teams. [http://www.ncaa.org/library/handbooks/soccer/2005/2005_d1_m_soccer_handbook.pdf 2005 NCAA D-I Men's Soccer Handbook]

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. The 2007 College Cup was hosted by SAS Soccer Park, in Cary, North Carolina.

Division II

The NCAA Division II Men's Soccer Championship is a 32-team, single-elimination tournament. The Division II tournament is structured around the eight NCAA regions (Atlantic, Central, East, Midwest, South, South Central, Southeast, and West). Four teams from each region are selected with no automatic qualifiers given. The selection criteria used is similar to that used in Division I, although one difference is that the RPI is replaced with the Quality of Winning Percentage Index, a more subjective measure.

The first two rounds are played on campus sites with the higher seed hosting the four-team regional. The winners of each region meet in the quarterfinals, with the host being determined by specific criteria or, failing that, geographical rotation. The final two rounds are played at a predetermined site. In 2008, the semifinals and final will be held at the City of Orange Beach Sportsplex in Orange Beach, Alabama, with the University of West Florida serving as the host institution.

Division III

The NCAA Division III Men's Soccer Championship is the largest of the three, with the most complicated selection process. The tournament is a 57-team, single-elimination tournament. Teams are divided into three pools. Pool A consists of the 36 conference champions, who all receive automatic bids to the tournament. Pool B consists of all teams which are not in conferences or are in conferences which do not meet the requirements to be awarded an automatic bid. Four teams are selected from Pool B. Pool C consists of all the other teams, plus those Pool B teams not already selected. 17 teams are selected from Pool C. The seven highest teams receive first round byes, and the rest of the bracket is filled by geographical proximity. The first two rounds of the championship are played at campus sites with the higher seeded team hosting the match. The next two rounds are group by four-team sites, with the highest seed acting as host. The semifinals and finals are played at a predetermined campus site. The 2005 Division III final rounds were played at Macpherson Stadium at Bryan Park, at Greensboro College in Greensboro, North Carolina. In 2006, the finals will be hosted by the Sunshine State Conference, a Division II athletic conference, at Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex in Lake Buena Vista, FL.

Division I

Championship games

Side Notes:
* *co-champions; game called due to weather
* **co-champions declared a draw
* ***later disqualified

chools ranked by titles

Division II

Championship games

*1972 SIU Edwardsville 1-0 Oneonta St.
*1973 UMSL 3-0 Cal State Fullerton
*1974 Adelphi 3-2 Seattle Pacific
*1975 Baltimore 3-1 Seattle Pacific
*1976 Loyola (Md.) 2-0 New Haven
*1977 Alabama A&M 2-1 Seattle Pacific
*1978 Seattle Pacific 1-0 (3 ot) Alabama A&M
*1979 Alabama A&M 2-0 Eastern Illinois
*1980 Lock Haven 1-0 (ot) FIU
*1981 Tampa 1-0 (ot) Cal State Los Angeles
*1982 FIU 2-1 Southern Conn. St.
*1983 Seattle Pacific 1-0 Tampa
*1984 FIU 1-0 (ot) Seattle Pacific
*1985 Seattle Pacific 3-2 FIU
*1986 Seattle Pacific 4-1 Oakland
*1987 Southern Conn. St. 2-0 Cal State Northridge
*1988 Florida Tech 3-2 Cal State Northridge
*1989 Southern N.H. 3-1 UNC Greensboro
*1990 Southern Conn. St. 1-0 (4 ot, pk) Seattle Pacific
*1991 Florida Tech 5-1 Sonoma State
*1992 Southern Conn. St. 1-0 Tampa
*1993 Seattle Pacific 1-0 Southern Conn. St.
*1994 Tampa 3-0 (2 ot) Oakland
*1995 Southern Conn. St. 2-0 SC-Spartanburg
*1996 Grand Canyon 3-1 Oakland
*1997 Cal State Bakersfield 1-0 Lynn
*1998 Southern Conn. St. 1-0 SC-Spartanburg
*1999 Southern Conn. St. 2-1 (2 ot) Fort Lewis
*2000 Cal State Dominguez Hills 2-1 (4 ot) Barry
*2001 Tampa 2-1 Cal State Dominguez Hills
*2002 Sonoma State 4-3 Southern N.H.
*2003 Lynn 2-1 Cal State Chico
*2004 Seattle 2-1 SIU Edwardsville
*2005 Fort Lewis 3-1 Franklin Pierce
*2006 Dowling 1-0 Fort Lewis
*2007 Franklin Pierce 1-0 Lincoln Memorial

Division III

Championship games

*1974 Brockport State 3-1 Swarthmore
*1975 Babson 1-0 Brockport State
*1976 Brandeis 2-1 (2 ot) Brockport State
*1977 Lock Haven 1-0 Cortland State
*1978 Lock Haven 3-0 Washington (Mo.)
*1979 Babson 2-1 Glassboro State
*1980 Babson 1-0 (ot) Scranton
*1981 Glassboro State 2-1 (4 ot) Scranton
*1982 UNC Greensboro 2-1 Bethany (W.Va.)
*1983 UNC Greensboro 3-2 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps
*1984 Wheaton (Ill.) 2-1 (3 ot) Brandeis
*1985 UNC Greensboro 5-0 Washington (Mo.)
*1986 UNC Greensboro 2-0 UC San Diego
*1987 UNC Greensboro 6-1 Washington (Mo.)
*1988 UC San Diego 3-0 Rochester Tech
*1989 Elizabethtown 2-0 Greensboro
*1990 Glassboro State 2-1 (4 ot, pk) Ohio Wesleyan
*1991 UC San Diego 1-0 Trenton State
*1992 Kean 3-1 Ohio Wesleyan
*1993 UC San Diego 1-0 Williams
*1994 Bethany (W.Va.) 1-0 (2 ot) Johns Hopkins
*1995 Williams 2-1 Methodist
*1996 Trenton State 2-1 (4 ot) Kenyon
*1997 Wheaton (Ill.) 3-0 TCNJ
*1998 Ohio Wesleyan 2-1 (2 ot) Greensboro
*1999 St. Lawrence 2-0 Wheaton (Ill.)
*2000 Messiah 2-0 Rowan
*2001 Richard Stockton 3-2 Redlands
*2002 Messiah 1-0 Otterbein
*2003 Trinity (Texas) 2-1 Drew
*2004 Messiah 4-0 UC Santa Cruz
*2005 Messiah 1-0 Gustavus Adolphus
*2006 Messiah 3-0 Wheaton (Ill.)
*2007 Middlebury 0-0 (pk 4-3) Trinity (Texas)

ee also

* NCAA Women's Soccer Championship
* NAIA national men's soccer championship

External links

* [http://www.ncaa.com/soccer-mens/default.aspx?id=380 NCAA Men's Soccer]