NCAA: 2017 Men's College Cup field announced: Wake Forest, Indiana, North Carolina, Louisville given top seeds
The NCAA regular season and conference tournaments have come to a close and we are left with 48 teams competing for the national championship this fall. The 48-team field is made up of the champions of 24 conferences, who qualified automatically, in addition to 24 teams that were selected "at-large". The top 16 teams were seeded and receive first round byes. All first-round games will be played Thursday, Nov. 16.
Thanks to their 18-1-1 record, Wake Forest earned the top seed in this year’s field. The Demon Deacons, last year’s national runner-up, won the Atlantic Coast Conference regular season and tournament championships. Wake Forest is making its seventh straight tournament appearance and 21st overall as it looks to add a second national championship trophy to the one earned in 2007. They will take on the winner of Thursday’s clash between William & Mary and Columbia.
Rounding out the top four are Indiana, North Carolina and Louisville. These top 4 seeds can play their way to Houston without ever leaving home. The rest of the first round byes belong to Duke, Michigan State, Clemson, Stanford, Western Michigan, Virginia, Notre Dame, Michigan, Georgetown, Dartmouth, and Virginia Commonwealth.
The ACC tied its NCAA record with nine teams in the field as North Carolina, Louisville, Duke, Clemson, Virginia, Notre Dame, Virginia Tech and NC State earned bids alongside Wake Forest. Central Arkansas, Lipscomb, Omaha and Presbyterian will all be making their first appearance in the championship, while New Hampshire and Columbia are returning to the tournament for the first time in 23 and 24 years, respectively.The College Cup Final will be held on Dec. 8 at Talen Energy Stadium in Chester, Pennsylvania.
View the entire bracket here.
2017 NCAA Men’s Soccer Tournament: Schedule
FIRST ROUND
Thursday, Nov. 16
Columbia at William & Mary
Lipscomb at Butler
CSU Fullerton at Pacific
Mercer at Coastal Carolina
Seattle U at Washington
Illinois-Chicago at Wisconsin
Colgate at Massachusetts
San Francisco at California
Presbyterian at UNC Wilmington
Central Arkansas at SMU
St. Francis (Brooklyn) at Fordham
Omaha at Florida International
Air Force at Virginia Tech
Albany at Maryland
Fairfield at New Hampshire
NC State at Old Dominion
SECOND ROUND
Sunday, Nov. 19
No. 1 Wake Forest vs. William & Mary-Columbia winner
No. 16 VCU vs. Butler-Lipscomb winner
No. 9 Stanford vs. Pacific-CSU Fullerton winner
No. 8 Clemson vs. Coastal Carolina-Mercer winner
No. 5 Akron vs. Washington-Seattle U winner
No. 12 Notre Dame vs. Wisconsin-UIC winner
No. 13 Michigan vs. Massachusetts-Colgate winner
No. 4 Louisville vs. California-San Francisco winner
No. 3 North Carolina vs. UNCW-Presbyterian winner
No. 14 Georgetown vs. SMU-Central Arkansas winner
No. 11 Virginia vs. Fordham-St. Francis (Brooklyn) winner
No. 6 Duke vs. FIU-Omaha winner
No. 7 Michigan State vs. Virginia Tech-Air Force winner
No. 10 Western Michigan vs. Maryland-Albany winner
No. 15 Dartmouth vs. New Hampshire-Fairfield winner
No. 2 Indiana vs. Old Dominion-NC State winner
Third Round: Saturday, Nov. 25 or Sunday, Nov. 26 — There will be eight Third Round games. Winners advance to the Quarterfinals.
Quarterfinals: Friday, Dec. 1 or Saturday, Dec. 3 — Four Quarterfinal matches will be played. The winners advance to the Men’s College Cup in Philadelphia.
Men’s College Cup: Friday, Dec. 8 and Sunday, Dec. 10 — The two semifinal games are played on Friday. The two winning teams will then play for the national championship on Sunday. The Men’s College Cup will be played at Talen Energy Stadium Philadelphia.