Understanding the NCAA Soccer Selection Show

The NCAA soccer selection show is an event eagerly awaited by college soccer teams, coaches, and fans across the nation. It unveils the brackets for the NCAA Division I Men’s and Women’s Soccer Tournaments, setting the stage for the culmination of the college soccer season. This article breaks down the selection show, explaining its significance and the process behind team selection.

The Selection Show: A Gateway to the Championship

The Championship bracket was revealed during a selection show on Monday, Nov. 10 live streamed here on NCAA.com. We are less than three weeks away from the selection show for the 2022 NCAA Men’s Soccer Tournament, where The 48 Team Tournament Field Will Be announced. Fans of the sixth-ranked Case Western Reserve University women's soccer team are encouraged to tune into the 2025 NCAA Division III Women's Soccer Selection Show on Monday, November 10. During the selection show, the full 64-team bracket will be revealed, including the 16 host sites for the first two rounds of the championship.

Tournament Fields and Automatic Qualification

The 2026 NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Championship provides for a field of 64 teams to compete in a single-elimination tournament. The 48 Team Field Will Consist Of The 23 Conference Champions Who Are Awarded An Automatic Berth And 25 Teams That Will Be Awarded An At-Large Berth. Thirty conferences were granted automatic bids for the 2025 championship, while the remaining 34 teams were selected at-large. The 2025 NCAA Division III Women's Soccer Championship will feature 64 teams with 43 automatically chosen by winning their conferences. Each conference has its Own way of determining Its conference Champion, so let’s take a look at how each of the twenty-three auto bids will be decided.

Automatic Bids: How Conferences Determine Their Champion

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.

Conference Examples:

ACC: The ACC will undoubtedly have multiple teams in the NCAA Tournament, but teams who are long shots to get at-large bids will still have a chance to play their way in. Eight ACC teams earned a berth in the 2021 NCAA Tournament.

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American Athletic Conference (AAC): There was plenty of reshuffling and conference realignment in the American Athletic Conference this offseason, but it is founding member SMU who sits at the top of the AAC standings. Six teams will qualify for the AAC tournament, with the top two seeds getting a bye.
Big East: The top six teams qualify for the Big East conference tournament, which kicks off on November 5th. As of press time, Georgetown is the only team to have secured a spot in the tournament, but Seton Hall is also on the verge of qualifying.
Big South: With each team having one, two, or even three conference matches left, plenty of movement that can still occur in the Big South standings. Only four teams qualify for the Big South Tournament, with the top two seeds hosting their semifinal match. The Big South championship will be hosted by the highest remaining seed. The Big South tournament begins on November 6th. High Point and Campbell are the current frontrunners.
Big Ten: As a multi-bid conference, the Big Ten tournament might not be as important for the conference’s top teams, but it’s still set to be exciting regardless. The top eight teams qualify for the tournament, and with nine teams in the conference, only one team will miss out on the conference tournament. Michigan and Northwestern are the last two teams competing for the final spot, it will come down to Sunday’s matchups to determine who misses out on the conference tournament.
Big West: As with multiple other conferences, the Big West competes in a six-team tournament with the top two seeds getting a bye to the semifinal round. The highest seed in each matchup will play at home. With the final matchday set to be played on Saturday night, there are still 7 teams competing for 5 spots in the tournament. The first round begins on November 2nd. UCSB and UC Riverside face each other on Saturday in a regular season contest that could determine who earns the number one seed in the tournament.

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Patriot League: Keeping with the theme of other tournaments, the Patriot League tournament features six teams, with the top two teams receiving a bye to the semifinals. Army currently sit as the top team in the conference, and can secure a bye (and the regular season title) with a win on Saturday. Meanwhile, places 3rd through 8th are only separated by three points, meaning that everything can change between now and the first round, which kicks off on November 5th. The Patriot League tournament almost always features an upset or two.
Southern Conference: All six teams in the Southern Conference qualify for the conference tournament, with the top two seeds getting a bye to the semifinals. The top two seeds will also host a first round match, and then their respective semifinal match. The final is hosted by the highest remaining seed. UNC Greensboro, East Tennessee State, and Wofford are all competing for a bye with just one match to go. The tournament begins on November 4th.
Summit League: The top four teams in the Summit League qualify for the Summit League tournament, which begins on November 10th at Denver Soccer Stadium. As of press time, no one has secured a spot in the tournament, but Oral Roberts is on the verge of qualification with a 5-1-0 mark in league play. Oral Robert’s lone loss in conference was to Denver.
Sun Belt: The top 8 teams in the Sun Belt qualify for the conference tournament, meaning that only one team will miss out. Georgia Southern will likely be the only team to not qualify, as they sit six points back of 8th-placed James Madison with just two matches left. As for the tournament itself, the number one seed will host two first round matches and a semifinal, while the number two seed will host the other two first round matchups and the other semifinal. The highest remaining seed will then host the final. The conference tournament begins with the quarterfinals on November 6th. Kentucky and Marshall who tied 1-1 back on September 16 are the frontrunners and could meet again in the tournament final.

At-Large Bids: Selection by the Committee

The remaining 26 teams receive 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.

Seeding and Tournament Structure

The top 16 teams are seeded into the bracket and receive first round byes. The other 32 are grouped by geographical proximity. The top 32 teams are seeded, and conference teams cannot play each other in the first or second rounds. The first four rounds are played on campus sites, with matches being hosted by the higher seed. Thirty-two single-elimination first-round games will be conducted at non-predetermined campus sites. Second and third rounds will be conducted at eight non-predetermined campus sites. At each campus site, four teams will compete in a single-elimination second-round competition. The two winning teams will then compete against each other in a single-elimination third-round competition at the same campus site. Four single-elimination quarterfinal games will be conducted at non-predetermined campus sites.

Schedule of rounds (example)

Third round: Sunday or Monday, Nov. 23 or Nov.
Quarterfinals: Friday, Nov.
Semifinals: Friday, Dec.
Finals: Monday, Dec.

Recent Champions and Noteworthy Teams

Florida State is the 2025 DI women's soccer national champion. Florida State wins the 2025 NCAA DI women's soccer championship. North Carolina is the defending national champion, winning the program’s twenty-third national championship last season. The North Carolina Tar Heels have the most all-time national titles (23). Two teams are advancing to the Division I Women’s Soccer Championship for the first time: UIC and Wagner while Sacred Heart is making their first appearance since 2001.

Key Figures and Broadcast Information

Brian Ludden is a contributing writer for College Soccer News.

ESPN Platforms Present Full NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Championship for First Time.

The 44th annual NCAA Women’s College Cup will be played Dec. 5 and 8 at CPKC Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri with the University of Kansas and Kansas City Sports Commission serving as hosts. EST on Friday, Dec. EST live on ESPNU. EST on Monday, Dec.

Historical Context: Men's Soccer Tournament

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 was formally held in 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. 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.

Tournament Format (Men's)

The NCAA Division I men's soccer tournament is a 48-team, single-elimination tournament. The remaining 26 teams receive 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 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.

College Cup Locations

The Women's College Cup will be held at CPKC Stadium in Kansas City, MO. Starting in 2026, WakeMed Soccer Park will host both the Men's and Women's College Cup on the same weekend. The 2026 NCAA Women's College Cup will be held at First Horizon Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, North Carolina.

Additional Information

There are 347 NCAA member institutions that sponsor Division I Women’s Soccer teams, but only 337 programs are eligible to compete in the National Championship, due to 10 programs still in the re-classification process.

You can find information on when the 2025 college soccer season starts here. Click or tap here for the women's season-long schedule and here for the men's schedule. Seven of the eight 2024 national semifinalists play on opening day for the men and women. Marshall, the men's national runner-up, kicks off a day later on Friday, Aug.

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