Div. I Men's Soccer Championship Selections

Championship Bracket

INDIANAPOLIS -- The NCAA Division I Men’s Soccer Committee announced today the bracket for the 2006 NCAA Division I Men’s Soccer Championship.

The teams will be ying for the right to compete at the 2006 NCAA Men’s College Cup on December 1 and 3 in St. Louis, Missouri, at the Robert R. Hermann Stadium. Saint Louis University and the St. Louis Sports Commission will host the championship.

Duke University, the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament champion, was awarded the No. 1 seed. Wake Forest University earned the No. 2 seed. Southern Methodist University was named the No. 3 seed, while the University of Virginia was the No. 4 seed.

The remaining top 16 seeds in order are the University of Maryland; West Virginia University; Indiana University, Bloomington; University of California, Los Angeles; Clemson University, Santa Clara University, Saint Louis University; University of Notre Dame; University of California, Berkeley; University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; Towson University; and Lehigh University. The top 16 teams receive a first-round bye.

Twenty-two conferences were awarded automatic bids for the 2006 tournament. The remaining 26 teams were selected at-large.

The automatic qualifying conferences and their representatives are: America East Conference, State University of New York at Binghamton; Atlantic Coast, Duke; Atlantic 10 Conference, University of Rhode Island; Atlantic Soccer Conference, Adelphi University; Atlantic Sun Conference, Gardner-Webb University; Big East Conference, St. John’s (New York); Big South Conference, Winthrop University; Big Ten Conference, Indiana; Big West Conference, University of California, Santa Barbara; Colonial Athletic Association, Hofstra University; Conference USA, SMU; Horizon League, Loyola University (Illinois); Ivy Group, Harvard University; Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, Fairfield University; Mid-American Conference, Northern Illinois University; Mid-Continent Conference, Western Illinois University; Missouri Valley Conference, Creighton University; Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, University of New Mexico; Northeast Conference, Monmouth University; Patriot League, Bucknell University; Southern Conference, University of North Carolina, Greensboro; and West Coast Conference, Santa Clara.

Four teams will be making their first appearance in the tournament: Fairfield, Gardner-Webb, Loyola (Illinois) and Monmouth. The ACC and the Big East led all conferences with seven teams apiece, while the CAA had four.

Maryland won the 2005 Men’s College Cup, 1-0, against the University of New Mexico, at the SAS Park in Cary, North Carolina.

All first-round games will be played either November 10 or 11, while all second-round action will take place on November 15.

Listed below are the first-round sites and match-ups as well as the site and opponent in the second round:

Providence, Rhode Island
First round – Adelphi at Brown
Second round – Winner at Duke
New Brunswick, New Jersey
First round – Rhode Island at Rutgers
Second round – Winner at Lehigh

Birmingham, Alabama
First round – Gardner-Webb at UAB
Second round – Winner at Clemson

Boston, Massachusetts
First round – Binghamton at Harvard
Second round – Winner at UCLA

Queens, New York
First round – Monmouth at St. John’s
Second round – Winner at Maryland

Chicago, Illinois
First round – Western Illinois at UIC
Second round – Winner at Notre Dame

San Francisco, California
First round – New Mexico at San Francisco
Second round – Winner at California

Fairfax, Virginia
First round – Bucknell at George Mason
Second round – Winner at Virginia

Santa Barbara, California
First round – San Diego State at UC Santa Barbara
Second round – Winner at SMU

Norfolk, Virginia
First round – Winthrop at Old Dominion
Second round – Winner at North Carolina

Evanston, Illinois
First round – Cincinnati at Northwestern
Second round – Winner at St. Louis

Greensboro, North Carolina
First round – Virginia Tech at UNC Greensboro
Second round – Winner at West Virginia

De Kalb, Illinois
First round – Loyola (Ill.) at Northern Illinois
Second round – Winner at Indiana

Seattle, Washington
First round – Creighton at Washington
Second round – Winner at Santa Clara

Storrs, Connecticut
First round – Fairfield at Connecticut
Second round – Winner at Towson

Hempstead, New York
First round – Providence at Hofstra
Second round – Winner at Wake Forest

For more information about NCAA Championships, log on to www.ncaasports.com.

-- Courtesy NCAA