NCAA DI Women’s Soccer 64-Teams Revealed

The NCAA Division I Women’s Soccer Championship is set to get underway this weekend, and with all 64-teams now revealed, it promises to be a right-cracking showpiece for women’s soccer around the country. 

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The Women’s Soccer Committee announced the 64-strong field that will compete at the 40th NCAA Division I Women’s Soccer Championship. The full field of play was released at 4:30 p.m. ET on Monday, Nov. 8, during a selection show on NCAA.com.

Thirty-one conferences received automatic bids for the 2021 championships. Of those, 28 were conference tournament champions while the remaining three automatic bids went to Brown, UCLA and BYU – the Ivy League, Pac-12, and West Coast Conference regular-season champions. Completing the 64-team are thirty-three teams that were determined from the wider field by the committee.

The top 16 teams will be seeded and conference teams will not collide in the early rounds. The committee gave careful consideration to logistics, geographic locations, and other factors in determining the pairings and host cities at the early stages of the tournament. 

Three of the four No.1 seeds emerged from the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). In addition, the ACC leads the field with nine teams representing the conference in the competition. The SEC has the second-most teams representing with seven clinching a spot in the conference. 

Florida State (16-1-2) qualified automatically as the top-ranked in the NCAA DI standings and the winner of the ACC championship game after beating the University of Virginia 1-0. 

Duke (13-3-1) and Virginia (16-2-2) join Florida State out of the ACC as the top seeds. Elsewhere, Rutgers, with a 17-3-0 record at the top of Big Ten, clinched the fourth coveted spot. 

The No.2 seeds include Arkansas, Michigan, North Carolina, and UCLA. Arkansas emerged from the SEC with a 16-4-0 record while Michigan emerges from the Big Ten with a 15-3-3 record. North Carolina represents the ACC and finished with a 12-2-3 record. 

The No.3 seeds are Georgetown (Big East) with a 13-1-6 record; Notre Dame (ACC) with a 13-5-1 record; Tennessee (SEC) with an 18-2-0 record; and, finally, Southern California (Pac-12) with a 13-3-2 record.

The No.4 seeds are Auburn (SEC) with a 12-6-1 record; BYU (WCC) with a 13-4-1; Pepperdine (WCC) with a 15-3-1; and TCU (Big 12) with a 17-2-2. 

Grand Canyon is set to make its first appearance in the tournament after winning automatic qualification from the Western Atlantic Conference.

The NCAA DI Women’s Soccer Championship Schedule and Key Dates

The NCAA DI Women’s Soccer Championship begins on Friday, November 12. The first round will be played from November 12 to 14, while the second round will take place between November 19 and 21. The tournaments quarterfinals will be held on November 26 and 27. 

The semi-finals are scheduled for Friday, December 3 at Stevens Stadium, Santa Clara, California. They will be televised nationally on ESPNU with the first final four matchup getting underway at 7 pm Eastern time. The second semi-final will follow immediately after the conclusion of the first semi-final with a start time no earlier than 9:30 pm Eastern time on ESPNU.

The College Cup championship is scheduled to get underway on Sunday, December 5 at 8 pm Eastern Time, and will once again be broadcast on ESPNU.

The NCAA DI Women’s Soccer Champions Since 2016

Santa Clara won its program’s first national championship in almost twenty years after defeating Florida State 4-1 on penalty kicks. Stanford won two championship titles in the last five years (2017 and 2019). Stanford beat UCLA 3-2 to win in 2017 and defeated North Carolina on penalty kicks in 2019. Florida State were champions in 2018 after beating North Carolina 1-0, and Southern California were champions in 2016 after beating West Virginia 3-1.

The NCAA DI Women’s Soccer Champions Odds

By all accounts, the Florida Seminoles come into this tournament as the team to beat according to the sports betting odds. They’re the most consistent this season, and after narrowly missing on the title last season, they’ll be motivated to take another crack at it. 

Of course, Santa Clara as the defending champions could pull off a repeat, which hasn’t been done since North Carolina pulled off the feat between 2008 and 2009.

North Carolina and Virginia are amongst some of the teams to spot in the betting. North Carolina and Virginia are some of the strongest programs in the country and could make a College Cup run if things fall their way in the early rounds. As well, UCLA and Stanford have a tradition of going deep in this competition, and they could gain momentum in the competition. Other title contenders to consider include Auburn and Arkansas as well as Texas Tech, Baylor, and TCU. 

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