October 24, 2013 – College Soccer New's Bracketologist has issued his first projection of the 2013 NCAA Tournament field based on the latest RPI issued and a projection of the conference champions based on the the information currently available. These projections will be updated as the season progresses. Doctor Bracketology has projected the forty-eight teams that will be in the 2013 NCAA Tourney field, the sixteen seeds, and the match-ups. His analysis is based on projected conference winners, geography, recent team play, and the head-to-head match-ups that have taken place to-date.
The Doctor advises that the RPI will change dramatically as the season progresses and there is a lot more soccer to be played before conference champions are determined. The projections are not reflective of any national polls nor are they attempting to gaugue who the best teams are. They are designed to predict what the NCAA Tournament field would be if the selections were to be made at this moment.*
#1 California Region
First Round – Wisconsin (Big Ten #4) vs. Akron (MAC Automatic)
Second Round – Winner vs. #1 California (Pac-12 Automatic)
First Round – Penn (Ivy Automatic) vs. Delaware (CAA #3)
Second Round – Winner vs. #16 Maryland (ACC #2)
First Round – Wofford (Southern Conference Automatic) vs. Clemson (ACC #5)
Second Round – Winner vs. #9 Furman (Southern Conference #2)
First Round – CCSU (NEC Automatic) vs. Connecticut (AAC #2)
Second Round – Winner vs. #8 Penn State (Big Ten Automatic)
#2 UC Santa Barbara Region
First Round – Denver (Summit Automatic) vs. Stanford (Pac-12 #4)
Second Round – Winner vs. #2 UC Santa Barbara (Big West Automatic)
First Round – Charlotte (CUSA #4) vs. Wake Forest (ACC #3)
Second Round – Winner vs. #15 UAB (CUSA Automatic)
First Round – Loyola (CA) (WCC Automatic) vs. Cal State Northridge (Big West #2)
Second Round – Winner vs. #10 UCLA (Pac-12 #3)
First Round – Missouri State (MVC Automatic) vs. Creighton (Big East #3)
Second Round – Winner vs. #7 Notre Dame (ACC Automatic)
#3 UMBC Region
First Round – Drexel (CAA Automatic) vs. Temple (AAC #3)
Second Round – Winner vs. #3 UMBC (America East Automatic)
First Round – FGCU (Atlantic Sun Automatic) vs. Old Dominion (CUSA #3)
Second Round – Winner vs. #14 William and Mary (CAA #2)
First Round – Monmouth (MAAC Automatic) vs. Virginia (ACC #6)
Second Round – Winner vs. #11 New Mexico (CUSA #2)
First Round – Navy (Patriot League Automatic) vs. VCU (Atlantic 10 Automatic)
Second Round – Winner vs. #6 Georgetown (Big East #2)
#4 Washington Region
First Round – Seattle (WAC Automatic) vs. Gonzaga (WCC #2)
Second Round – Winner vs. #4 Washington (Pac-12 #2)
First Round – Elon (Southern Conference #3) vs. North Carolina (ACC #4)
Second Round – Winner vs. #13 Coastal Carolina (Big South Automatic)
First Round – Butler (Big East #4) vs. Louisville (AAC Automatic)
Second Round – Winner vs. #12 (Michigan State (Big Ten #2)
First Round – UIC (Horizon League Automatic) vs. Northwestern (Big Ten #3)
Second Round – Winner vs. #5 Marquette (Big East Automatic)
Conference Breakdown
| America East | 1 |
| American Athletic | 3 |
| Atlantic Coast | 6 |
| Atlantic Sun | 1 |
| Atlantic 10 | 1 |
| Big East | 4 |
| Big South | 1 |
| Big Ten | 4 |
| Big West | 2 |
| Colonial | 3 |
| Conference USA | 4 |
| Horizon | 1 |
| Ivy | 1 |
| Metro Atlantic | 1 |
| Mid American | 1 |
| Missouri Valley | 1 |
| Northeast | 1 |
| Pacific 12 | 4 |
| Patriot | 1 |
| Southern | 3 |
| Summit | 1 |
| WAC | 1 |
| West Coast | 2 |
| Total | 48 |
Last Four At Large Selections
- Wisconsin
- Temple
- Elon
- Butler
Last Four Out
- Saint Louis
- Providence
- Hartford
- George Mason
*Note – CSN's Bracketologist uses the followuing process: The twenty-three automatic qualifiers are determined by selecting each school that is currently in first place in its conference. In the event two teams are tied with identical conference records, the team that has the highest RPI is selected.
Seeds, home teams, and at-large selections in general are selected largely using the RPI ratings. In an effort to be as consistent as possible with the criteria the tournament selection committee will utilize, consideration is also given to geographical location and cost containment strategies designed to keep first round matches within driving distance as well as second round match-ups against seeded teams.
