College men’s soccer exemplified the parity in Division I, with half of the conferences having at least one at-large bid or being seeded. High Point was an automatic bid and the only team selected from their conference, but they were seeded, so they would have been an at-large bid if they hadn’t earned the Big South double. Eight different conferences have a seeded team opening the floor to multiple conferences and teams having a solid chance of making a deep run and pushing for a title.
Conference BrEAKDOWN
Conferences with at-large bids and/or seeded teams
ACC
- #2 Virginia
- #5 SMU
- #12 Stanford
- #15 NC State
- Clemson
- Duke
- North Carolina
- Notre Dame
- Syracuse
BIG TEN
- #4 Maryland
- #6 Indiana
- Michigan
- UCLA
- Washington
BIG EAST
- #7 Georgetown
- #13 Connecticut
- #14 Akron
- Seton Hall
- St. John’s (NY)
WCC
- #8 San Diego
- #9 Portland
- Oregon State
AMERICA EAST
- #1 Vermont
- #11 Bryant
IVY LEAGUE
- #3 Princeton
- Cornell
SOUTHERN CONFERENCE
- #16 Furman
- UNC Greensboro
BIG SOUTH
- #10 High Point
SUN BELT
- Kentucky
- Marshall
- UCF
- West Virginia
SUMMIT LEAGUE
- Denver
- Kansas City
CAA
- Elon
- Hofstra
CONFERENCES WITH UNSEEDED AUTOMATIC BIDS ONLY – 11
- Cleveland State (Horizon League)
- FDU (NEC)
- Florida Atlantic (American)
- Grand Canyon (WAC)
- Lafayette (Patriot League)
- Lindenwood (Ohio Valley)
- North Florida (ASUN)
- Saint Louis (Atlantic 10)
- Siena (Metro Atlantic)
- UC Irvine (Big West)
- Western Michigan (Missouri Valley)
Bubble Teams In and Teams Left Out
When looking at RPI, two teams stand out as being left out (Georgia Southern and Gardner-Webb). Georgia Southern had a bad draw early in the season against UNCW (RPI #129), but went unbeaten through their first nine games, including a win against Marshall (RPI #18). Their four losses were all Sun Belt losses to teams that made the NCAA Tournament (at West Virginia, at UCF, vs. Kentucky, and a neutral-site conference playoff game against UCF, which they took to overtime). Georgia Southern had four good wins they can hang their hat on (at UNC Charlotte, at Old Dominion, vs Marshall, vs South Carolina).
Gardner-Webb had three losses, all to seeded teams in the NCAA Tournament (#16 Furman, and twice to #10 High Point). They also earned a big road win against West Virginia and another against Davidson. The issue for the Runnin’ Bulldogs is that they didn’t have many other big win games to highlight on their resume.
St. John’s wins and draws were stronger; however, they did have a bad loss against Rhode Island (RPI #139).
Notre Dame started their season well, earning some quality results against Oregon State and a draw at Michigan, but struggled against the heavyweights in the ACC and had a bad loss against Northern Illinois (#85 in RPI).
The margins between Notre Dame and St. John’s getting in and Georgia Southern and Gardner-Webb being left out were pretty thin. It highlights just how important a strong schedule can be (especially non-conference) when it comes to getting those necessary results to clinch a spot. This bubble situation raises the question of the purpose of using a quantitative algorithm like RPI if it isn’t used in certain situations, like the bubble teams.
Georgia Southern is RPI ranked #34 and Gardner-Webb #35, and were left out, while St. John’s is #42 and Notre Dame is #44 and were selected.
Top 2025 Goal Producers to Watch
Several attacking forwards and midfielders had extremely productive seasons and helped lead their teams to the NCAA Tournament, where they will aim to have more magic moments that help their programs make a deep run.
PALMER AULT – INDIANA – SENIOR
Ault leads all of NCAA Division I men’s soccer with 26 goal contributions (16g/10a) in 2025.
JUNIOR DIOUF – GRAND CANYON – FRESHMAN
Diouf leads all DI men’s soccer in goals (17) as a freshman. He also has six assists.
ZACH ZENGUE – GEORGETOWN – SENIOR
Zengue has 25 goal contributions (13g/12a); he and Ault are the only players with double-digit goals and assists in DI soccer.
CLARENCE AWOUDOR – UCF – SENIOR
Awoudor leads DI men’s soccer with 14 assists. He also has six goals.
SERGI SOLANS – UCLA – SOPHOMORE
Solans has 22 goal contributions (16g/6a). He is tied for second most goals in DI men’s soccer.
DONAVAN PHILLIP – NC STATE – JUNIOR
Phillip has 15 goals and one assist to his name and is fifth in DI men’s soccer in goals scored.
DANIEL LUGO – HIGH POINT – SOPHOMORE
Lugo has 18 goal contributions (14g/4a) and is another one of the talented young players to watch.
ENZO DOVLO – UNC GREENSBORO – JUNIOR
Dovlo has 10 goals and eight assists, doubling the production of his sophomore campaign.
MARCUS CALDEIRA – WEST VIRGINIA – SENIOR
Caldeira has 17 goal contributions (10g/7a), bringing his West Virginia career tally to 53 GCs (38g/15a).
DIEGO HERNANDEZ – FURMAN – JUNIOR
Hernandez has 17 goal contributions (9g/8a), and was named SoCon Player of the Year.
