NCAA Division I Men’s Soccer Championship bracket unveiled

INDIANAPOLIS (Via NCAA) — The field and bracket for the 2018 NCAA Division I Men’s Soccer Championship was announced Monday by the NCAA Division I Men’s Soccer Committee, which awarded the tournament’s No. 1 seed to Wake Forest.

The Demon Deacons won the Atlantic Coast Conference regular season and enters the tournament with a record of 17-2-0. Wake Forest is making its eighth straight tournament appearance and 22nd overall as it looks to add a second national championship trophy to the one earned in 2007.

The 48-team field is made up of champions from 24 conferences, who qualified automatically, in addition to 24 teams that were selected at-large. The top 16 teams were seeded and receive first round byes. All first-round games will be played Thursday, Nov. 15, on campus sites, while all second-round action will take place Sunday, Nov. 18. The third round will be played Nov. 24 and 25, while the quarterfinals will be played Nov. 30 or Dec. 1.

The College Cup will be held Dec. 7 and 9 at Harder Stadium on the campus of the University of California, Santa Barbara as the championship returns to the West Coast for the first time since 2010. ESPNU will provide live coverage of the semifinals and national championship game.

THE BRACKET ?

?: https://t.co/0fsWXe3OCI #NCAASoccer pic.twitter.com/6oOtKBspM4

— NCAA Soccer (@NCAASoccer) November 12, 2018

The ACC tied its NCAA record again with nine teams in the field as North Carolina, Louisville, Duke, Syracuse, Virginia, Notre Dame, Virginia Tech and NC State earned bids alongside Wake Forest.

Second-seeded Indiana leads the field making its 43rd appearance after losing in double overtime of the national championship game in 2017. They are two titles shy of reaching Saint Louis’ NCAA record of eight national championships.

Stanford, winner of each of the last three national championships, earned the nine seed as the Cardinal look to join Virginia (1991-94) as only the second team to win four consecutive Division I men’s soccer national championships.

Grand Canyon, High Point and UC Riverside will all be making their first appearance in the championship.

For more information, including a complete bracket, visit NCAA.com.

MORE: DI women’s soccer bracket revealed for 2018 | View the women’s bracket