College teams in the US spend all season qualifying for the NCAA Women’s Soccer Tournament. Whether they play in Division I, Division II, or Division III, each NCAA division has an end-of-season tournament for the best of the best. The Division I tournament starts with 64 teams, and within a month, only one will be left standing: the National Champion.
For our purposes, we will be focusing on the numbers surrounding the Division I tournament.
Who qualifies for the NCAA Women’s Soccer Tournament?
31 teams automatically qualify by winning their conference/conference championship.
A few conferences don’t hold conference championships, where athletic conferences seed their top teams into a small, three-round tournament played in the final week of the season. For those few, the automatic qualification for the NCAA Women’s Soccer Tournament is earned by winning the conference outright.
The remaining 33 spots are awarded to teams selected at-large by the NCAA Division I Women’s Soccer Committee based on their regular season performances.
What is the NCAA Women’s Soccer Tournament format?
The NCAA Women’s Soccer Tournament is single elimination. AKA lose and go home.
The first four rounds of the tournament take place at non-predetermined sites, so the location depends on who is playing.
The second and third rounds occur at eight non-predetermined campus sites. Four teams will compete in a single-elimination second-round competition at each campus site, with the winning teams remaining on-site to compete against each other in the third-round of single-elimination competition.
The fourth round consists of four single-elimination games, each taking place at non-predetermined campus sites.
The final two rounds of the tournament are referred to as the Women’s College Cup.
The College Cup is held at a pre-determined location, with two single-elimination semifinal games played on a Friday, winners advancing, and a single-elimination national championship game taking place the following Monday.
In 2023 and 2024, the Women’s College Cup will take place in Cary, NC at WakeMed Soccer Park.
In 2025, the Women’s College Cup will take place in Sacramento, CA.
How long is the NCAA Women’s Soccer Tournament?
The tournament typically begins by the second week of November, ending within the first week of December. The tournament follows the NCAA regular season.
How can you watch the NCAA Women’s Soccer tournaments?
Click here and use the NCAA TV Broadcast Schedule to filter for the schedule you’re looking for! There are tournaments for each of the three collegiate divisions, and all broadcast schedules can be found using the link.
More questions?
Leave a comment below, or reach out on Twitter! You can find us talking NCAA at @ShePlaysNWSL.