League-record five Pac-12 men's soccer teams earn NCAA Tournament bids

SAN FRANCISCO - A league-record five Pac-12 men’s soccer teams earned berths to the 2014 NCAA Men’s College Cup, the Division I Men’s Soccer Committee announced today. Four Conference teams earned first round byes: No. 2-seed UCLA, No. 6-seed STANFORD, No. 14-seed WASHINGTON and No. 15-seed CALIFORNIA. OREGON STATE will play in the first round as an unseeded team.

The Pac-12 currently holds an all-time record of 113-93-5 in the NCAA Men’s College Cup, with four national championships and seven second-place finishes. The league had four teams compete in the Tournament five times, all since 2001, and had three teams compete in the postseason eight times. Despite there being only six teams in the Conference, the Pac-12 sends the third most teams of any Conference to the Tournament, following just behind the ACC (seven) and the Big Ten (6).

UCLA was the highest seeded Conference team and earned a No. 2 seed after finishing with a 11-4-4 record. On Nov. 23, The Bruins will host the winner of the first-round matchup between San Diego and CSU Fullerton. The Bruins have now qualified for the NCAA Tournament in 32-straight seasons, carry an all-time Tournament record of 68-37-1 and have won the title four times, most recently in 2002.

Stanford earned a No. 6 seed after winning the Pac-12 title and going 13-2-3 this season. The Cardinal will host the winner of UNLV and UC Irvine at Stanford on Nov. 23, where the Cardinal has yet to lose this season. Stanford has an all-time record of 16-11-2 in the Tournament and its highest finish came in 2002 when it finished runner-up to champion UCLA.

Washington snagged a No. 14 seed after going 12-5-1 and being ranked in the top 10 every week of the season. The Huskies will play the winner of UAB and Furman in a matchup on Washington on Sunday, Nov. 23. The bid is the third-straight for Washington, which has an all-time record of 11-20-0 in the Tournament.

California was seeded at No. 15 after finishing the year 10-6-1. The Golden Bears await the winner of a first round game between SIU Edwardsville and Northwestern in a game that will be played Sunday, Nov. 23.  The bid is the 18th all-time for California and their second-straight.

Oregon State battled its way into the Tournament after going 2-1 in its last three games of the season with win’s over then No. 7 California and No. 9 Washington and finishing the year 11-7-1. The Beavers will go for their first-ever Tournament win when they open in the first round at home against Denver on Thursday, Nov. 20.

First-round games will be played at campus sites Thursday, Nov. 20. Second-round games will be played Sunday, Nov. 23 at campus sites, and third round games will be played Sunday, November 30 at the same campus sites. Quarterfinal games will be played December 5 or 6, also on campus sites. 

The NCAA Men’s College Cup will be played Dec. 12 and Dec. 14 at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, N.C. The first national semifinal will be played and shown live on ESPNU at 5 p.m. Eastern time Friday, Dec. 12. The second semifinal will begin at approximately 7:30 p.m. Eastern time live on ESPNU. The national championship match will take place at Noon Eastern time on Sunday, December 14 and will also broadcast live on ESPNU.