By IVES GALARCEP
The NCAA Tournament field will be announced in just four days time, and the race to secure the 23 automatic berths linked to conference titles is wide open, without a single one secured yet.
A total of 20 conference tournaments are taking place across the country, with each of them guaranteeing at least one golden ticket into the NCAA Tournament. For some conferences, like the Big 10 and ACC, getting multiple teams into the Big Dance won’t be a problem. But for smaller conferences, and for some teams with losing records in bigger conference, a conference tournament title is the only way to get into the 48-team field.
Take defending national champion Indiana. The Hoosiers entered the Big 10 Tournament with a losing record, but that won’t matter if they can puts two more wins to secure the Big 10 title. That won’t be easy though. Not with Penn State, Northwestern and Michigan State standing in the way.
Of the three conferences that don’t have tournaments, one is close to decided, with Washington in good shape to lock up the Pac-12 title ahead of UCLA with a win against Oregon State on Sunday.
The other two are shaping up to boast some great finales, as first-place teams face second-places teams in the Ivy League and West Coast Conference. Harvard can win the Ivy League with a win or tie against Penn, while Loyola Marymount can secure the WCC title with a win or tie against Santa Clara on Sunday.
Here is a rundown of where all 20 conference tournaments stand heading into today’s action, which features quarterfinals kicking off in the Atlantic 10 and Western Athletic Conference. Friday is when most tournaments will feature their semifinals, with Sunday being the day when many of the nation’s conferences will crown champions:
ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE
Quarterfinals (Tuesday)
Notre Dame 1, Duke 0 (Recap)
Maryland 2, Boston College 0 (Recap)
Virginia 1, Wake Forest 0, OT (Recap)
Clemson 2, North Carolina 1 (Recap)
Semifinals (Friday)
5:30pm – Notre Dame vs. Virginia
8pm – Maryland vs. Clemson
Final (Sunday)
2:30pm – (at Maryland SoccerPlex, Germantown, Md.)
—————
BIG EAST CONFERENCE
Quarterfinals (Tuesday)
Providence 2, Creighton 1 (Recap)
Butler 1, Xavier 0 (Recap)
Semifinals (Friday)
6pm- Georgetown vs. Providence
8:30pm- Marquette vs. Butler
Final (Sunday)
12:30pm- at PPL Park, Chester, Pa.
—————-
BIG TEN CONFERENCE
Quarterfinals (Wednesday)
Northwestern 2, Wisconsin 1 (Recap)
Michigan State 2, Ohio State 0 (Recap)
Indiana 2, Michigan 1 OT (Recap)
Semifinals (Friday)
Noon- Penn State vs. Indiana
2:30pm- Northwestern vs. Michigan State
Final (Sunday)
2pm- in Columbus, Ohio
——————
AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE
Quarterfinals (Saturday)
Rutgers 1, Louisville 0 (Recap)
South Florida 1, Temple 0 (Recap)
UConn 5, SMU 0 (Recap)
Central Florida 2, Memphis 1 (Recap)
Semifinals (Friday)
6pm- Rutgers vs. South Florida
8:30pm- UConn vs. Central Florida
Final (Sunday)
TBD- at FC Dallas Stadium, Frisco, Texas
—————–
ATLANTIC 10
Quarterfinals (Thursday)
11am- George Mason vs. St. Joseph’s
2pm- VCU vs. Duquesne
5pm- Saint Louis vs. UMass
8pm- Dayton vs. LaSalle
Semifinals (Friday)
Final (Sunday)
——————
AMERICA EAST CONFERENCE
Quarterfinals (Saturday)
Hartford 1, Binghamton 0 (OT) (Recap)
Albany 5, Vermont 1 (Recap)
Semifinals (Wednesday)
UMBC 2, Albany 1 (2OT) (Recap)
Hartford 1, New Hampshire 1 (Hartford advanced, 4-3, in PKs) (Recap)
Final (Saturday)
7:30pm- UMBC vs. Hartford
—————–
ATLANTIC SUN CONFERENCE
Quarterfinals (Wednesday)
Lipscomb 1, Jacksonville 0 (Recap)
North Florida 1, Mercer 0 (Recap)
Semifinals (Friday)
4pm- Lipscomb vs. East Tennessee State
7pm- North Florida vs. Florida Gulf Coast
Final (Sunday)
1pm-in Fort Myers, Fla.
——————-
BIG SOUTH CONFERENCE
Quarterfinals (Tuesday)
Coastal Carolina 2, Winthrop 1 (Recap)
Radford 2, Gardner-Webb 1 (Recap)
Liberty 1, High Point 0 (Recap)
Longwood 2, Campbell 2 (Longwood won, 4-1, in PKs) (Recap)
Semifinals (Friday)
4pm- Coastal Carolina vs. Radford
7pm- Longwood vs. Liberty
Final (Sunday)
2pm- Bryan Park, Greensboro, N.C.
——————
BIG WEST CONFERENCE
Semifinals (Friday)
10pm- UC-Irvine vs. UC-Davis
10pm- UC-Santa Barbara vs. Cal-State Northridge
Final (Sunday)
TBD
——————–
COLONIAL ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION
Quarterfinals (Saturday)
Delaware 1, Northeastern 0 (Recap)
William & Mary 1, Hofstra 0 (Recap)
Semifinals (Thursday)
Delaware vs. Drexel
William & Mary vs. UNC-Wilmington
Final (Saturday)
4pm- in Philadelphia
——————-
CONFERENCE USA
Quarterfinals (Wednesday)
Charlotte 2, UAB 1 (Recap)
Kentucky 1, Old Dominion 0 (Recap)
Tulsa 3, South Carolina 1 (Recap)
Semifinals (Friday)
5pm- New Mexico vs. Tulsa
7:30pm- Charlotte vs. Kentucky
Final (Sunday)
TBD- in Charlotte, N.C.
—————–
HORIZON LEAGUE
Semifinals (Friday)
5pm- Illinois-Chicago vs. Cleveland State
8pm- Milwaukee vs. Oakland
Final (Sunday)
2pm- at University of Illinois-Chicago
———————–
METRO-ATLANTIC CONFERENCE
Semifinals (Friday)
4pm- Monmouth vs. Manhattan
7:30pm- Quinnipiac vs. Iona
Final (Sunday)
1pm- in Fairfield, Conn.
———————–
MID-AMERICAN CONFERENCE
Semifinals (Friday)
4pm- Western Michigan vs. Hartwick
7pm- Akron vs. West Virginia
Final (Sunday)
1pm- at Akron, Ohio
—————–
MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE
Quarterfinals (Wednesday)
SIU-Edwardsville 2, Loyola 1 (Recap)
Bradley 3, Evansville 2 (Recap)
Semifinals (Friday)
3pm- SIU Edwardsville vs. Missouri State
6pm- Drake vs. Bradley
Final (Sunday)
TBA- Shea Stadium (Peoria, Ill.)
——————
NORTHEAST CONFERENCE
Semifinals (Friday)
4pm- Central Connecticut State vs. St. Francis (Brooklyn)
6:30pm- Saint Francis U. vs. Bryant
Final (Sunday)
1pm- TBD
——————–
PATRIOT LEAGUE
Quarterfinals (Tuesday)
Holy Cross 3, Colgate 0
Bucknell 3, American 1
Semifinals (Friday)
4pm- Bucknell vs. Navy
7:30pm- Army vs. Holy Cross
Final (Sunday)
1pm- in Annapolis, Md.
—————–
SOUTHERN CONFERENCE
Quarterfinals (Saturday)
Elon 1, Appalachian State 1 (Elon won in penalty kicks) (Recap)
Georgia Southern 1, UNC-Greensboro 0 (Recap)
Furman 1, Davidson 0 (Recap)
Semifinals (Friday)
5:30pm- Elon vs. Georgia Southern
8pm- Wofford vs. Furman
Final (Sunday)
1pm- in Greenville, S.C.
——————-
SUMMIT LEAGUE
Semifinals (Friday)
11am- Denver vs. IUPUI
2pm- Oral Roberts vs. Western Illinois
Final (Sunday)
TBD
——————-
WESTERN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE
Quarterfinals (Thursday)
Noon- Air Force vs. Houston Baptist
3pm- CSU-Bakersfield vs. Kansas City
6pm- UNLV vs. San Jose St.
Semifinals (Friday)
3pm- Seattle U vs. TBD
3pm- TBD vs. TBD
Final (Sunday)
Noon- TBD
Thanks for doing this. This is awesome. More coverage like this on NCAA soccer.
Ives…. when is your first moch draft coming out? 🙂