The NCAA regular season and conference tournaments have come to a close and we are left with 48 teams competing for the national championship this fall.
The first round of the 2017 Men’s College Cup kicks off on Thursday. The top 16 seeded schools will have a bye for this stage, as they await the winners of the opening slate.
Who will win the 2017 NCAA Men's College Cup? The championship journey begins now! https://t.co/kyTcmCaw03 pic.twitter.com/DgzyjJbYIJ
— NCAA Soccer (@NCAASoccer) November 13, 2017
Thanks to their 18-1-1 record, Wake Forest earns the top seed in this year’s field. The Demon Deacons are looking to avenge their loss in last year’s final to back-to-back champions Stanford. They will take on the winner of Thursday’s clash between William & Mary and Columbia.
Indiana is in the two spot and they will host either Old Dominion or North Carolina State over the weekend.
Rounding out the top five are North Carolina, Louisville, and Akron. The rest of the first round byes belong to Duke, Michigan State, Clemson, Stanford, Western Michigan, Virginia, Notre Dame, Michigan, Georgetown, Dartmouth, and Virginia Commonwealth.
The College Cup Final will be held on Dec. 8 at Talen Energy Stadium in Chester, Pennsylvania.
Here’s a full rundown of all the first round matches to be played on Thursday:
William & Mary vs. Columbia
Butler vs. Lipscomb
Pacific vs. Cal State Fullerton
Coastal Carolina vs. Mercer
Washington vs. Seattle University
Wisconsin vs. Illinois-Chicago
UMass vs. Colgate
Cal vs. San Francisco
North Carolina-Wilmington vs. Presbyterian
SMU vs. Central Arkansas
Fordham vs. St. Francis (Brooklyn)
Florida International University vs. Omaha
Virginia Tech vs. Air Force
Maryland vs. Albany
New Hampshire vs. Fairfield
Old Dominion vs. North Carolina State