Three Big Ten Schools Earn Bids to NCAA Men’s Soccer Tournament

The Big Ten Conference will have three schools participating in the 2021 NCAA Division I Men’s Soccer Championship, the NCAA announced Monday. Indiana, Maryland and Penn State will represent the conference in the tournament, which will begin on November 18 and conclude with the College Cup on December 10 and 12 in Cary, N.C.
 
After winning the program’s first Big Ten Tournament title since 2005, Penn State earned the 12th overall seed and a first-round bye. The Nittany Lions will face the winner of Hofstra and Lipscomb in the second round. Penn State makes its 35th overall appearance in the NCAA Tournament, including in three straight seasons for the first time since 1993-95.
 
Indiana earned the 15^th overall seed and will face either Louisville or Bowling Green in the second round of action. The berth for the Hoosiers is the team's 35th-straight bid to the NCAA Tournament and the 46th overall in program history, including eight national championships.
 
Maryland earned its 39th NCAA Tournament appearance overall and 21st consecutive berth and will host Long Island University in a first-round match on Thursday, November 18. LIU shared the regular-season Northeast Conference title and won the conference tournament on penalty kicks. The Terps have won four national titles (1968, 2005, 2008, 2018) in school history and reached the round-of-16 in 19 of the last 27 years. Maryland's 21 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances represent the second longest active streak in the nation, trailing only Indiana.

The 48-team field is made up of champions from 23 conferences, who qualified automatically, in addition to 25 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. 18, on campus sites, while all second-round action will take place Sunday, Nov. 21. The third round will be played Nov. 27 and 28, while the quarterfinals will be played Dec. 3 and 4.
 
ESPNU will provide live coverage of all three games at the Men’s College Cup on Dec. 10 and 12 at Sahlen’s Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, N.C. This will be the third season in a row and seventh time overall the Men’s College Cup has been to Cary.