2025 NCAA Championship Bracket
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (theACC.com) – Nine Atlantic Coast Conference men’s soccer teams earned berths in the 2025 NCAA Championship, as announced Monday by the NCAA. Four ACC teams are among the 16 seeded teams. The ACC’s nine bids and four seeds are the most of any league.
This marks the 13th straight season in which the ACC placed the most teams in the tournament and the 25th consecutive season that at least five league teams earned a bid. The ACC’s total of nine bids is tied for the second most in tournament history, matching the league’s totals in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2023 and 2024 and one shy of the conference’s total in 2019.
ACC champion SMU (5), regular-season champion Virginia (2), Stanford (12) and NC State (15) earned national seeds as well as first-round byes. Clemson, Duke, North Carolina, Notre Dame and Syracuse also notched bids and will open tournament play on Thursday, November 20. Eight ACC teams will start the tournament on their home pitches.
An ACC team has won the men’s national soccer championship 20 times – most of any conference – including three of the last four seasons with Clemson in 2021 and 2023 and Syracuse in 2022. At least one ACC squad has reached the College Cup in 22 of the last 24 seasons, with 11 different league programs reaching the sport’s highest stage.
A day after winning its first ACC Championship in program history, SMU (11-4-4) is making its 37th appearance in the field, including its fourth straight. Following a first-round bye, the Mustangs are slated to face off with the Oregon State-Washington winner at home on Sunday, November 23, at 7 p.m. ET.
ACC regular-season champion Virginia (12-2-4) plays host to the UNC Greensboro-Elon winner on Sunday at 5 p.m. ET in Charlottesville, Virginia. The seven-time national champion Cavaliers are making their 45th appearance in the NCAA Tournament, which is fourth most of any school.
No. 12 seed Stanford (13-3-2) faces the winner of the Kansas City-Lindenwood match on Sunday at 8 p.m. ET in Stanford, California. A three-time national champion, the Cardinal earned its 23rd NCAA Tournament berth, including its fourth straight.
No. 15 seed NC State (12-2-4) plays host to the winner of the Marshall-Cleveland State contest on Sunday at 6 p.m. ET. The Wolfpack is making its second straight tournament appearance under head coach Marc Hubbard and the 18th tournament appearance in program history.
Clemson (8-5-3) plays Western Michigan (7-9-4) at 6 p.m. ET on Thursday in Clemson, South Carolina, with the winner advancing to play at No. 16 seed Furman on Sunday in a second-round match. The four-time national champions are making their 38th appearance in the field, including their seventh straight and 12th in 13 seasons.
Making its 32nd appearance in the tournament, Duke (8-3-6) faces FDU (13-4-3) on Thursday at 1 p.m. ET in Durham, North Carolina, with the winner moving on to play at No. 3 seed Princeton on Sunday. The Blue Devils are competing in their fifth straight NCAA Tournament.
North Carolina (9-5-4) takes on North Florida (12-5-1) on Thursday at 6 p.m. ET in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, with the winner traveling to take on No. 4 seed Maryland on Sunday. The Tar Heels are making their 32nd appearance in the tournament in program history, including their sixth straight. UNC has captured a pair of national championships.
After a late-season surge, Syracuse (9-7-3) returns to the tournament for the first time since 2023. The Orange claimed their 10th tournament berth in program history and will play Hofstra (12-5-0) on Thursday at 6 p.m. ET in Syracuse, New York, with the winner advancing to play at No. 1 seed Vermont, the reigning national champions, on Sunday.
Notre Dame (8-6-4) travels to Michigan (12-3-4) on Thursday at 6 p.m. ET, with the winner then playing at No. 14 seed Akron on Sunday. The Fighting Irish are making their 25th tournament appearance in school history.
The 48-team field is made up of champions from 22 conferences, who qualified automatically, in addition to 26 teams that were selected at-large. The top 16 teams were seeded and received first-round byes. All first-round games will be played Thursday at campus sites, while all second-round action will take place Sunday. The third round will be played November 29 and 30, while the quarterfinals will be played December 5 and 6.
ESPNU will provide live coverage of all three games of the NCAA Men's College Cup with the semifinals and final on December 12 and 15 at First Horizon Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, North Carolina, as the event returns to Cary for the 10th time.