RUMOR: NCAA could unveil spring soccer tournament format as early as today

An announcement on the NCAA’s official plans for the spring soccer season could be released later today, following a vote by the Board of Governors.

An anonymous Twitter account, College Soccer Truth, posted details of the format for the spring championships on Thursday afternoon. East Carolina University women’s soccer head coach Jason Hamilton replied to the post, stating that the NCAA Division I Council’s recommendations still needed to be approved by the Board of Governors.

Although Hamilton disagreed that it was a sure thing, given that an official vote still had to take place, he did not deny the validity of the details outlined by College Soccer Truth. Hamilton also provided additional details of the Division I Council’s recommendations.

See below for a summary of potential results:

• The NCAA Tournament will be held in the spring for both men’s and women’s Division I soccer.
• Men’s and women’s NCAA D-I Tournaments will each feature 32 teams, including 16 Automatic Qualifiers and 16 At-Large Bids. (The usual field of teams is 48 for men’s and 64 for women’s. In the 32-team format, not all Division I conferences would receive an Automatic Qualifier).
• D-I Conferences that choose to move forward with competition in Fall 2020 can count their fall results toward the Spring 2021 championship segment.
• Teams may continue to train throughout the fall.
• Division II and Division III will not hold NCAA Tournaments in the spring.