A total of 48 teams will qualify into the tournament proper, either automatically, or through an at-large bid that is determined by a selection committee. Each conference that field varsity soccer teams are admitted one automatic berth into the tournament. Depending on the conference, that automatic berth is either given the champions of the regular season, or the tournament that culminates the regular season. Twenty-two teams earn automatic bids into the tournament, while 26 enter through an at-large bid.
Format
Like previous editions of the NCAA Division I Tournament, the tournament will feature 48 participants out of a possible field of 198 teams. Of the 48 berths, 22 are allocated to the conference tournament or regular season winners. The remaining 26 berths are determined through an at-large process based upon teams' Ratings Percentage Index that did not win their conference tournament.
From there, the NCAA Selection Committee selects the top sixteen seeds for the tournament, that earn an automatic bye to the second round of the tournament. The remaining 32 teams play in a single-elimination match in the first round of the tournament, to play a seeded team in the second round.
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