11-17-2025, 04:17 PM
The NCAA bracket was announced today, and Stanford is seeded 12th. SMU is seeded 5th. So if both teams win their second round matches (the first match for each team), they will meet again for the 3rd time within a month. Which is a shame. (This time the game will be at SMU, whereas the first two meetings were at Stanford.)
Presumably the seeding committed came up with the top 16 without consideration of the match-ups that follow, but I'd like to see a way to avoid matches involving teams from the same conference so early in the tournament. Similarly, Portland and University of San Diego, both from the West Coast Conference, were seeded 8 and 9.
If Stanford wins their initial match, which in soccer is far from a sure thing, and if SMU is upset, Stanford would host either Oregon State or Washington, both of which they used to play twice a year in the Pac-12. Stanford played OSU this year and won in the final minute. Whether it be SMU, OSU, or Washington, Stanford will need to bring their 'A' game and hopefully have no one missing due to injury or other.
https://www.ncaa.com/brackets/soccer-men/d1/2025
Presumably the seeding committed came up with the top 16 without consideration of the match-ups that follow, but I'd like to see a way to avoid matches involving teams from the same conference so early in the tournament. Similarly, Portland and University of San Diego, both from the West Coast Conference, were seeded 8 and 9.
If Stanford wins their initial match, which in soccer is far from a sure thing, and if SMU is upset, Stanford would host either Oregon State or Washington, both of which they used to play twice a year in the Pac-12. Stanford played OSU this year and won in the final minute. Whether it be SMU, OSU, or Washington, Stanford will need to bring their 'A' game and hopefully have no one missing due to injury or other.
https://www.ncaa.com/brackets/soccer-men/d1/2025