A few bracket notes.
They say the top 32 seeds are seeded, though I can find nothing that specifies the rankings amongst the 1 seeds (or 2 seeds, etc.). Not sure if the rest of the matchups are purely by draw (though with a rule of no conference matchups before the third round), but the opponents for the four one seeds are:
Notre Dame vs UIC (8-7-6)
Vanderbilt vs Tenn Tech (7-6-8)
Virginia vs High Point (5-9-5)
Stanford vs Cal Poly (10-2-9)
It shouldn't matter, but one of those things is not like the other.
Stanford is 3-0 against the other #1 seeds. That has to be a rather rare occurrence pre-tournament.
Potential third round matchup with UCLA is both a great opportunity and kind of scary given UCLA gave Stanford its only loss this year.
Last year the ACC had all four teams in the college cup (final 4). That was a record for most teams from one conference.
This year the ACC has 3 of 4 top seeds, a record for one conference.
[Both records were claimed in random articles I read - cannot confirm.]
Michigan State, the #2 seed in our region, started fairly weakly with 3 goal losses to Notre Dame and Xavier early on. Finished stronger. Currently ranked #9 by United Soccer Coaches (third amongst the 2 seeds). Current #6 RPI (second among the 2 seeds).
They say the top 32 seeds are seeded, though I can find nothing that specifies the rankings amongst the 1 seeds (or 2 seeds, etc.). Not sure if the rest of the matchups are purely by draw (though with a rule of no conference matchups before the third round), but the opponents for the four one seeds are:
Notre Dame vs UIC (8-7-6)
Vanderbilt vs Tenn Tech (7-6-8)
Virginia vs High Point (5-9-5)
Stanford vs Cal Poly (10-2-9)
It shouldn't matter, but one of those things is not like the other.
Stanford is 3-0 against the other #1 seeds. That has to be a rather rare occurrence pre-tournament.
Potential third round matchup with UCLA is both a great opportunity and kind of scary given UCLA gave Stanford its only loss this year.
Last year the ACC had all four teams in the college cup (final 4). That was a record for most teams from one conference.
This year the ACC has 3 of 4 top seeds, a record for one conference.
[Both records were claimed in random articles I read - cannot confirm.]
Michigan State, the #2 seed in our region, started fairly weakly with 3 goal losses to Notre Dame and Xavier early on. Finished stronger. Currently ranked #9 by United Soccer Coaches (third amongst the 2 seeds). Current #6 RPI (second among the 2 seeds).