The 2021 NCAA Division I men's soccer season was the 63rd season of NCAA championship men's college soccer. After the 2020 NCAA Division I men's soccer season was disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2021 season partially returned to normal. However, despite the development of several vaccines, the pandemic was still ongoing, which might have led to various local or regional disruptions. Also, many conferences did not fully return to their pre-COVID state, with several having changed postseason tournament formats.
The season began on August 27, 2021, and concluded on November 14. The season culminates with the 2021 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Tournament, which was held from November 17 to December 12, with the four-team College Cup at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, North Carolina.
Changes from 2020
Coaching changes ProgramOutgoing coachManner of departureDate of vacancyIncoming coachDate of appointment Utah Valley Greg Maas Resigned March 28, 2021 Kyle Beckerman April 12, 2021 Gonzaga Paul Meehan Not retained April 12, 2021 Aaron Lewis April 12, 2021 Northwestern Tim Lenahan Retired April 10, 2021 Russell Payne May 7, 2021 Grand Canyon Schellas Hyndman Retired May 10, 2021 Leonard Griffin May 7, 2021 Central Arkansas Ross Duncan Resigned–Family reasons May 22, 2021 Frank Kohlenstein May 26, 2021 Army Russell Payne Hired by Northwestern May 7, 2021 Brian Plotkin May 27, 2021 San Francisco Leonard Griffin Hired by Grand Canyon May 7, 2021 Chris Brown May 25, 2021 La Salle Rob Irvine Hired by United States Soccer July 16, 2021 Taylor Thames August 9, 2021 South Carolina Mark Berson Retired April 17, 2021 Tony Annan April 22, 2021 Bucknell Resigned East Tennessee State Fired David Lilly
New programs On November 27, 2017, it was announced that, in 2020, the Tritons of the University of California, San Diego, located in the San Diego district of La Jolla, would begin the transition from Division II to Division I as a member of the Big West Conference. This move was delayed by the Big west cancelling its season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
On July 15, 2020, after months of consideration, the NCAA granted the highly unusual request of the University of St. Thomas to move directly from Division III to Division I. The school had already accepted an invitation to join the Summit League, and the Tommies entered Division I and Summit League competition in 2021.
Discontinued programs While no schools dropped men's soccer prior to the 2021 fall season, one conference discontinued its men's soccer league. The Sun Belt Conference had six men's soccer members in 2019–20, but lost all of them by the end of the 2020–21 school year. First, Appalachian State dropped men's soccer in May 2020, citing financial impacts from COVID-19. That July saw Howard announce that it would become an associate member of the Northeast Conference in six sports, with men's soccer being one of four sports moving in July 2021. In January 2021 the ASUN Conference announced three schools as incoming full members, including Sun Belt men's soccer associate Central Arkansas. The following month saw Coastal Carolina announce that it would become a single-sport member of Conference USA, joining another in-state associate member in South Carolina. This left Georgia Southern and Georgia State as the only remaining Sun Belt men's soccer programs, and those two schools announced they would move that sport to the Mid-American Conference in late May 2021.
Conference realignment SchoolPrevious ConferenceNew Conference Central Arkansas Sun Belt Conference ASUN Conference Chicago State Independent Western Athletic Conference (WAC) Coastal Carolina Sun Belt Conference Conference USA Georgia Southern Sun Belt Conference Mid-American Conference (MAC) Georgia State Sun Belt Conference Mid-American Conference (MAC) Howard Sun Belt Conference Northeast Conference (NEC) Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) (NCAA Division III) Summit League SIUE Mid-American Conference (MAC) Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) UC San Diego California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) (NCAA Division II) Big West Conference
Other changes On May 7, 2021, the Mid-American Conference announced that conference tournaments in nine sports, including men's soccer, would be reinstated effective in 2021–22. These tournaments had been suspended in 2020–21 due to COVID-19 concerns.
Conference USA announced on June 14 that current MAC men's soccer associate West Virginia would join C-USA men's soccer in 2022–23.
On September 28, the Missouri Valley Conference announced that Belmont, a men's soccer member of the Southern Conference and full member of the Ohio Valley Conference (which sponsors soccer only for women), would become a full MVC member in 2022–23.
The American Athletic Conference, which had been rocked by the announcement that three of its most prominent members (Cincinnati, Houston, and UCF, with only UCF sponsoring men's soccer), reloaded on October 21 by announcing the arrival of six new members from C-USA, with three sponsoring men's soccer—Charlotte, Florida Atlantic, and UAB. These new members are expected to join in 2023.
C-USA would see further attrition by the end of the month, with the Sun Belt Conference announcing the arrival of three new members no later than 2023—reigning national champion Marshall, another men's soccer school in Old Dominion, and Southern Miss, which sponsors the sport only for women. During a Sun Belt press conference on November 1 at which Marshall was formally introduced, conference commissioner Keith Gill announced that the Sun Belt would reinstate the sport once all new members joined. At the time, it was expected that another men's soccer school, James Madison, would join from the Colonial Athletic Association; James Madison was confirmed as an incoming Sun Belt member on November 6. These arrivals gave the Sun Belt enough men's soccer teams for an automatic NCAA tournament bid. Media reports also indicated that the Sun Belt could be a men's soccer home for several programs that would be left behind should C-USA fold, either as a men's soccer conference or entirely. While C-USA would eventually announce the arrival of four new members effective in 2023, securing its future as an all-sports conference for the time being, only one of the new members, current ASUN Conference member Liberty, sponsors men's soccer.
Realignment would reach deeper into the ranks of Division I men's soccer in the following months. Loyola Chicago announced on November 16 that it would leave the MVC for the Atlantic 10 Conference effective in July 2022. On consecutive days in late January 2022, three men's soccer-sponsoring schools announced moves to other leagues. First, on January 25, the CAA announced the entry of three new members, two of which sponsor men's soccer, effective that July. The new men's soccer-sponsoring members are Monmouth, a member of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, and Stony Brook, a member of the America East Conference which had played football in the CAA since 2013. The next day saw the MVC announce that UIC would join from the Horizon League, also in July 2022.
Season outlook Preseason polls
United Soccer CoachesRankTeam 1 Marshall 2 3 Pittsburgh 4 North Carolina 5 Georgetown 6 Clemson 7 Wake Forest 8 Stanford 9 Washington 10 Seton Hall 11 Penn State 12 Missouri State 13 UCF 14 Kentucky 15 Virginia Tech 16 Oregon State 17 Loyola Marymount 18 Charlotte 19 Marquette 20 New Hampshire 21 James Madison 22 Grand Canyon 23 Fordham 24 High Point 25 Coastal Carolina Top Drawer SoccerRankTeam 1 Marshall 2 3 Pittsburgh 4 North Carolina 5 Georgetown 6 Wake Forest 7 Stanford 8 Clemson 9 Washington 10 Penn State 11 Missouri State 12 Marquette 13 Seton Hall 14 UCF 15 James Madison 16 Loyola Marymount 17 Kentucky 18 Charlotte 19 Virginia Tech 20 New Hampshire 21 High Point 22 SMU 23 Saint Mary's 24 Fordham 25 Oregon State
Regular season Standings
Postseason Conference winners and tournaments ConferenceRegular Season Champion(s)Tournament WinnerConference TournamentTournamentDatesTournament Venue (City) ACC Atlantic – Clemson & LouisvilleCoastal – Duke & Pittsburgh Notre Dame 2021 Tournament November 3–14 All matches before final: Campus sites, hosted by higher seedFinal: WakeMed Soccer Park • Cary, North Carolina America East New Hampshire Vermont 2021 Tournament November 6–13 Campus sites, hosted by higher seed American Tulsa Tulsa 2021 Tournament November 10–13 Hosted by regular-season champion ASUN Central Arkansas & Lipscomb Lipscomb 2021 Tournament November 8–16 Quarterfinals and semifinals: Campus sites, hosted by top two seedsFinal: Hosted by top remaining seed Atlantic 10 Saint Louis Saint Louis 2021 Tournament November 6–14 Quarterfinals: Campus sites, hosted by higher seedSemifinals and final: Hosted by top remaining seed Big East Georgetown Georgetown 2021 Tournament November 6–14 Quarterfinals: Campus sites, hosted by higher seedSemifinals and final: Hosted by top remaining seed Big South Campbell Campbell 2021 Tournament November 7–14 Campus sites, hosted by higher seed Big Ten Penn State Penn State 2021 Tournament November 7–14 Campus sites, hosted by higher seed Big West UC Irvine & UC Santa Barbara UC Santa Barbara 2021 Tournament November 3–13 Campus sites, hosted by higher seed CAA Hofstra Hofstra 2021 Tournament November 11–14 Hofstra Soccer Stadium • Hempstead, New York C-USA FIU Kentucky 2021 Tournament November 10–14 Transamerica Field • Charlotte, North Carolina Horizon Oakland Oakland 2021 Tournament November 7–13 Quarterfinals: Campus sites, hosted by Nos. 3 and 4 seedsSemifinals and final: Hosted by regular-season champion Ivy Princeton No Tournament MAAC Marist Marist 2021 Tournament November 7–14 Campus sites, hosted by higher seed MAC Northern Illinois Northern Illinois 2021 Tournament November 10–13 Hosted by regular-season champion Missouri Valley Missouri State Missouri State 2021 Tournament November 9–14 Quarterfinals: Campus sites, hosted by higher seedSemifinals and final: Hosted by regular-season champion Northeast LIU & St. Francis Brooklyn LIU 2021 Tournament November 12–14 Hosted by regular-season champion Pac-12 Oregon State No Tournament Patriot Loyola Maryland Loyola (MD) 2021 Tournament November 6–13 Campus sites, hosted by higher seed SoCon UNC Greensboro Mercer 2021 Tournament November 1–13/14 Campus sites, hosted by higher seed The Summit Denver & Oral Roberts Denver 2021 Tournament November 11–13 John MacKenzie Alumni Field • Macomb, Illinois WCC Santa Clara No Tournament WAC Grand Canyon Seattle 2021 Tournament November 10–14 GCU Stadium • Phoenix, Arizona
* = Ineligible, in transition from Division II
Major upsets In this list, a "major upset" is defined as a game won by an unranked team that defeats a ranked team, or a team ranked 10 spots lower than the other team.
All rankings are from the United Soccer Coaches Poll.