The 2026 NCAA Division I men's soccer season is the 68th season of NCAA championship men's college soccer. The season began on August 20, 2026, and is scheduled to conclude with the 2026 NCAA Division I men's soccer championship game on December 16, 2026.
The Washington Huskies are the defending champions.
In May 2026, the NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Oversight Committee approved a proposed change to the soccer schedule. Under the new schedule, the season would be divided between spring and fall segments, with a winter break from late November until mid-February. The NCAA Tournament and College Cup would take place in the spring. The new schedule would take effect with the 2027–28 academic year.
However, in June 2026, the proposed schedule failed to gain the necessary approval of the Division I Cabinet. The Cabinet remanded the proposal to the Divison I Men's Soccer Oversight Committee, asking the committee to provide further clarity. It is unknown whether the new schedule will be approved, or if it is, when it will be implemented.
Changes from 2025 Coaching changes The following coaching changes occurred during the 2025–26 offseason. Program Outgoing coach Manner of departure Date of vacancy Incoming coach Date of appointment References Bellarmine Tim Chastonay Retired November 15, 2025 Matt Cannady November 15, 2025 Binghamton Paul Marco Retired January 9, 2026 Tommy Moon (interim) March 6, 2026 Butler Paul Snape Resigned November 14, 2025 Ian Sarachan November 26, 2025 Campbell Dustin Fonder Relieved of Duties June 26, 2026 Ricky Davey July 16, 2026 Coastal Carolina Shaun Docking Retired August 13, 2025Docking retired prior to season. Chris Fidler served as interim head coach for 2025 season. Adam Perron November 11, 2025 Dartmouth Bo Oshoniyi Contract not Renewed November 18, 2025 Connor Klekota December 19, 2025 Furman Doug Allison Retired December 12, 2025 Brandon Tucker December 22, 2025 Gardner–Webb Scott Wells Hired by Liberty November 19, 2025 Jonathan Lagos January 5, 2026 George Washington Craig Jones Retired November 1, 2025 Matt Watts December 8, 2025 Grand Canyon George Kiefer Hired by South Florida December 8, 2025 Jamie Davies December 18, 2025 Hofstra Richard Nuttall Retired November 30, 2025 Stephen Roche January 1, 2026 IU Indy Sid van Druenen Resigned May 6, 2026 Keegan Boom June 2, 2026 Liberty Kelly Findley Retired November 12, 2025 Scott Wells November 19, 2025 LIU Michael Mordocco Hired by Yale as Assistant June 11, 2026 Nate Bell June 25, 2026 Loyola Chicago Steve Bode Amicable December 18, 2025 Kevin Robson December 22, 2025 Navy Tim O'Donohue Contract not Renewed November 12, 2025 John Hackworth December 5, 2025 North Florida Jamie Davies Hired by Grand Canyon December 18, 2025 Marlon Montanella December 18, 2025 Northern Kentucky Tom Poitras resigns November 20, 2025 Sean Teepen December 11, 2025 Pacific Adam Reeves Contract not Extended November 17, 2025 Andres Ochoa November 24, 2025 Penn State Jeff Cook Resigned to take MLS position November 21, 2025 Rob Dow December 11, 2025 Radford Chris Barrett Resigned November 14, 2025 Andy Cormack January 13, 2026 South Florida Bob Butehorn Retired November 20, 2025 George Kiefer December 10, 2025 Southern Indiana Mat Santoro Contract not Extended January 21, 2026 Mads Kaiser January 21, 2026 Utah Valley Kyle Beckerman Resigned November 15, 2025 Michael Chesler November 25, 2025 Vermont Rob Dow Hired by Penn State December 11, 2025 Adrian Dubois December 17, 2025 Western Illinois Eric Johnson Retired November 17, 2025 Kooten Johnson December 15, 2025 Winthrop Daniel Ridenhour Resigned November 3, 2025 Dale Parker January 5, 2026
Conference realignment
The Mountain West Conference (MW) announced that it would be sponsoring men's soccer beginning in 2026.
The Pac-12 Conference reinstated soccer for the 2026 season, including four affiliate members from the Big West: California Baptist, Cal Poly, UC Riverside, and UC San Diego. They were joined by Gonzaga, Oregon State, and San Diego State, the first two of which competed in 2025 in the West Coast Conference, with San Diego State having played in the Western Athletic Conference (WAC). California Baptist had previously announced that it would move to the Big West for the 2026 season.
Meanwhile, the WAC reconfigured and rebranded as the United Athletic Conference, and no longer sponsors men's soccer. The destination conference for the 2025 WAC members is shown in the table below.
As a result of the above changes in conference sponsorship, 23 conferences will have automatic bids to the 2026 NCAA Division I men's soccer tournament.
Team Conference in 2025 Conference in 2026 Air Force WAC MW California Baptist WAC Pac-12 Cal Poly Big West Pac-12 Denver Summit WCC Gonzaga WCC Pac-12 Grand Canyon WAC MW Liberty OVC SoCon Northern Illinois MVC Horizon Oregon State WCC Pac-12 Saint Francis NEC PAC (D-III) San Diego State WAC Pac-12 San Jose State WAC MW UC Davis Big West MW UC Riverside Big West Pac-12 UC San Diego Big West Pac-12 UNLV WAC MW UTRGV Independent OVC Utah Tech WAC MW Utah Valley WAC Big West West Florida GSC (D-II) ASUN
Changes for 2027 Two members of the Big West/Pac-12 men's soccer alliance will leave the Big West for the WCC after the 2026–27 school year. Therefore, the 2026 season will be UC San Diego's only season in Pac-12 men's soccer, as well as UC Santa Barbara's last in Big West men's soccer. At the same time, Fairfield will leave the Metro Conference for the Coastal Athletic Association.
Team Conference in 2026 Conference in 2027 Fairfield Metro CAA UC San Diego Pac-12 WCC UC Santa Barbara Big West WCC
Other news May 27 – The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference announced that it would rename itself as the Metro Conference effective July 1. June 23 – The NCAA Division I Cabinet unanimously approved a new age-based eligibility proposal for that division, which officially took effect with the end of the Cabinet's meeting the next day. Under the new model, students will have five years of athletic eligibility, and will be able to play in all five years. Athletes' eligibility clocks start with the earlier of (1) their full-time enrollment in a degree-granting institution or (2) the start of the academic year that immediately follows an individual's 19th birthday. Redshirting is no longer allowed, even for medical reasons; the only exceptions allowed for male athletes are for full-time military service or religious missions. Students enrolling full-time in college for the first time in 2026, plus those who had remaining eligibility under previous rules at the end of 2025–26, can use whichever model is most advantageous to them. Those who exhausted their eligibility under previous rules in 2025–26 will not receive any additional eligibility, even if they initially enrolled in 2022–23 (giving them four years of eligibility). June 24 – On the same day the new age-based eligibility model took effect, a group of 15 college basketball players, all of whom graduated from high school in 2022 and exhausted their eligibility under the previous rules in 2025–26, filed suit in Hamilton County, Ohio challenging the application of the new model to their high school cohort. Other suits on similar grounds were expected to be filed in other states. June 26 – The Coastal Athletic Association announced that Fairfield would join from the Metro Conference in July 2027. July 31 – Rulings in two separate court cases undercut the NCAA's planned "five for five" eligibility model as applied to 2022 high school graduates. First, a Tennessee state court judge granted a temporary injunction that allowed 19 basketball players in that class an extra season of eligibility. Several hours later, a federal judge in Colorado issued a preliminary injunction that applied to all members of the high school class of 2022 who had exhausted athletic eligibility, regardless of sport, and also provided those individuals an extra season of eligibility. The NCAA was expected to appeal.
Season outlook Preseason polls
United Soccer CoachesRankTeam 1 Washington 2 NC State 3 Furman 4 Saint Louis 5 Georgetown 6 Portland 7 Maryland 8 Princeton 9 Stanford 10 Bryant 11 Virginia 12 Akron 13 Vermont 14 UNCG 15 SMU 16 High Point 17 Marshall 18 San Diego 19 Oregon State 20 Hofstra 21 Grand Canyon 22 Indiana 23 West Virginia 24 UConn 25 Kansas City TopDrawer SoccerRankTeam 1 Washington 2 Furman 3 Saint Louis 4 Portland 5 Georgetown 6 NC State 7 Maryland 8 Akron 9 High Point 10 Stanford 11 UNCG 12 San Diego 13 Princeton 14 SMU 15 Duke 16 Virginia 17 Cornell 18 UConn 19 Bryant 20 Denver 21 Marshall 22 Indiana 23 Kansas City 24 UCF 25 North Carolina College Soccer NewsRankTeam 1 Washington 2 NC State 3 Georgetown 4 Maryland 5 Portland 6 Saint Louis 7 Furman 8 Stanford 9 Virginia 10 Princeton 11 Bryant 12 Akron 13 High Point 14 SMU 15 San Diego 16 Marshall 17 Indiana 18 UNCG 19 Vermont 20 North Carolina 21 Oregon State 22 West Virginia 23 Denver 24 Cornell 25 Duke
Regular season
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. Home team is shown in italics.
Date Winner Score Loser August 20 18 2–1 1 Washington 4–1 3 UCLA 2–1 11 Virginia 3–0 23 2–1 24 August 23 3–1 24 UConn August 24 15 4–0 4 August 27 Furman 4–3 19 2–1 20 August 28 3–2 16 Clemson August 30 25 4–3 11 Washington 3–2 15 August 31 2–0 3 September 11 4–0 2 Maryland Kansas City 3–1 10 Michigan State 3–1 11 UCLA 1–0 17 Clemson 2–1 20 September 15 Rutgers 2–0 11 Princeton 2–0 17 NC State 1–0 23 September 18 Rutgers 2–1 3 September 19 3–1 18 September 20 20 Notre Dame 3–1 1 Oregon State 3–1 25 September 21 Washington 4–0 3 Ohio State September 22 2–1 1 South Carolina September 25 Virginia 3–2 6 Stanford Syracuse 1–0 10 Notre Dame Washington 4–1 22 Rutgers September 26 Dartmouth 1–0 18 Princeton September 27 3–1 15 October 2 4–2 23 Old Dominion October 3 UCLA 3–0 8 Michigan State 2–0 13 Notre Dame
Conference standings
See also 2026 NCAA Division I women's soccer season
References