Updated June 2025
This page will describe the rules governing the selection of at-large teams to participate in the NCAA Tournament, the seeding of teams in the Tournament, and formation of the Tournament bracket.
From an overall perspective, NCAA Bylaw 18.1 assigns authority over the Tournament as follows:
"All NCAA championships shall be conducted in accordance with this bylaw and the policies and procedures established by the applicable sport oversight committee or the Competition Oversight Committee, which shall establish and revise the policies and procedures governing the administration of NCAA championships, including selection processes, formats and distribution of revenues to participating institutions. NCAA championships shall be under the control, direction and supervision of the appropriate sports committees, subject to the requirements, standards and conditions prescribed in Bylaw 31."
Bylaw 31.1.1 reinforces this:
"As specified in Bylaw 18.1, all NCAA championships shall be conducted in accordance with the general policies established by the applicable sport oversight committee or the Competition Oversight Committee and shall be under the control, direction and supervision of the appropriate sports committees, subject to the standards and conditions set forth in these executive regulations. Additional policies of an administrative nature are set forth in the respective championships handbooks and are to be followed in the administration of NCAA championships."
Division I women's soccer is under the jurisdiction of the Division I Women's Soccer Committee.
SELECTION CRITERIA
NCAA Bylaw 31.01.2 states the basic principle governing the conduct of NCAA championships:
"Postseason Championship Opportunities. NCAA championships are intended to provide national-championship competition among the best eligible student-athletes and teams at the conclusion of the respective sport seasons, with consideration for regional structures that may be approved for certain championships." (Emphasis added.)
In addition, Bylaw 31.3.5 states that:
"Selection of Balance of Championship Field. Once the official representative(s) of each qualifying conference is determined, the governing sports committee responsible for selection of the balance of the championship field shall consider objectively and without prejudice the competitive records of all other eligible student-athletes and teams (including representatives of the other members of the conferences receiving automatic qualification). To the best of its ability, the committee shall select the most highly qualified individuals and teams to complete the championship field in accordance with the regional structure, if any, approved for the particular championship."
The Division I Sports Oversight Committee has adopted "Policies and Procedures" (February 2025) that currently are not available on line. The Committee's predecessor committee, however, adopted Policies and Operating Procedures that included the following principle:
"Principles. A Division I Championship will be conducted showcasing student-athletes and institutions whose performances have earned them the opportunity to compete for a national championship through automatic qualification or at-large selection. ...." (Emphasis added.)
In addition, those Policies and Operating Procedures included "Working Principles for Seeding/Pairing/Site Selection." The Working Principles in part were as follows, addressing not only the selection of at-large teams but also seeding and game site selection:
"A fair and equitable championship should be created to provide national-level competition among the best eligible student-athletes and teams of member institutions, with consideration also for approved regional structures for certain championships.
"Access to championships shall be provided by a combination of automatic qualifiers and at-large selections ....
"Consideration should be given to the academic impact on the participating institutions and to the financial impact on the participating institutions and the NCAA.
"1. Top teams should be seeded ....
"2. In championships that do not generate revenue and for which only 25 percent of the bracket is seeded, sites will be awarded to the seeded teams who submit a bid by the deadline that meets the requirements for hosting. In the event that a seeded team does not submit a bid that meets the requirements, the sports committee will maintain the current policy of geographic consideration when assigning those host sites. The committees will use the geographic considerations to help maintain the balance and integrity of the bracket. [NOTE: The Cabinet added this provision in 2014. Currently, the Women's Soccer Committee seeds 50% of the bracket.]
"3. First- and second-round conference matchups should be avoided. However, if five or more teams from one conference are selected to the championship, then the integrity of the bracket will be protected. First round is defined as first contest. [NOTE: The Cabinet added the second sentence in 2014.]"
In regard to item 2 above, in 2022 the Division I Women's Soccer Committee included the following statement in its Pre-Championship Manual:
"The Competition Oversight Committee has approved a bracketing pilot for the Division I Women’s Soccer Championship. Fifty percent of the bracket will be seeded in four groupings of 1-8. Published seeding will be in four sets of 1-8 and the pairings will honor a 1-8 seed assignment. The committee will identify the top 32 teams. The top 16 teams will be identified in rank order and assigned a seed grouping from 1 to 4. The balance of the ranked teams, in turn, are assigned to one of the remaining seed groupings (i.e., 5 to 8). Once the seed assignment is finalized, it remains unchanged while placing the teams into the championship bracket."
Under this bracketing pilot, 50 percent of the backet is seeded, so that item 2 could be interpreted as not applying since it says it applies when only 25 percent of the bracket is seeded. With the increased seeding being a pilot program, however, it is likely item 2 remains applicable.
It is worth noting that in 2014, the Championships Oversight Committee (predecessor to the Sports Oversight Committee) deleted the following Working Principles:
"3. Higher seeded teams should be given consideration in hosting (e.g., taking into account other factors such as missed class time, quality and availability of the facility and other necessary accommodations, attendance history, financial considerations, geography, quality of the student-athlete experience, championship atmosphere and accessibility of fans, etc.).
"4. After seeding the approved number of teams, teams should be placed in brackets per NCAA Bylaw 31.1.3.2.5 (i.e., geographically) with consideration given to missed class time, the quality of the student-athlete experience, championship atmosphere and accessibility of fans."
For Division I women's soccer, each of 30 conference champion automatically qualifies to participate in the NCAA Tournament. The Tournament bracket consists of 64 teams, which means that there is room in the bracket for 34 at-large teams. In accord with the above principles and rules, the 34 at-large teams are supposed to be the best 34 Division I teams that are not automatic qualifiers, as evidenced by their performance during the regular season (including conference tournaments).
In addition, rules that are more specific govern the selection of teams to fill the at-large positions. Each year, the NCAA publishes these rules in the Pre-Championship Manual for that year. Here are the rules as published in the 2024 Pre-Championship Manual for Division I women's soccer:
"Selection Criteria
"The following criteria shall be employed by a governing sports committee in selecting participants for NCAA championships competition [Bylaw 31.3.3; Criteria for Selection of Participants]:
"* Won-lost record;
"*Strength of schedule; and
"*Eligibility and availability of student-athletes for NCAA championships.
"In addition to Bylaw 31.3.3, the Women's Soccer Committee has received approval from the NCAA Division I Competition Oversight Committee to consider the following criteria in the selection of at-large teams for the soccer championship (not necessarily in priority order):
"Primary Criteria
"* Results of the adjusted Rating Percentage Index (RPI);
"Ties and losses against teams ranked below 150 in the adjusted RPI;
"Wins and ties against teams ranked in the top 25 of the adjusted RPI;
"Wins and ties against teams ranked in the top 50 of the adjusted RPI;
"* Results versus common opponents; and
"* Head-to-head competition.
"Secondary Criteria
"If the evaluation of the primary criteria does not result in a decision, the secondary criteria will be reviewed. All the criteria listed will be evaluated.
"* Results versus teams already selected to participate in the field (including automatic qualifiers with RPI of 1-75);
"Results against teams ranked 51-100 in the adjusted RPI;
"* Late season performance -- defined as the last eight games including conference tournaments (strength and results); and
"* Results of the Kevin Pauga Index (KPI).
"Recommendations are provided by regional advisory committees for consideration by the Women's Soccer Committee. Coaches' polls and/or any other outside polls or rankings are not used as a criterion by the Women's Soccer Committee for selection purposes." [Underlining added.]
There are three other rules stated in the Manual:
"To be considered during the at-large selection process, a team must have an overall won-lost record of .500 or better."
"Regular-season games decided by the penalty-kick tiebreaker procedure shall be considered as ties for selection purposes."
"Additionally, the scheduling of additional matches not listed on the institution's published schedule as an aid for selection shall not be considered. If an institution encounters extenuating circumstances (e.g., natural disaster), the committee will consider a written waiver request."
The Manual also contains information about the RPI:
"RPI. The committee uses the RPI (Rating Percentage Index), a computer program that calculates the institutions' Division I winning percentage (25 percent), opponents' success (50 percent), opponents' strength of schedule (25 percent) plus a bonus/penalty system. When evaluating the RPI, the committee may consider comparing data of individual teams, including, but not limited to, overall record, Division I record, overall RPI rank, non-conference record and RPI rank, conference regular-season record and conference tournament results. The RPI shall be used as a selection tool.
"The bonus/penalty structure for the RPI includes a bonus for non-conference wins or ties against the top 50 teams in the RPI and wins against teams ranked 51-100 in the RPI and a penalty for non-conference losses or ties against teams ranked below 150 in the RPI."
Finally, Appendix C, "Rating Percentage Index," which shows the structure for the bonus/penalty system (but not the bonus/penalty amounts), contains the following notation: "There is no penalty for losing to a non-DI team." [There also is no penalty for tieing a non-DI team.]
SEEDING CRITERIA
The Manual does not expressly state how the Women's Soccer Committee is to seed teams. An authoritative source has told me that it is "not unintentional" that the Manual does not state how the Committee is to seed teams. Thus although the Committee almost certainly considers the at large selection criteria in doing the seeding, the Committee is not bound by the criteria, nor is it foreclosed from giving weight to other considerations. It also is worth noting that although the Manual says the Committee does not use coaches polls or any other outside polls or rankings "for selection purposes," it makes no mention of whether the Committee can use outside polls or rankings for seeding purposes.
As stated in the 2024 Pre-Championship Manual, the Committee currently seeds 32 teams. It seeds the top 16 in pods of four: four #1 seeds, four #2s, four #3s, and four #4s. When the bracket is set up, this is how it appears. The placement of these seeded teams in the bracket sometimes suggests, however, that the Committee in fact may internally rank the four teams in each pod, or some of them, thus effectively seeding teams in positions #1 through #16 or some lesser group of positions and placing them in the bracket accordingly, but then publicly identifying true seeds #1 through #4 only as four #1 seeds, true seeds #5 through #8 as four #2 seeds, and so on. In addition, for the pilot program started in 2022, the Committee seeded the next 16 in pods of four: four #5s, four #6s, four #7s, and four #8s. Since this seeding of 16 additional teams continued in 2023 and 2024, it appears it will continue in the future.
BRACKETING CRITERIA
The NCAA has a Bylaw on how bracket pairings are to be set up for non-revenue championships, which includes Division I women's soccer. The Bylaw, effective beginning August 2011, states:
"31.1.3.2.5 Nonrevenue Championships Site Assignment. In championships that do not generate revenue and for which only 25 percent of the bracket is seeded, seeded teams shall have the opportunity to host preliminary rounds. Conference opponents shall be avoided in the first two rounds of the championships." [As noted above, this Bylaw may continue to be applicable notwithstanding the 2022 pilot increasing the seeding to 50 percent of the bracket.]
In addition, under "Site Selection," the 2023 Manual states:
"For non-revenue generating championships that seed at least a quarter of the bracket, sites will be awarded to the seeded teams that submit a bid that meets the requirements for hosting. In the event that a seeded team does not submit a bid that meets the requirements, the sports committee will maintain the current policy of geographic consideration when assigning those host sites. The committees will use the geographic considerations to help maintain the balance and integrity of the bracket. The committees will also separate first- and second-round conference opponents when assigning teams to sites."
As stated under "Seeding Criteria" above, there is no publicly available information on whether the Women's Soccer Committee actually assigns seed positions # 1 through 16 (or #17 to 32) to teams and places them in the bracket accordingly (although publicly identifying the seeds only as four #1 seeds, four #2 seeds, and so on) or simply identifies four #1 seeds, four #2 seeds, and so on, or uses a combined approach. This may be a significant question in relation to bracketing. If the NCAA places seeded teams in the bracket based on its really having 16 seeded positions, then the placement of seeded teams in the bracket appears not to have to consider the "geographic considerations" requirement. On the other hand, if the NCAA only assigns four teams #1 seeds, four teams #2 seeds, and so on, then it is possible that the positioning of the seeded teams within the bracket would need to take into account the "geographic considerations" requirement, so long as the placement of the seeds from each "pod" of four is consistent with proper seed placement. However the Committee places the seeds, once the Women's Soccer Committee has selected the at-large participants and done the seeding, it then places teams in bracket positions, taking into account the proper placement of seeded teams. In doing this, the Committee must try to maintain the balance and integrity of the bracket, subject to geographic considerations. The Committee also follows the rule that first- and second-round conference matches are to be avoided.
It is not clear whether the NCAA, as part of the post-seeding bracket formation process, tries to balance the different sections of the bracket in terms of strength, although the above-quoted "balance and integrity" language suggests it might do so. It is possible, but only conjecture, that once the Committee places the seeded teams in the bracket, it uses NCAA travel management software to develop a tentative bracket based on geographic proximity considerations and then looks for and corrects any gross inequities in order to fairly balance the different bracket sections to the extent reasonably possible.
The first round games are played at 32 sites on the opening week of the Tournament. The second and third round games then are at 8 sites on the second weekend. The quarter-final round games are at 4 sites on the third weekend. The College Cup games are on the fourth weekend.
Regarding sites of games prior to the College Cup (which is at a predetermined location), I'll repeat again here part of the Championships Oversight Committee's "Working Principles for Seeding/Pairing/Site Selection" for sports other than men's and women's basketball (also quoted above):
"1. Top teams should be seeded ....
"2. In championships that do not generate revenue and for which only 25 percent of the bracket is seeded, sites will be awarded to the seeded teams who submit a bid by the deadline that meet the requirements for hosting. In the event that a seeded team does not submit a bid that meets the requirements, the sports committee will maintain the current policy of geographic consideration when assigning those host sites. The committees will use the geographic considerations to help maintain the balance and integrity of the bracket. [NOTE: The Cabinet added this provision in 2014.]
"3. First- and second-round conference matchups should be avoided. However, if five or more teams from one conference are selected to the championship, then the integrity of the bracket will be protected. First round is defined as first contest. [NOTE: The Cabinet added the second sentence in 2014.]"
Reading all of these provisions together, game sites are selected as follows (other than for the College Cup's pre-determined site):
Round 1 (first weekend): Each first round game will involve a seeded team and will be at the seeded team's field so long as it is a qualifying field and the team has submitted an appropriate bid.
Rounds 2 and 3 (second weekend). There potentially will be two seeded teams at each second weekend site. The site will be one of the seeded teams' fields, so long as it is a qualifying field and the team has submitted an appropriate bid. Based on past NCAA practice, the host team will be be the team with the better seed. If there is no seeded team in a Round 2/3 group, which is very unlikely, there is the same lack of clarity about which team will get to host, but it's highly likely it will be the team the Committee considers to be the best team.
Quarter-Finals (third weekend). Based on past NCAA practice, the quarter-final games will be played at the site of the team with the best seed or, if there is no seeded team, the team the Committee considers to be the best team. Again, this is contingent on the team having a qualifying field and having submitted an appropriate bid.
College Cup (fourth weekend). The semi-finals are on Friday and the championship is the following Monday.
In terms of what constitutes a qualifying field, the 2024 Manual says this:
"The Division I Women's Soccer Committee mandates games be played on fields that are a minimum of 70 yards x 110 yards; however, the preference is for fields to be 75 yards x 120 yards. The committee prefers grass fields for preliminary-round games but will not preclude artificial turf (if approved by FIFA). Grass fields will be required for the Women's College Cup."