2024 NAIA Men's Soccer National Championship: Teams & Schedule Revealed - News Directory 3

2024 NAIA Men’s Soccer National Championship: Teams & Schedule Revealed

November 17, 2024 Catherine Williams Sports
News Context
At a glance
  • The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) announced the teams and host sites for the 66th Annual NAIA Men’s Soccer National Championship.
  • Winners from the second round will move on to the finals in Kansas at the Scheels Strykler Sports Complex, scheduled for December 2-9, 2024.
  • The championship includes 24 automatic qualifiers and 16 at-large selections.
Original source: naia.org

2024 NAIA Men’s Soccer National Championship Overview

The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) announced the teams and host sites for the 66th Annual NAIA Men’s Soccer National Championship. The championship features a 40-team field, with matches taking place from November 21 to November 23 at 16 campus locations.

Winners from the second round will move on to the finals in Kansas at the Scheels Strykler Sports Complex, scheduled for December 2-9, 2024. This event is hosted by Visit Wichita.

Qualification Details

The championship includes 24 automatic qualifiers and 16 at-large selections. Automatic qualifiers are teams that won their conference tournaments, claimed regular-season titles, or finished as runners-up in their tournaments, based on conference rules. The NAIA Men’s Soccer National Selection Committee decides on at-large bids by evaluating teams on various criteria.

Viewing Information

All matches in the first and second rounds will be streamed online by the host institutions. Fans can watch the championship matches for free on the Urban Edge Network and the NAIA Network, both available during the final events in Wichita.

Key Highlights

  • The Heart of America Athletic Conference and Crossroads League each qualified five teams.
  • Carroll (Mont.), Clarke (Iowa), Marian (Ind.), and Xavier (La.) are making their championship debuts.
  • Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) leads with 31 championship appearances, followed by Mobile (Ala.) with 24 and Rio Grande (Ohio) with 24.
  • Eight teams have won a national title, led by Lindsey Wilson with nine titles.
  • Oklahoma Wesleyan has the longest win streak this season at 19 games, while Dalton State (Ga.) and Milligan (Tenn.) remain undefeated.
  • Twenty-three teams from this year were also in last year’s championship.
  • Overall, the championship teams have a winning percentage of 75.1%.

Mascots in Competition

The most common mascot among the teams is the Wildcats, with three teams featuring this name. There are also two teams each with the names Crusaders, Eagles, and Pilots.

For the complete list of matchups and brackets for the first and second rounds, please visit the NAIA website.