Postseason updates from NCAA cross country and men's soccer
The GIST: Cross country and men’s soccer haven’t reached their national championships yet, but this week’s postseason results will determine who earns an automatic natty berth and who must cross their fingers for an at-large bid. No pressure.
⚽ Men’s soccer: Conference tourney tension’s reaching a fever pitch. Twenty-three conferences will name their champs by Sunday night, while every other team can only hope for one of the 25 at-large slots filled during Monday’s selection show.
- Tonight’s Sun Belt semis will be a frenzy. At 7 p.m. ET, No. 1–seed Marshall hosts No. 5–seed Kentucky, who dealt them a crushing upset loss on October 22nd. Be ready for anything in this one.
- At the same time, No. 3–seed West Virginia (who also suffered a late-October upset to Kentucky) takes on No. 7–seed South Carolina, who beat No. 2–seed UCF (then the country’s top-ranked team) in Sunday’s historic quarter-final rout. Corn? Popped.
👟 Cross country: The next step in the race to the November 18th ’ship is Friday’s nine regionals. Eighteen men’s and 18 women’s teams will punch their tickets to the natty by finishing in their regional’s top two, with 13 at-large squads joining each national race’s field thanks to the selection committee.
- Six men and six women who are not members of qualifying teams will also earn a chance to compete as individuals at the natty. For these runners, a standout regional performance could erase any regular-season struggles.