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INDIANAPOLIS -- The field and bracket for the 2013 NCAA Division I Men’s Soccer Championship was announced Monday by the NCAA Division I Men’s Soccer Committee, which awarded the tournament’s No. 1 seed to UCLA. The Bruins enter the tournament with a record of 11-3-4 and are in search of their fifth national championship and first since 2002.
The Pac-12 Conference placed three other teams in the field, including second-seeded Washington (14-1-4), No. 4 California (12-4-2) and unseeded Stanford (9-6-3). Washington was the champion of the six-team league.
The Atlantic Coast Conference led the way with six teams in the field, including Clemson (11-7-2), Maryland (13-3-5), North Carolina (8-5-5), Notre Dame (12-1-6), Virginia (10-5-5) and Wake Forest (9-5-5). The Fighting Irish received the third overall seed, while the ACC tournament champion Terrapins are No. 5. The Cavaliers are seeded eighth and the Demon Deacons are No. 14.
The Big East and Big Ten conferences both placed five teams in the bracket. Indiana (8-11-2) won the Big Ten automatic bid, while Michigan State (12-5-3) was the only seeded team from the conference at No. 11. They were joined by Northwestern (10-7-3), Penn State (11-5-2) and Wisconsin (13-4-2). The Big East was headed by Georgetown (13-4-2), which was seeded at No. 6, and the tournament champion and No. 9 seed Marquette (12-5-2). The Big East will also be represented by Providence (12-5-3), Creighton (9-8-2) and St. John’s (10-6-2), who were all unseeded.
The only two teams making their tournament debuts are Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference champion Quinnipiac, which enters the tournament with a record of 9-4-7, and Seattle University, which posted a 10-8-4 record en route to winning the Western Athletic Conference crown. The Bobcats and Redhawks are two of 48 tournament teams hoping to advance to the NCAA Men’s College Cup, which will be played at PPL Park in Philadelphia on Dec. 13 and 15. Villanova will serve as host.
All first-round games will be played on Thursday while all second-round action will take place on Sunday. The third round will be played Dec. 1, while the quarterfinals will be played Dec. 6 or 7.
