| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: | CONTACT: |
| Monday, November 10, 2002 |
Tina Krah Associate Director of Championships 317/917-6503 |
64-TEAM FIELD SELECTED FOR 2003 DIVISION I WOMEN'S COLLEGE CUP
INDIANAPOLIS --- The field of 64 teams, which will compete for the 22nd Division I Women's Soccer Championship, was announced today by the Division I Women's Soccer Committee.
This marks the first year the committee will seed the top 16 teams and is able to avoid conference match-ups in the first round. However, geographic proximity is still a determining factor when creating the bracket, and second round conference match-ups are permissible.
The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, automatic qualifier from the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), enters the tournament as the No. 1 seed. North Carolina will host High Point University, Big South Conference champion, in a first-round match on November 14. This is North Carolina's 22nd tournament appearance.
No. 2 seed University of Notre Dame, will host Loyola University (Illinois), the Horizon League champion, in its opening-round game. The University of Florida, the No. 3 seed, will host University of Central Florida, the Atlantic Sun Conference automatic qualifier. The University of California, Los Angeles, the Pacific-10 Conference Champion and No. 4 seed, will host the University of San Diego in first-round play. North Carolina and the University of Connecticut are the only two teams who have been invited to the tournament every year since it began in 1982.
The remaining top twelve seeds are Pennsylvania State University, West Virginia University, the University of Virginia, the University of Portland, Santa Clara University, the University of Colorado, Boulder, Florida State University, Duke University, University of Kansas, the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Boston College and the University of Illinois, Champaign.
The Big 12 Conference leads all conferences with eight teams in the tournament. Seven teams will represent the ACC; six teams will represent the Big East Conference and the Big Ten Conference each.
Twenty-nine conferences were granted automatic bids for the 2003 championship. The remaining 35 teams were selected at-large.
The automatic qualifiers are: America East Conference, Boston University; Atlantic 10 Conference, the University of Dayton; ACC, North Carolina; Atlantic Sun, UCF; Big 12, Oklahoma State University; Big East, Villanova University; Big Sky Conference, Idaho State University; Big South, High Point; Big Ten, Illinois; Big West Conference, California Polytechnic State University; Colonial Athletic Association, College of William & Mary; Conference USA, DePaul University; Horizon League, Loyola (Illinois); Ivy Group, Dartmouth College; Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, Loyola College (Maryland); Mid-American Conference, Western Michigan University; Mid-Continent Conference, Oakland University; Missouri Valley Conference, Illinois State University; Mountain West Conference, University of Utah; Northeast Conference, Central Connecticut State University; Ohio Valley Conference, Eastern Illinois University; Pac-10, UCLA; Patriot League, U.S. Naval Academy; Southeastern Conference, Tennessee; Southern Conference, University of North Carolina, Greensboro; Southland Conference, Stephen F. Austin State University; Sun Belt Conference, University of Denver; West Coast Conference, Santa Clara; and Western Athletic Conference, Southern Methodist University.
First-round matches will be played Friday, November 14, at campus sites, and second-round matches will be played Sunday, November 16, at the same campus sites-except for first- and second-round matches hosted by Utah, which will be played November 13 and 15. Third-round games will be played on campus sites November 21, 22 or 23, as will quarterfinal matches on November 28, 29 or 30. Times will be announced.
The 22nd annual NCAA Division I Women's College Cup will be played December 5 and 7 at SAS Soccer Park in Cary, North Carolina. North Carolina State University and the Capitol Area Soccer League are hosting the championship.
Ten teams are making their first appearance in the tournament. They are DePaul, High Point, Illinois State, Loyola (Illinois), Oklahoma State, Stephen F. Austin, Navy, Western Michigan, Colorado and Oklahoma.
North Carolina has captured the title 16 times. In the 2002 championship game, Portland defeated Santa Clara, 2-1, in double overtime.
The complete bracket follows.
Attachment: 2003 Championship Bracket (PDF*)
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