Philly Soccer City 6 Round-Up

With the NCAA soccer regular season wrapping up at the end of October, we figured now would be a good time to check in on the City 6 schools to see who has a change of making the big dance. Starting with the men’s side, the end of October will conclude the regular season, then conference championship tournaments begin in early November, followed by the NCAA tournament beginning November 16.  The selection show will take place on November 13th with forty-eight teams making the field. Twenty-three conference tournament champions qualify automatically, and the remaining teams will receive at-large bids to fill out the 48 team tournament field. The NCAA typically refers to the semi-finals and championship rounds as the “College Cup” which will take place in Louisville, Kentucky on December 8 and 11.

Let’s look at who has a chance to qualify for the NCAA tournament this year. Syracuse are the defending champions, whom Temple just beat 2-1 on Oct 10. Penn was the lone City 6 representative last year. Standings and records updated as of 10/16/23 (W-L-D).

Atlantic 10 – Top 8 teams in standings make conference tournament

• LaSalle – 1-3-2 in conference in 11th place and 5-6-3 overall
  • NCAA tournament outlook: The only chance for LaSalle to make the NCAA tournament would be a miracle Cinderella run to win the A10 tournament to qualify. The problem is they are currently on the outside looking in of even qualifying for the A10 tournament, but as Dumb and Dumber’s Lloyd Christmas would say…”so you’re telling me there’s a chance?”.

• St. Joe’s – 1-4-1 conf. in 13th place and 3-10-1 overall
  • NCAA tournament outlook: St. Joe’s finds itself in the same situation as LaSalle but 13^th in the standings.

Check out the updated A10 standings here.

American Athletic – Top 8 teams in standings make conference tournament

• Temple – 1-2-2 in conference in 7th place and 2-5-4 overall
  • NCAA tournament outlook: Temple’s chance would also be from an underdog run through the AAC tournament to snag the automatic berth, albeit unlikely. But with 8 of the 9 AAC teams making the conference tournament, anything is possible.

Check out the updated AAC standings here.

Ivy League – Top 4 teams in standings make conference tournament

• Penn – 1-1-2 in conference in 6th  and 3-3-5 overall
  • NCAA tournament outlook: Penn has a chance but in the crowded Ivy League standings, they will need to start picking up some wins to close out the regular season. Depending on how they finish, they have a chance for an at-large bid if they do not win the conference tournament. We’ll have to give them a solid maybe as there is still a lot TBD.

Check out the updated Ivy League standings here.

Big East – Top 8 teams in standings make conference tournament

• Villanova – 1-3-1 in conference in 10th place and 1-6-4 overall
  • NCAA tournament outlook: Copy and paste LaSalle and St. Joe’s outlook – only chance would be a miracle Big East tournament title but need to qualify for Big East tournament first.

Check out the updated Big East standings here. 

Colonial Athletic – top 6 teams in standings make conference tournament

• Drexel – 3-1-3 in conference in 2nd place and 7-1-4 overall
  • NCAA tournament outlook: Drexel is in a good position to qualify but will still need to close out the regular season strong. They have qualified for the CAA tournament and if they finish the season with some wins, they have a chance for an at-large bid if they don’t win the CAA tournament.

Check out the updated CAA standings here.

For the women’s side of things, sixty-four teams will earn spots in the NCAA tournament. Thirty-one spots go to the teams who win their conference championship tournaments with the remaining 33 selected as at-large bids. The selection show will be on November 6th and the Women’s College Cup will take place in Cary, North Carolina, on December 1 and 4.

Atlantic 10 – top 8 teams in standings make A10 tournament

• Both LaSalle and St. Joe’s have a chance at making the NCAA tournament with LaSalle currently in second place in the A10 and St. Joes in fourth. LaSalle has a chance to win the A10 regular season as they have 21 points with 2 games to go. They are chasing St. Louis who have 22 points.

American Athletic

• Temple is sitting in last place in the AAC so NCAA tournament dreams will have to wait until next year.

Ivy League

• Like Temple, Penn is in last place in the Ivy and will be looking to close out their remaining two games with positive momentum heading into next year.

Big East – Top 6 teams in standings make Big East tournament

• Villanova is in 10th in the Big East but if they pick up some results in their remaining 3 games, there is a chance they could sneak into the Big East tournament.

Colonial Athletic

• Drexel is in 11th place in the CAA with 2 games remaining but will be looking to bounce back next year.

Not included in the City 6, but also of note; both Penn State women’s and men’s teams have a chance to go dancing. Penn State women are in first in the Big Ten and the men are in third. Both have a shot at an at-large bid if they do not win their conference tournaments.