2016 NCAA Soccer Bracket Challenge

Standings

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*** Deadline to play is 1:00 (ET) Thursday, November 17th. ***

Welcome back to Everybody Soccer's third annual NCAA Soccer Bracket Challenge. Last year Sean defied the odds with his self-proclaimed "Team of Destiny" and picked up another win for the west coast. This year we return with a clean sheet for everyone. With no prize for the winner, you can't afford not to play!

What Is the NCAA Tournament?

Every year NCAA soccer concludes their season with a 48 team tournament. 24 conference representatives are selected by either winning their respective conference or tournament. The remaining 24 spots are filled by teams earning at-large bids. The first round features 32 teams facing off while the second round introduces 16 seeded teams given a bye past the first round.

Click here to see the 2016 bracket

What Is the Bracket Challenge?

Simply make your predictions on who will win every game in the national tournament then submit it before the first game kicks off, on Thursday afternoon.  The winner will be determined by who scores the most points. You can score a maximum of 176 points total (32 each round, except the first which is only 16). The rounds are weighted as such:

Round 1 - 1 point (16 games)
Round 2 - 2 point (16 games)
Round 3 - 4 points (8 games)
Quarterfinals - 8 points (4 games)
Semifinals - 16 points
Final - 32 points

There is no award or prize for the winner. Collegiate athletes are welcome to play as there is no buy-in or pay out for participants. The winner only gets bragging rights.

How to Play

There are a couple of different ways to submit a bracket.

1. You can print off a bracket, fill it out, and send it to me at everybodysoccer@yahoo.com or tweet a picture @letsallsoccer.

Click here to view the printable bracket.

2. If you're having trouble printing out the bracket, you can save the bracket to your computer and fill in the rounds with any photo editing program. Even Microsoft Paint would work for this. Or you can write it all out on a napkin and send me the list. It doesn't have to be pretty and as long as its legible, I can submit your bracket myself.

3. If you can get to a computer, a fancier and more interactive tool can be found on the google templates. Google templates stores shells of documents that you can download and edit on your own.

• Click here to go to google templates.
• Search for "NCAA Soccer" in the public gallery.
• Click the "NCAA Soccer Bracket Challenge Template By Bill Reno"
• At the top header, click the button "Use This Template"
• Only fill out column D, the blue row. The bracket will automatically update itself. If you spell a college incorrectly then it will tell you to try again. You must spell it correctly or else it will not understand what you are inputting.
• At the top, enter your name, state you represent, bracket name (can be anything serious or silly), and your twitter handle to appear on the scoreboard.
• Send to it me by selecting
  
  File > Share > Email: everybodysoccer@yahoo.com
  
  (Make sure you are clicking the in-template "File" and not the "File" at very top of your computer screen.)
• If something goes terribly wrong or you mess up the document, just go back to the google templates to re-download the document and start over.
   

*** All brackets must be in by 1:00 (ET) Thursday, November 17th. ***

Resources

RPIs and Schedules - Dan Gaucho has a great site for all your RPI and scheduling needs.

Media Coverage - Top Drawer Soccer has multiple articles on the tournament, rankings, and players to watch for.

History - Take a look at each school's history with the tournament. Teams were given points for how many rounds they went (Round Pts) and if they held a seed (Seed Pts).  "+/-" is gauging if they over (+) or underperform (-) in the tournament given their seed.

Performance by Seed
avg number of rounds completed, 1 to 7

1 - 4.4
2 - 5.7
3 - 4.3
4 - 3.3
5 - 3.5
6 - 3.2
7 - 3.3
8 - 4.2
9 - 3.1
10 - 3.1
11 - 3.2
12 - 3.2
13 - 3
14 - 2.5
15 - 2.7
16 - 3.3
unseeded - 1.7
 

Performance by Conference
avg number of rounds completed, 1 to

Big Ten - 3
ACC - 3
Pac-12 - 2.9
Mid-American - 2.7
Big East - 2.6
Big West - 2.4
AAC - 2.3
C-USA - 2
West Coast - 1.9
A10 - 1.9
American East - 1.8
Ivy - 1.7
Southern - 1.7
Horizon - 1.7
CAA - 1.7
Missouri Valley - 1.7
Big South - 1.5
Patroit - 1.5
Northeast - 1.4
WAC - 1.3
MAAC - 1.2
Summit - 1.2
Atlantic Sun - 1.1
Sun Belt - 1

Player Journal: Bobby Edwards - October 2016

Bobby Edwards shares on his decision to redshirt this year and how involvement with the team has evolved. To read all the player journals, click here.

You ended up redshirting this year. Talk about that decision and what ultimately pushed you that direction?

The decision to take the redshirt was a tough one involving a couple of different factors.

First and most importantly was my health. My foot has been healing; just not as fast as I had hoped. Four weeks ago at my last doctor’s appointment the CAT scan showed that although the outside of the bone was looking really good, deeper inside of the bone was still healing and the fracture site was still visible. I was cleared to begin slowly building back into full weight bearing activities (running, jumping, etc.), the key word being slowly. This has been hard for me sense it is my nature to train full out. Since this was the second time I broke it I really needed to take it slow this time to give myself the best chance to fully recover. One of the tough things with this injury is that the bone can feel good up until it doesn’t, and when it doesn’t, you’re looking at another three months out minimum. So redshirting this season reduced the risk of my getting injured yet again.

Second is the reality that a layoff impacts your form. I can’t expect to sit on the sideline for three months and then be back at top form as soon as I return to playing. I had to ask myself, “Is this the version of myself that I want to use one of my years of eligibility on?” You get five years to compete in four seasons of college soccer, and with only two left, each one is extremely valuable to me. When I step on that field, I want to be sharp on every play. Giving myself the extra year gives me the time I need to be in top form at the start of the 2017 season.

Lastly, the team hasn’t needed me to embrace the risk involved in coming back early. In my absence, Greg O’Connell has played well in goal and the defense as a whole has been playing great. With only a few hiccups here and there, teams haven’t been able to break us down. As the saying goes, if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it.

How has your role with the team changed? How are you trying to stay connected with the team?

It’s been hard to watch the games from the sidelines, but I’ve done what I can to make a positive impact behind the scenes. Trying to offer positive energy, promoting team chemistry and doing what I can to assure that our practices are run at a high level are all ways I’ve tried to contribute. I’ve put extra emphasis on supporting the younger guys who don’t get to see the field as much. After practice, I sometimes get a group of guys together who want to stay and work on aspects of their game and do what I can to help them. 

Edwards (right) with freshman teammate and fellow redshirt, Jarod Ramses

Jimmy Wandling, my high school coach at St. Benedict’s, often spoke of the concept of a “willing sacrifice.” Each year when we reported to preseason, he would give us a copy of the following quote by Pat Riley (taken from The Winner Within):

“The most difficult thing for individuals to do when they’re part of the team is to sacrifice. It’s so easy to become selfish in a team environment. To play for me. It’s very vulnerable to drop your guard and say, 'This is who I am and I’m going to open up and give of myself to you.' But that’s exactly what you’ve got to do.

Willing sacrifice is the great paradox. You must give up something in the immediate present---comfort, ease, recognition and quick rewards---to attract something even better in the future: a full heart and a sense that you did something which counted.

Without that sacrifice you’ll never know your team’s potential, or your own.”

I put this quote in my locker at SJU and try to remind myself each day of what it means to give a “willing sacrifice.” To be injured and on the sidelines is highly frustrating for any athlete driven to compete, so it has been a daily battle for me to acknowledge and push aside the self-absorbed thoughts my frustration gives rise to and to choose instead to do whatever I can to help our team succeed.

St. Joseph’s is 3-2 in conference and a 6-6-1 overall, a huge improvement from last year. What’s been working this year that wasn’t last year?

We only lost two players who graduated and one who transferred, so a big part of our success is that we have been able to keep a core group together who have benefitted from another year of development. The growing experience and leadership of our guys is showing on the field.

Last year going down a goal could seem at times like an impossible hole to climb out of because of our failure to score goals. This year we’ve done a better job on offense of creative attacking play and taking advantage of our scoring opportunities. This takes pressure off of the back line, knowing that even if we go a goal down that we aren’t out of the game.

Defensively, we have a well-defined system where everyone knows their roles and responsibilities. We have two younger center backs that are playing together for the first time this season and doing a phenomenal job. Our outside backs are experienced, with one of them a team captain. I’ve never seen a pair be so committed to each play of the game, constantly making runs to join in the attack and then sprinting back to get behind the ball. Following their example, all eleven guys on the field are doing their part to help out on defense. I mentioned in my last journal that we needed to figure out what our identity was as a team. I believe that this year we’ve become a team that is known for our physical team defense.

Player Journal: Noah Heim - October 2016

Freshman Noah Heim catches us up on his first year at Marquette and gives his viewpoint of what redshirting this fall means to him. You can read all the player journals here.

As a freshman goalkeeper looking to redshirt this year, how has that changed your approach in training?

Being a redshirt, you know you aren't going to travel or play. So for me, this means to work not necessarily harder, but smarter. I spend as much time at the field working on what I need to improve on, but I also lift three times a week. I'm really taking this year to fill my potential so over the spring and summer, I can pinpoint what's left to even out my game. Along with this, the two goalkeepers that are traveling need to get their reps in on the days before games. So I usually try to incorporate myself into the drills by finding something to do on the other side of the ball or work on distribution.

What’s been the biggest transition from your schedule in high school compared to college?

The transition was crazy for me. In high school, I woke up, showed up to school, went to practice, went home, and slept. I could easily get enough sleep. In college though, [it's] 8am's every morning, struggle to find time to eat during the day, go to lift, go to rehab, go to more classes, then go to practice. After all of that's done, there's always a mountain of homework to finish along with tutors.  It's a struggle to get enough sleep each night. There's definitely less time to breathe during a day in a student-athlete's life. 

What’s been a standout moment so far into the season?

There have been a lot of standout moments of this season, but the one that stands out the most to me is when we were playing Georgetown. Wicho [Marquette starter, Luis Barraza] came out on a 1v1 but hesitated a little. The ball was bouncing and as the attacker hit the ball, Wicho went full starfish. When he came down, both of his cleats were studs up. Wicho straddled him and took him down. Luckily, no penalty and the shot bounced off the post. It had me dying of laughter when I watched the film.

Player Journal: Erin Scott - October 2016

Erin continues her player journal with her second entry, this time a mid-season checkup. Creighton is currently 8-4-2, sitting fifth in conference, and are needing to finish in the top six to make the conference tournament. You can read all the previous posts by Erin and the other goalkeepers here.

You’ve split time with freshman goalkeeper McKenzie Meola this season. How has this changed your approach to the season?

Of course, splitting time has been frustrating and a bit discouraging but I can honestly say it has changed my outlook towards many aspects of my life, not just soccer. I have found that I approach practices much differently. I think I am at a point where I am training better than I ever have because I know I have something to prove. Rather than personally fixing problems that may have happened in a game the previous weekend, I really just focus on bettering myself and my skills overall. I have also been very nitpicky with myself in training sessions, really focusing on having clean hands or extending my range on those full extension saves. I have raised my own personal standard drastically. Finally, and I feel most importantly, this season has truly taught me that soccer is not everything. Splitting time has allowed me to step back and see things from a different perspective. I believe that soccer is a huge part of who I am, but I have come to understand that there is more to life besides soccer.

How has an improved season affected the locker room?

There is definitely a noticeable difference in the mentality of the team this year in comparison to last year. I would say the biggest difference is how close all of us are. We basically start every day together at practice and then we all go our separate ways for classes but I personally always eat dinner with a couple teammates at the dining hall. All of us truly like being around each other which is seriously awesome. Of course everyone has people that they are closer to than others but I can honestly say that I could talk to anyone on the team about almost anything. This group is definitely special and I honestly think that has a lot to do with the fact that we are such a young team. We gained 15 new girls (freshmen and transfers) this fall season and I think the fresh, positive mentality that new players bring to a program has helped drastically. We have truly developed a winning mentality.

What’s been a standout moment this far into the season?

 This team always finds a way to have a good time together, whether it be playing “Heads Up!” in the airport during five hour delays or scaring people in their hotel rooms, we always can find something to laugh about and have fun with. But recently before our game against Seton Hall the mood on our team has never been better. In the locker room we were playing music like always but the playlist before this game in particular was very different in the best way possible. We were playing everything from the Backstreet Boys to Nsync to Beyonce but right before we were about to go out for warm up the last song we played was I Want You Back by The Jackson 5. So obviously five people on the team designated themselves as “The Jackson 5” with four back up dancers and one lead singer. The rest of the team surrounded them singing along and dancing and the atmosphere in the locker room was absolutely incredible. It was one of those moments with your team that make those 6 AM lifts and all the fitness tests worth it. We ended up beating Seton Hall 4-0 that afternoon and it was one of the best games we have played all season. Since then, I Want You Back has become a staple in our pregame, locker room playlist.