After the House Settlement was approved, a lot of non-revenue college sports, including soccer, are at risk as DI colleges have to dedicate their football and basketball revenues to paying those players.  So, it makes a lot of sense that an individual sport governing body like US Soccer steps in to help figure out how to keep college soccer going.

Only worry I have is that there is no representation beyond DI on the committee announced in the press release below.  DIII officials would be wise to make their voices heard lest whatever solutions they come up with cut out the lower divisions of college soccer or make it more expensive.

US Soccer Launches Committee to Provide Recommendations on Men's and Women's College Soccer

QuoteU.S. Soccer has formally established the NextGen College Soccer Committee (NCS), a group comprised of diverse and influential leaders from higher education, professional sports, philanthropic organizations and the business community. This initiative supports U.S. Soccer's ongoing commitment to evolve and elevate all levels of soccer in the United States and underscores the Federation's "in service to soccer" strategy.

The committee will aim to integrate the college game more deeply into the broader U.S. Soccer ecosystem, while ensuring it remains a strong, sustainable platform for student-athlete education, player development, and community engagement. The group's work will consider both the men's and women's college games, recognizing that the models and solutions may differ between the two. Additionally, the committee will provide input on commercial strategies, improvements to student-athlete welfare, and broader collaboration opportunities with the NCAA and appropriate governing bodies of the sport.

The NCS Committee will focus on two primary outcomes:

    Publishing a white paper by the start of the 2025-26 academic year, outlining recommendations to position both men's and women's college soccer to thrive in the rapidly evolving soccer ecosystem

    Engaging conferences and college programs interested in exploring these innovative solutions and opportunities, targeting implementation beginning during the 2026–27 academic year

"College soccer is integral to the fabric and future of our sport in this country," said U.S. Soccer CEO JT Batson. "The individuals joining this group bring unique perspectives and expertise that will help us build a model where college soccer can thrive in a modern, connected system - all working collaboratively in service to soccer."

The NCS Committee will formally engage other key stakeholders via insight groups - including college coaches and administrators, current and recent college players,U.S. Soccer members, and governing bodies such as the NCAA and USOPC- to provide feedback andstrengthen the proposal.

While this committee will focus on the college game and appropriate connectivity with professional leagues,U.S. Soccer will also be working directly with a group of pre-professional youth members including ECNL / US Club, Girls Academy, MLS Next, USL Academy, and US Youth Soccer,to properly consider the development pathway and progression to college soccer, ensuring any proposed solutions reflect the full scope of the game in the U.S.

Quote from: Pat Coleman on June 09, 2025, 05:46:24 PMI feel like UMFK has been talked about for more than a decade.

Yup.  I think the thing that changed for me was when I started hearing it from people connected to UMPI. 

Quote from: HansenRatings on June 10, 2025, 11:38:10 AM

Quote from: Little Giant 89 on June 09, 2025, 12:35:31 PM

Quote from: The Third Division on May 28, 2025, 01:41:45 PMIt should be "The College of North Central That Is North Central of Absolutely Nothing"

Not even in the center of Naperville, or DuPage County for that matter.

In 1926, when then name was adopted, the college would have been nearly directly North of the population center of the United States.

And in 1926 when Naperville was a sleepy small town of about 4,500 NCC, being adjacent to downtown, was certainly right in the center of Naperville.
Currently, it's in the northern part of the city as over the years the population has expanded in a southerly direction. Wheaton, to Naperville's north, also grew southward forcing Naperville to expand mostly in the same direction into Will County now as well as DuPage.

The final NACDA Directors Cup standings were released today:

T71.  HSU 164
T139. ETBU 75
T148.  UMHB 73

HPU did not score any points.  Future ASC members:

89.  McMurry 133.75
206. Schreiner 40

The final NACDA Directors Cup standings are out.  Among SCAC schools:

22. Trinity 636
76. Colorado College 264
86. McMurry 226.25
112. Texas Lutheran 173
129. St. Thomas 149
T239. Concordia 50
T267. Schreiner 40
T287. Ozarks 26
T323. Southwestern 5

That's about as well as the conference has done, especially in number of teams ranked, in a number of years.

For Trinity, without winning a championship it is very hard to break into that top 20, where many schools get points for sports they don't sponsor (lacrosse, rowing, men's VB, fencing, ice hockey, men's wrestling, field hockey).  Not all schools in the top 20 have even most of those - doubt any has all of them - and you can only score in 18 sports of which 4 must be M/W basketball and soccer.  But having more opportunities overall means more chances to maximize points and to eliminate those zero-point sports.  I would like to see NACDA do what the SCAC did for their President's Trophy and award more points to sports with more competitors instead of small sports like women's rowing or men's VB getting the same number of points for champions as do women's volleyball or m/w soccer.

And that, at last, marks the end of Trinity's time in the SCAC.  It's been a good run, and now they have to see if they can have similar success in the SAA despite the additional travel they (and Southwestern) signed up for. 

Wash U

They drop Aurora and Ohio Northern and pick up Westminster and Illinois College, plus they get North Park and Wheaton (IL) at home.  Their most challenging travel weekend might be the last weekend in October, when they play Rochester away on Friday 10/24 and then Emory away on Sunday 10/26.  If they come down to the wire in conference, their last two games - against NYU and Chicago - are at home on successive Saturdays.

Christopher Newport

The Coast-to-Coast conference gets flak from people, but the lack of regular season conference games means that a school like Christopher Newport always has one of the most interesting, challenging, and geographically diverse non-conference schedules in the country.  They have what is a de facto conference schedule with fellow C2C members Mary Washington (x2), Salisbury (x2), and incoming member Regent and some other local-ish schools like Marymount, Virgina Wesleyan, Washington & Lee, and North Carolina Wesleyan that is probably one of the stronger "conference" schedules around, but the fun comes when they just play whomever they want to play and they seem to change it regularly.  This year, they open with 6 games at home against a crazy mix of opponents from different regions, styles of play, and levels of competition - Merchant Marine, Dickinson, William Paterson, University of Redlands, Rutgers-Camden, and Hampden-Sydney. Dickinson and Redlands alone offer contrasting styles from very different parts of the country and really challenging opposition.  Then, in late September, they travel to Abilene, Texas to play Trinity and Hardin-Simmons, which is a long trip, a pretty unique setting for boys from Virginia, and a chance to play a quality Hardin-Simmons team and a Trinity team that should once again challenge for the best in the country.  By my count, they hit teams from 8 different conferences.  Another scheduling note of interest is that the C2C conference tournament is in Newport News this year, so CNU should be well-positioned to avenge its OT loss to Mary Washington in last season's C2C finals when it was held in Fredericksburg.

One additional note that may only be of interest to me:  There may be a back story to scheduling Redlands from Region X.  Not only is it a strong team that plays a nice style of possession combined with grit, but it may hold special significance for Redlands' head coach Ralph Perez.  2025 will be Coach Perez' final season after 50+ years of coaching and more than 445 wins at DI, DII, and DIII combined (plus asst coaching at the professional level with the Galaxy and Metrostars and for the USMNT team) and a spot in the SUNY Oneonta Athletics Hall of Fame.  Perez coached at DI Old Dominion in Norfolk, VA from 1990-95, where he led the team to a program-best 18-2-2 record in 1991, with a conference championship, an NCAA tournament appearance and the school's highest ever final ranking of #9 in the country. Perez never took the school as far in the NCAA tournament as his successor Alan Dawson, but I wonder if ODU, which is only about 30 miles away from CNU, is doing anything to recognize Perez on this trip.  Even if not, it's probably an opportunity for him to visit some of his old haunts and to greet some old friends.

Due to a late cancellation, Stevenson University is looking for another game for the 2025-26 season. If interested, please contact either Gary Stewart (glstewart@stevenson.edu) or Jeff Smith (jsmith10@stevenson.edu).

Quote from: Little Giant 89 on June 09, 2025, 12:35:31 PM

Quote from: The Third Division on May 28, 2025, 01:41:45 PMIt should be "The College of North Central That Is North Central of Absolutely Nothing"

Not even in the center of Naperville, or DuPage County for that matter.

In 1926, when then name was adopted, the college would have been nearly directly North of the population center of the United States.

Carthage College is still looking for 1 game to complete our 2025-26 schedule. Willing to start home/home or offer guarantee for a game in Kenosha. If interested please email sdjurickovic@carthage.edu.

Loras College is still looking for games prior to Christmas. 

Please email chris.martin@loras.edu if interested.  We can be creative to make something work!