When it comes to the best college soccer teams, we have to look back 30+ years, but also most recently. Some of the top teams now are just experiencing success, while other schools have fallen off. Meanwhile there are the college soccer giants who consistently are top 25 schools. It’s also important to know that there are many good soccer schools that aren’t listed below.
Biggest differences from men’s & women’s college soccer
Of course there are probably more, but these are the most obvious differences.
- The women have 4 dominant teams that are consistently the best in the past decade… Whereas the men have several teams that rotate. On the men’s side, you’ll see a unranked team like Vermont win the whole thing. Another example is Marshall, who won in 2020 and a few years prior weren’t even in the 64 team tournament.
- When it comes to foreign players the men have way more than the women. There is a bigger pool of talent on the men’s side. Part of that is because women don’t play in every country like the men.
Do you have any other examples?
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D1 top college soccer teams
Women’s DI
351 schools in the United States sponsor Division I varsity women’s soccer; all are full Division I members except Colorado College, a Division III member which competes in Division I only for women’s soccer and men’s ice hockey, six schools that are transitioning from Division II, and the University of St. Thomas, transitioning from Division III.
When it comes to the best college soccer teams on the women’s side, most people think of North Carolina. Without a doubt they are the best simply due to 22 college cup championships, not to mention all the final fours and elite 8 showings. They went to the finals 24 times winning 21 in the first 30 of women’s college soccer! Then went 11 years no title, but 3 runners up and then winning again in 2024. WOW!
New kids on the block:
- Florida State whose been to the final four 9 times from 2011-2025, winning 4 college cups within 10 years.
- Stanford has been the final four 10 times between 2008-2025, winning 3.
Most titles ⬇️
- North Carolina (22 national titles)
- Florida State (4)
- Notre Dame (3)
- Stanford (3)
- Portland (2)
- UCLA (2)
- USC (2)
- Santa Clara (2)
Men’s DI
212 schools. 205 of these schools are full Division I members, six (Le Moyne, Lindenwood, Mercyhurst, Queens, Southern Indiana, and Stonehill) were in transition from Division II to Division I, and one (St. Thomas) was transitioning from Division III.
St Louis dominated in the 60’s and 70’s, but has not won since ’73. Indiana were back to back champs three separate times and are consistently in the finals. Virginia won 5 out of 6 years from ’89 – ’94.
Of these teams below, *6 of them have won the college cup in the last 20 years.
Most titles ⬇️
- St Louis (10 national titles)
- *Indiana (8)
- *Virginia (7)
- *Clemson (4)
- *Maryland (4)
- San Francisco (4)
- UCLA (4)
- *Stanford (3)
- UConn (2)
- Michigan State (2)
- *North Carolina (2)
On the men’s side, you’ll see a team that wasn’t in the top 10 the year before end up in the Championship the following.
New kids on the block (Two schools that have made a name for themselves).
- Marshall won the 2020 Championship, where in 2018 they were not even in the 64 team tournament.
- Vermont wasn’t in the tourney in 2020, but won in 2024.
Most Final 4 appearances (2016-’24)
- Women: North Carolina (6), Florida State (5), Stanford (5) & UCLA (3)
- Men: Indiana (4), Stanford (4), North Carolina, Clemson & Akron (3)
Most Elite 8 (2016-’24)
- Women: NC (7), Florida State (6), Stanford (5), UCLA (4)
- Men: Indiana (5), NC (4), Stanford (4), Clemson (4)
D2 best college soccer teams
Women’s II
258 schools that have a women’s NCAA D2 soccer program.
The top 10 division II Women’s teams are good enough to beat half of the D1 schools. Remember, division placement doesn’t come from sports success, but more the attendance of students.
Most titles ⬇️
- Grand Valley State (7)
- Franklin Pierce (5)
- Barry (3)
- UC San Diego (2)
- Metro (2)
- Western Washington (2)
Men’s II
204 NCAA men’s D2 teams from US and Canada compete.
This one was hard for me to research just because I played at West Texas A&M and we got to the Elite 8 (Quarterfinals) two years in a row (2000, 2001). Both years we were good, but the 2nd year I thought we should have won. We lost to Cal State Dominguez Hills who ended up champions. They had 1 player get drafted MLS (Alex Bengard) and we had 2 (myself and Davy Arnaud).
Most titles ⬇️ The only ones to win 3.
- Southern Connecticut (6)
- Seattle Pacific (5)
- Tampa (3)
- Franklin Pierce (3)
- Lynn (3)
- Fort Lewis (3)
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Division 3 college soccer
D3 has a good playing level and is known for Amazing Academics! Student attendance is the main reason a school is labeled D 1, 2, 3. Every sport in the institute has to be on the same level.
You can’t get athletic scholarships, but you can academic.
Women’s III
The very first season was 1986 with Rochester winning it.
There are currently 441 NCAA women’s D3 schools in the U.S.
Most titles ⬇️
- Messiah (6) lost 4 finals, been to 10 total which is the most.
- UC San Diego (5)
- Williams (3) won 3 titles from 2015-2018
- Wheaton (3) won 3 from ’04-’07
- TCNJ (3) lost 5 finals, so have been a total of 8.
Men’s III
415 NCAA D3 men’s teams in the U.S. are currently in operation.
Started in 1974.
Most titles ⬇️
- Messiah (11) from 2000 – ’17 was dominant.
- UNC Greensboro (5) from ‘1982 – ’87 was on fire.
- Tufts (4) ’14 – ’19
- Amherst (2) went to the finals 5 times from ’15 – ’24.
- UC San Diego (3) between ’88 – ’93
- Babson (3) from ’75 – ’80.
This video does a good job explaining D3 options
Junior College top 10
Women’s JC
180 Junior College teams, but it changes just like the other levels.
JUCO is only two years, which allows athletes time to keep improving before they join a four year school.
Current standings ⬇️
- Navarro College (TX)
- Iowa Western Community College (IA)
- Seminole State College (OK)
- Arizona Western College (AZ)
- Hill College (TX)
- Salt Lake Community College (UT)
- Kansas City Kansas Community College (KS)
- Snow College (UT)
- Daytona State College (FL)
- Tyler Junior College (TX)
Men’s JC
217 men’s teams across America.
Current standings ⬇️
- Salt Lake Community College (UT)
- Iowa Western Community College (IA)
- Tyler Junior College (TX)
- Indian Hills Community College (IA)
- Cowley Community College (KS)
- Arizona Western College (AZ)
- Eastern Florida State College (FL)
- Miami Dade College (FL)
- Murray State College (OK)
- Harcum College (PA)
NAIA college soccer
The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics was established in 1940.
237 institutions from British Columbia (Canada), US Virgin Islands and continental U.S. currently compete.
Looking at the former teams, there are a few who are now playing D2. Lynn, out of Florida won 2 NAIA championships and just in 2024 won a championship in D2. They are one of the best D2 teams over the last 20 years. Also, Simon Frasier out of Canada won 5 NAIA titles. They are now D2.
Most colleges and universities in the NAIA offer athletic scholarships to their student athletes. Around $1.3 billion in athletic scholarship financial aid is awarded to student athletes annually.
Coaching influence
One thing I notice is there are certain coaches who are very successful and without these certain individuals many of these schools don’t have the same success.
Women’s coaches
- Anson Dorrance has won 21 of the 22 titles for North Carolina. He retired in 2024.
- Paul Ratcliff won 3 in a row with Stanford, which are their only titles.
- Randy Waldrum won 2 championships with Notre Dame. Most recently he has put University of Pittsburg on the map making their first Elite 8 in 2023.
- Mark Krikorian won 3 college cups with Florida State. Before that he won 2 titles with Franklin Pierce (D2).
Men’s coaches
- Jeremy Gunn won 3 in a row with Stanford. Before that he led Fort Lewis (D2) to 3 championship games and 1 with Charlotte 49ers where they lost 1-0 to the Tar Heels.
- Jay Martin with Ohio Wesleyan has the most wins (over 700) which only 2 have done.
- Tim Vom Steeg with Santa Barbara won a NCAA title in 2006 and runner up in 2004.
Worldwide competition
It’s unbelievable how many foreign players are on college soccer rosters (on the men’s side)
Men:
When writing this blog post, Clemson men (ranked #15) had 7 foreign players… That’s 25% of the roster. On the contrary, University of Denver (ranked #2) only had 2 foreigners. Many of their players are from Colorado, so they recruit local. Shout-out to youth soccer in Colorado for obviously producing talent.
A lot of the recruiting abroad depends on the coach’s preference and connections.
The overall level raises when there are quality players coming from overseas, which is good.
It’s the same with pro soccer… All the best teams are filled with players from different countries.
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Women:
When adding up the 3 best teams, only 5 players were from other countries in 2015. North Carolina (2), Stanford (0) and Florida State (3).
Soccer for girls around the world is not as big as it is for the men… In Europe it’s really grown in the last 12 years. Countries like Spain, France, Netherland have really grown into top competitors.
America has very athletic girls that grow up playing soccer, so there hasn’t been much of a need for college coaches to recruit abroad.
In addition, the top teenagers in Europe are going straight pro (Barcelona Femeni).
Largest crowd attendance
Women:
NC and Portland have the overall biggest crowd over the past decades.
These top 3 below average 2,400 per game.
- BYU
- North Carolina
- Texas A&M
- Rutgers
- Virginia
- Santa Clara
- Florida State
- South Carolina
- Arkansas
- Utah Valley
From 2005-2015 Portland was ranked #1 for biggest crowd, averaging 3,500. I’m assuming with the city getting an MLS team it impacted the college attendance.
Men:
- St Louis (over 3k per game)
- UConn (over 2k)
- Maryland (over 2k)
- Clemson
- New Hampshire
- Creighton
- Indiana
- Cal Poly
- UC Santa Barbra
- Wake Forest
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Best college soccer teams vs high academics
Last, everyone is different and therefore, some are looking for literally the best teams, while others location, networking or academics.
Do what’s best for you and be open to something you weren’t initially thinking.
Oftentimes you don’t know until you’ve made some visits.
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