The 2023 NCAA Division I men's soccer season is the 65th season of NCAA championship men's college soccer. The season began on August 24, 2023 and will conclude on December 10, 2023. Syracuse is the defending national champion.
Changes from 2022
Coaching changes
The following coaching changes occurred during the 2022–23 offseason.
Conference realignment
The ongoing conference realignment had two especially significant impacts on men's soccer in the 2023 season.
First, the Mid-American Conference announced on November 11, 2022 that it would no longer sponsor men's soccer after the 2022 season. The MAC had dropped to five men's soccer members during the realignment cycle, and was unable to find the sixth member needed to maintain its automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. The four full MAC members that sponsored the sport found new conference homes within a week, with Akron joining the Big East Conference and Bowling Green, Northern Illinois, and Western Michigan joining the Missouri Valley Conference. The one associate member of the group, full independent Chicago State, was temporarily left without a home for its own program.
Then, on March 28, 2023, the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) announced that it would launch a men's soccer league in the 2023 season with eight members, equally divided between full members and associates. Three full OVC members (Eastern Illinois, Lindenwood, Southern Indiana) moved men's soccer from the Summit League, with the other full member (SIU Edwardsville) leaving the Missouri Valley Conference. The new associates are the aforementioned Chicago State; Houston Christian, which formerly housed men's soccer in the Western Athletic Conference; Incarnate Word, which had played the 2022 season as an independent; and Liberty, which left the ASUN Conference (which sponsors soccer for both sexes) for Conference USA (which sponsors it only for women). Western Illinois later joined the Ohio Valley for all sports this season as well. Western had originally planned to join the OVC's new league as its ninth men's soccer program. However, the conference had already built its schedule, which includes air travel. Therefore, Western instead opted to stay with the Summit League as an affiliate in order for the conference to stay at 6 members and retain its automatic bid to the NCAA tournament while they look to add more members, and will move the sport over to the OVC in 2024.
The 2023 season is expected to be the last for eight men's college soccer teams in their current conferences:
New programs
On May 10, Le Moyne College announced that it had accepted an invitation to join the Northeast Conference and would begin the transition to Division I.
Discontinued programs
In March 2023, St. Francis College, athletically known as St. Francis Brooklyn, announced that it would shut down its entire athletic program at the end of the 2022–23 school year.
Other news
May 24, 2023 – George Washington University announced that it would change its nickname from Colonials to Revolutionaries. July 20 – The Colonial Athletic Association announced a name change to Coastal Athletic Association. October 4 – The Division I Council approved changes to the transfer window for all sports. In fall sports other than football, including men's and women's soccer, the transfer portal now opens for a total of 45 days. A 30-day fall window opens 7 days after championship selections are made, followed by a spring window from May 1–15.
Season outlook
Preseason polls
Regular season
Major upsets
In this list, a "major upset" is defined as a game won by an unranked team that defeats a ranked team, or a team ranked 10 spots lower than the other team.
All rankings are from the United Soccer Coaches Poll.
Conference standings
Early season tournaments
Several universities will host early season soccer tournaments.
Postseason
Conference winners and tournaments
Awards and honors
TopDrawerSoccer.com Player/Team of the Week
Bold denotes TDS Player of the Week.
All-America teams
Major player of the year awards
Hermann Trophy: TopDrawerSoccer.com National Player of the Year Award:
Other major awards
United Soccer Coaches College Coach of the Year: Bill Jeffrey Award: Jerry Yeagley Award: Mike Berticelli Award: NCAA Tournament MVP: