INDIANAPOLIS – Earning its third straight trip to the NCAA Tournament, the Missouri State men’s soccer team will host Creighton in a first-round matchup on Thursday, Nov. 18, as the NCAA Division I Men’s Soccer Committee announced the 48-team field on Monday afternoon.
This is the second time the Bears have hosted an NCAA tournament game at Allison South Stadium. In 2019, MSU defeated Denver, 1-0, in a first-round matchup.
The Bears, who captured both the Missouri Valley Conference regular-season and tournament championships for the second-straight year, will make their sixth overall appearance in the NCAA Tournament after previous trips in 1997, 1999, 2009, 2019 and Spring 2021.
MSU boasts a 17-1 overall record and will head into the NCAA tournament as the winningest team in the nation. The Bears are coming off a 3-0 win over Evansville in the MVC tournament title game, recording its 10th shutout of the season against the Purple Aces in front of a home crowd.
Creighton (8-7-2) will make its 25th NCAA tournament appearance and first since 2016 after earning an at-large bid from the committee. The Bluejays finished fourth in the Big East Conference with a 5-4-1 mark and currently boast an RPI of 23.
The Bears NCAA tournament mark sits at 2-5-0 after the team’s first-ever Sweet 16 appearance last season with a come-from-behind win over Maryland. Ultimately, the Bears lost to Washington, 2-0, in the third round to end their season after the historic run.
The 48-team field is made up of champions from 23 conferences, who qualified automatically, in addition to 25 teams that were selected at-large.
The first-round matchup is set for Thursday, Nov. 18 at Allison South Stadium with kickoff time TBA. Ticket prices for the first round are seven dollars for adults and three dollars for students. The game will broadcast on ESPN3 or ESPN+.
