INDIANAPOLIS – Missouri State men’s soccer punched its ticket for the 2024 NCAA Tournament as the Bears earned the No. 15 seed and will have a first-round bye for the second time in program history. Missouri State will await the winner of the first-round match-up between Saint Louis and Kansas City on Thursday. The Bears will host either the Billikens or the Roos on Sunday at 6:30 p.m. at Betty & Bobby Allison South Stadium.
The Bears enter the NCAA Tournament as an at-large bid with a 12-3-2 record following a Missouri Valley Conference regular season championship. Missouri State fell in the semifinals of the MVC Tournament to eventual champion Evansville.
Missouri State will enter this year’s tournament tied for the seventh-best winning percentage in Division I (.765).
MoState is one of seven teams making its sixth straight NCAA Tournament appearance, joining Clemson, Georgetown, Indiana, Marshall, Pittsburgh and Wake Forest as the only nine teams in the nation to make every tournament since 2019.
Missouri State hosted both Saint Louis and Kansas City early this season. The Roos handed the Bears a 3-2 loss on Sept. 2 in Missouri State’s second and final loss of the regular season. The Bears and Billikens battled to a 0-0 draw on Oct. 23 in the first home match Missouri State had ever hosted Saint Louis.
The Bears will be hosting an NCAA Tournament match for the fourth time in six years. Last season, Missouri State hosted Summit League Tournament champion Omaha to Springfield in a rematch from earlier in the year. The Bears won, 1-0, to advance to the second round on the road against Stanford. Missouri State is 3-8 all-time in the NCAA Tournament, including a 2-1 record at home with wins against Omaha (2023) and Denver (2019).
The winner of Sunday’s match will face the remaining team in the trio of Cornell, Fordham and No. 2 seed Pittsburgh. Cornell will host Furman on Thursday with the winner traveling to Pitt on Sunday.
