So UCLA (4), Connecticut (2), North Carolina (2), Akron (1), Duke (1) and Santa Clara (11) have combined to win 10 NCAA titles, 5 of them this century. Of those six, only Santa Clara (8-6-1) has a winning record this year but their RPI (112) is so bad it's among the lower half of all D-I, and thus none of them are going to the NCAA Tournament this year. (UNC is .500 with an RPI in the 40s and technically has a slim shot at still making it but I don't see it happening.) These are teams that, in addition to winning national titles, have all been to the College Cup this century. Akron was in three of the last 4 Cups and was runner-up a year ago. UNC was in the Cup a couple of years ago and UCLA was runner-up in 2014. For Akron and UNC these seasons are likely blips, something even almost all of the elite programs seem to go thru. For the others, it's part of a continued decline from prominence. But being a college soccer power isn't guaranteed to be forever - ask San Francisco, Howard and Navy. It will be interesting to see which of these programs turn things around next year and which continue to slide further into college soccer irrelevance.
Couple of thoughts: More good players, more qualified coaches and better recruiting have opened up opportunities at more schools and spread out the talent. From the conversations I’ve had, many conferences also have also realized soccer is a sport in which they can compete for national recognition. So, they put expectations out regarding number of assistants, strength of schedule etc. which makes their schools more attractive to recruits. if a coach thought the best players would just show up like they used to they are likely falling behind.
UCLA will be back. They went through a unique situation that cost them some of their best undergrads to transfer -- those that hadn’t already left for the pros — and virtually an entire recruiting class. Kinda amazing how well they competed this year given those setbacks. They have too many recruiting advantages and Jorden is too good a coach for them not to be competing at the highest level within a season or two.
One thing to monitor would be where the most HS graduates are coming from...as the population of HS students moves south and west it will take more effort to have college players move East and north. Those schools may fill in with non-US players
I hope you’re right Coach! Start by fixing the defense. As for how well they competed this year...I beg to differ. Having said that, what an extraordinary season by Milan Iloski. Hoping for a turn around in 2020.