Vanderbilt Soccer won the SEC Tournament on Nov. 9, downing LSU in penalty kicks, 1-1 (8-7). Today, it learned it would be one of four No. 1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament. This will be the program’s 14th Tournament appearance and the seventh under head coach Darren Ambrose. This qualification is a first for the program, though. The Commodores have earned a No. 1 seed for the first time in program history. With the No. 1 seed comes the ability to host the NCAA Tournament all the way to the quarterfinals — the semifinal and championship matches will be played at a neutral site in Kansas City, Missouri.  

On Oct. 11, the DI Soccer Committee Top 16 was released — a preliminary seeding of who would host the first round of the NCAA Tournament — and Vanderbilt was excluded from the list entirely. After that, though, the Commodores went on a five-game winning streak, finishing the regular season 12-3-1 (7-2-1 SEC) and adding an SEC Championship trophy to their resume. This success, both in the regular season and the SEC Championships, paired with the metrics — where the Commodores are No. 4 in RPI and a top 10 team in the United Soccer Coaches rankings — earned them the No. 1 seed. 

Vanderbilt will host Tennessee Tech in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Nov. 14 at 7 p.m. CST. The two programs met earlier in the season on Aug. 21, where the Commodores gained a 6-0 road win. 

An updated live bracket is available on the NCAA Tournament website.