2020 Big Ten Conference men's soccer season

2020 Big Ten Conference men's soccer season
LeagueNCAA Division I
SportSoccer
DurationFebruary 3, 2021 – April 17, 2021
Number of teams9
2021 MLS SuperDraft
Top draft pickJosh Penn, 10th overall
Picked byInter Miami
Regular Season
Tournament
Big Ten Conference men's soccer seasons
2020 Big Ten Conference men's soccer standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 2 Indiana ‡ 7 – 1 – 0 12 – 2 – 2
No. 11 Penn State + 6 – 1 – 1 10 – 2 – 2
Michigan 5 – 3 – 1 6 – 4 – 1
Maryland + 4 – 3 – 1 4 – 5 – 2
Rutgers 4 – 4 – 0 4 – 4 – 1
Michigan State 4 – 6 – 0 4 – 7 – 0
Ohio State 3 – 5 – 1 3 – 6 – 1
Northwestern 2 – 7 – 1 2 – 8 – 1
Wisconsin 2 – 7 – 1 2 – 7 – 1
As of May 28, 2021
Rankings from United Soccer Coaches
Source: Big Ten

The 2020 Big Ten Conference men's soccer season is the 30th season of men's varsity soccer in the conference. The season was originally scheduled to begin on August 28 and conclude on November 8, 2020. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the season was postponed to start February 3, 2021 and conclude on April 17, 2021.

The season will culminate with the 2020 Big Ten Conference Men's Soccer Tournament to determine the conference's automatic berth into the 2020 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Tournament.

Indiana enters the season as the two-time defending regular season and tournament champions.

Background

Previous season

Main article: 2019 Big Ten Conference men's soccer season

The previous season was the 29th season of men's varsity soccer in the conference. The 2019 Big Ten regular season began on August 30, 2019 concluded on November 3, 2019. The season culminated with the 2019 Big Ten Conference Men's Soccer Tournament to determine the conference's automatic berth into the 2019 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Tournament. Indiana went on to win both the regular season and the tournament, winning seven of their eight of their Big Ten Conference games. They defeated Penn State in the Big Ten Men's Soccer Championship Game.

With the Big Ten title, Indiana earned the conference's automatic berth into the 2019 NCAA Tournament, where Maryland, Michigan, and Penn State joined as at-large berths. Maryland and Penn State were eliminated in the Second Round, while Michigan and Indiana were eliminated in the Third Round.

In the 2020 MLS SuperDraft, Jack Maher was selected second-overall in the draft, being selected by expansion team, Nashville SC. Nine total Big Ten players were selected in the draft; tied for the second most of all conferences.

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic

Further information: Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on association football

Like most Big Ten sports, men's soccer played a conference-only schedule for the 2020–21 academic year. Additionally, like many fall sports, the season was postponed to the spring.

Head coaches

As of the 2019 season
Team Head coach Previous job Years at school Overall record Record at school[1] Big Ten record[1] NCAA
Tournaments[2] 		NCAA
College Cups[2] 		NCAA
Titles[2]
Indiana Todd Yeagley Wisconsin 9 129–54–36 (.671)[3] 122–45–34 (.692)[3] 35–15–18 (.647)[3] 10 3 1
Maryland Sasho Cirovski Hartford 26 412–156–60 (.704)[4] 386–143–53 (.709)[4] 24–9–7 (.688)[4] 25 9 3
Michigan Chaka Daley Providence 7 151–165–48 (.481)[5][6] 61–54–21 (.526)[5][6] 23–20–9 (.529)[5][6] 3 0 0
Michigan State Damon Rensing Michigan State (asst.) 10 117–66–30 (.620)[7] 117–66–30 (.620)[7] 31–26–13 (.536)[7] 8 1 0
Northwestern Tim Lenahan Lafayette 18 305–209–72 (.582) 169–140–51 (.540) 36–60–20 (.397) 9 0 0
Ohio State Brian Maisonneuve Indiana (asst.) 2 1–15–2 (.111) 1–15–2 (.111) 0–7–1 (.063) 0 0 0
Penn State Jeff Cook Bethlehem Steel (asst.) 2 127–104–36 (.543) 6–9–2 (.412) 3–3–2 (.500) 9 0 0
Rutgers Jim McElderry Fordham 1 127–125–37 (.503) 0–0–0 (–) 0–0–0 (–) 3 0 0
Wisconsin John Trask UIC 10 129–96–55 (.559) 75–72–29 (.509) 26–28–10 (.484) 2 0 0

Preseason

Preseason poll

The preseason poll was released on February 18, 2021. Indiana was selected unanimously as the favorite to win the Big Ten.[8]

Team Ranking
1. Indiana
2. Maryland
3. Penn State
4. Michigan
5. Michigan State
6. Northwestern
7. Rutgers
8. Wisconsin
9. Ohio State

Preseason national polls

The preseason national polls were released in January and February 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

United
Soccer 		CSN[9] Top Drawer
Soccer[10]
Indiana — 6 7
Maryland — 12 21
Michigan — 13 RV
Michigan State — — —
Northwestern — — —
Ohio State — — —
Penn State — 21 23
Rutgers — — —
Wisconsin — — —

Regular season

B1G member won B1G member lost B1G member tied
All times in Central Time

Conference results

Each team plays every four other conference team twice; once home and once away, and then four other conference teams once.

Home \ Away IU UMD MICH MSU NW OSU PSU RUT WIS
Indiana — PPD. — 2–1 3–0 3–0 PPD. — 3–0
Maryland — — — Mar. 19 — Feb. 27 Mar. 31 Mar. 23 Mar. 7
Michigan Mar. 27 Mar. 11 — 1–0 — Mar. 31 Mar. 3 — —
Michigan State — — Mar. 23 — Mar. 11 Mar. 3 — 0–2 Mar. 31
Northwestern Feb. 27 Mar. 27 1–4 — — — Mar. 19 — Mar. 15
Ohio State — — Mar. 15 Apr. 4 Mar. 7 — Mar. 23 Mar. 27 —
Penn State — 3–2 — Feb. 27 — — — Mar. 15 Mar. 27
Rutgers Mar. 19 Mar. 3 Mar. 7 — Apr. 4 — 1–2 — —
Wisconsin Mar. 11 — Apr. 4 — 2–5 Mar. 19 — Feb. 27 —
Source: Big Ten Conference
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
For upcoming matches, an "a" indicates there is an article about the rivalry between the two participants.

Positions by round

Quarterfinal host
Quarterfinal
Play-in round
Source: BigTen.com

Postseason

Big Ten Tournament

Main article: 2020 Big Ten Conference Men's Soccer Tournament

The Big Ten Tournament was played from April 10–17.

Quarterfinals
April 10 		Semifinals
April 14 		Championship
April 17
         
1 Indiana 3
8 Northwestern 0
1 Indiana 2
4 Maryland 0
4 Maryland (p) 1 (5)
5 Rutgers 1 (4)
1 Indiana (p) 1 (3)
2 Penn State 1 (2)
3 Michigan 1
6 Michigan State 0
3 Michigan 1
2 Penn State 4
2 Penn State 3
7 Ohio State 1

NCAA Tournament

Main article: 2020 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Tournament

The NCAA Tournament will begin in April 2021 and conclude on May 17, 2021.

Seed Region School 1st Round 2nd Round 3rd Round Quarterfinals Semifinals Championship
W–L–T (%): 0–0–0 (–) 0–0–0 (–) 0–0–0 (–) 0–0–0 (–) 0–0–0 (–) 0–0–0 (–) Total: 0–0–0 (–)

References

  1. ^ a b "Big Ten Men's Soccer Record Book" (PDF). Big Ten Conference. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 21, 2016. Retrieved July 18, 2017.
  2. ^ a b c "NCAA Men's Soccer Championship Brackets" (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association. ncaa.org. Retrieved July 17, 2017.
  3. ^ a b c "Todd Yeagley". iuhoosiers.com. Indiana University. Retrieved April 18, 2019.
  4. ^ a b c "Sasho Cirovski". umterps.com. University of Maryland. Retrieved April 18, 2019.
  5. ^ a b c "Michigan Men's Soccer Year-by-Year Results". mgoblue. Board of Regents of the University of Michigan. Retrieved November 11, 2018.
  6. ^ a b c "2018 Men's Soccer Record Book". issuu.com. Issuu Inc. July 24, 2018. Retrieved April 18, 2019.
  7. ^ a b c "Damon Rensing". msuspartans.com. Michigan State Spartans Athletics. Retrieved November 11, 2018.
  8. ^ "Indiana Tops 2020 Big Ten Men's Soccer Preseason Poll". Big Ten Conference. February 18, 2021. Archived from the original on February 18, 2021. Retrieved February 21, 2021.
  9. ^ "College Soccer News Spring 2021 Preseason Top 30 Men's College Soccer National Poll". CollegeSoccerNews.com. February 3, 2021. Archived from the original on February 22, 2021. Retrieved February 22, 2021.
  10. ^ "College Soccer National Ranking > Men's DI Top 25". TopDrawer Soccer. February 1, 2021. Archived from the original on February 22, 2021. Retrieved February 22, 2021.