Irvine men may need home upset to grab title

Irvine men may need home upset to grab title
October 28, 2010

American East
Top Contenders:
Boston University (4-1); Stony Brook (2-1-2); UMBC (2-1-2); Binghamton (2-1-2)
Outlook: Boston University clinched the regular season title with its 4-0 win over Binghamton on Wednesday night.

stony brook mens college soccer playerStony Brook's Wilber Bonilla
Atlantic 10
Top Contenders:
Charlotte (5-0-0); Massachusetts (4-0-1)
Outlook: This race is really close, as there are only two points separating the first and second place teams. It’s imperative that UMass wins the rest of its games if it wants to win the regular-season title. Charlotte and UMass will face each other November 5, and if both teams stay neck and neck leading up to this match it will probably decide the champion.

ACC
Top Contenders:
North Carolina (6-0-1); Maryland (5-1-1)
Outlook: North Carolina has already clinched a share of the conference title. Maryland must win on Friday against Virginia to keep their hopes alive, a loss or a tie would automatically give the title to North Carolina outright, regardless of its result against Clemson.

Atlantic Sun
Top Contenders:
Florida Gulf Coast(m) (7-0-0); East Tennessee State (6-2-0)
Outlook: Florida Gulf Coast(m) just needs to wait for the result of East Tennessee State’s game against USC Upstate. If ETSU ties or loses, FGCU will clinch the title, as it is two games behind in conference play. Otherwise it will need to at least tie against Jacksonville on Friday or North Florida on Sunday to claim the title outright.

Big East Blue
Top Contenders:
Georgetown (6-1-0); Connecticut (4-0-3)
Outlook: If UConn wants a share of the trophy, it must beat Georgetown on Thursday, otherwise it’s Georgetown’s to take home. The original game was postponed from Wednesday night, and may give UConn enough rest from their double overtime draw against Notre Dame.

Big South
Top Contenders:
High Point (6-0); Coastal Carolina (5-1)
Outlook: High Point and needed double overtime to win the regular season title, as it toppled Coastal Carolina on Wednesday with a 2-1 margin. 

irvine men'ts college soccer playerIrvine's Andrew Fontein
Big Ten
Top Contenders:
Indiana (3-0-1); Northwestern (2-1-1); Penn State (2-1-1)
Outlook: Penn State has little chance since it has one game left. Indiana can clinch if they defeat Northwestern on Sunday. If they don’t, it leaves the window for Northwestern to grab a share.

Big West
Top Contenders:
UC Santa Barbara (6-1-0); UC Irvine (5-0-1)
Outlook: After UC Santa Barbaras's 2-1 OT lost to Cal Poly, UC Irvine is in the drivers seat for the regular-season title. Even if Irvine loses it's Saturday's bout with UCSB, they have an extra game to make up the difference.


CAA
Top Contenders:
William & Mary(m) (7-1-1); UNC Wilmington (3-2-4); VCU (3-1-4); Georgia State (4-4-1)
Outlook: William & Mary clinched the CAA regular season title Wednesday night with a 1-0 win over UNC-Wilmington.


Conference USA
Top Contenders:
SMU (5-1-0); UCF (4-0-2)
Outlook: With two games remaining and only one point separating these teams, it can get dicey. If SMU wants to once again reign supreme, it must control destiny and just win its remaining games. UCF will be praying that Kentucky or Florida International upset the Mustangs to have a shot.

Horizon League
Top Contenders:
Butler (6-0-0); Green Bay(m) (4-2-0); Detroit(m) (4-2-0)
Outlook: If Butler wins its next game against Detroit(m), then it’s over. If not, it’s still going to take a lot of work from the other two teams to have a shot, because Butler would still have its life in its hand.

siena mens college soccer playerSiena's Emery Welshman
Ivy League
Top Contenders:
Penn (4-0-0); Princeton (4-0-0)
Outlook: With clear dominance in the Ivy League, the November 6th game versus each other would probably decide the champion, even though there is still would be one conference game remaining for each.

MAAC
Top Contenders: Loyola (MD) (4-0-1); Saint Peter’s(m) (4-1-1); Siena College (4-1-0)
Outlook: With three or four games remaining for all squads and only one point separating first to third, it’s still all up in the air.

Missouri Valley
Top Contenders:
Creighton (4-0-0); Missouri State (3-0-1); SIU-Edwardsville(m) (4-1-0)
Outlook: All these teams still need to face each other. Edwardsville might be one game behind but their last two matches are against Creighton and Missouri State, so its chances are as good as any. This will be a wild race until the end.

MPSF
Top Contenders:
Cal State Bakersfield(m) (4-0-3); New Mexico (4-2-1); Air Force (4-3-0);
Outlook: Again, too many games to really paint a good picture here. Bakersfield already has a berth into the tournament, but hasn’t played all the other contenders yet.

Northeast
Top Contenders: St. Francis (PA)(m) (5-1-1); Sacred Heart (5-2-1); Monmouth (4-0-2); Robert Morris (4-1-2)
Outlook: Similar scenario as the Missouri Valley, multiple games left with each other. Robert Morris does have an advantage as two of its next three games are against Monmouth and St. Francis (PA)(m), to possibly eat some ground to the title.

Pac-10
Top Contenders:
California (5-1-1); UCLA (5-2-0)
Outlook: UCLA had a chance to make its life easy but failed to beat California last weekend. Now Cal is in the driver's seat with only home games remaining, while UCLA finishes the season on the road.

portland mens college soccer player connor barbareePortland's Connor Barbaree
Patriot League
Top Contenders:
Colgate (4-0-1); Lehigh (3-1-1); American (3-1-1)
Outlook: A couple of different scenarios can come out of this. Colgate has the easiest route, with three-point advantage but face American in the season finale, which can cause some chaos. Lehigh can sneak in for a share if both Colgate and American each lose once; somewhat unlikely though.

Southern
Top Contenders:
College of Charleston (4-1-1); Appalachian State (4-2)
Outlook: One point separating these teams, one game left, and it’s against each other. Saturday’s match will definitely be a slobber-knocker. College of Charleston does have the advantage as the home team.

Summit League
Top Contenders
: IUPUI(m) (4-1-0); UMKC(m) (3-0-1)
Outlook: UMKC(m) has a huge advantage as it has one more game than IUPUI. However, on Saturday they face each other, so a win would clinch the title for IUPUI(m).

WCC
Top Contenders:
Loyola Marymount (5-1-1); Portland (5-1-1); Santa Clara (3-0-4)
Outlook: Still in the middle of conference play, many things can change. Santa Clara may have an advantage as it closes the season with three straight home games.

ALREADY CLINCHED:
Big East Red: Louisville
Mid-American: Akron 

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