NCAA nearing long-awaited change to men's college soccer schedule

Men’s college soccer is on the verge of a significant and long-awaited change.

The NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Oversight Committee adopted legislation on Wednesday, May 13 that would split the men’s soccer season across the fall and spring semesters.

The switch, which is subject to review by the Division I Cabinet during its meetings in late June, would take effect Aug. 1, 2027.

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The men’s soccer season is currently limited to the fall semester, with games beginning in late August and wrapping up with the College Cup (college soccer’s Final Four) in mid-December.

Under the proposed new format, teams would continue to have a 25-game limit for their regular-season schedules. However, it would be divided across two semesters, with a maximum of 18 games in the fall and up to 10 in the spring. The fall season would run from late August through the Saturday before Thanksgiving and the spring season would begin in mid-February, with the specific dates for the postseason yet to be determined.

Coaches — including some of the most prominent figures in the sport, such as Maryland’s Sasho Cirovski and Indiana’s Todd Yeagley — have publicly pushed for men’s soccer to be a two-semester sport for years. Arguments for the change have included there being fewer mid-week games, which would result in less missed class time for athletes, and increased recovery time between matches.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Men's college soccer moving to two-semester schedule model