SAN MATEO, Calif. – The West Coast Conference earned two bids in the 2022 NCAA Tournament as WCC Champion San Diego earned the automatic qualifier while at-large selection and 18th-ranked Portland will host a first-round match as announced Monday by the national office. Both first-round contests will be played on Thursday, Nov. 17, and second-round games will be played on Sunday, Nov. 20. 

The WCC owns five national championships in men's soccer, four by San Francisco and one by Santa Clara in 1989, also the most-recent national title for the WCC. Two of the four championships for the Dons came back-to-back in 1975 and 1976. This year's bids are the 102nd and 103rd in Conference history. Since 2016, the WCC has boasted at least two teams in the NCAA Tournament in six of the last seven seasons. 

USD will head to Denver for a first-round NCAA Tournament matchup. If the Toreros win, they'll fly east to face No. 7 seed Duke. The Toreros are 1-1 all-time against Denver, most recently falling to the Pioneers, 2-1, in 2015. USD is 0-1-1 all-time vs. Duke. 

Portland will host UC Riverside in the first round. If the Pilots are victorious, they'll stay in-state to face No. 8 seed Oregon State in the second round. The Pilots have only faced UC Riverside once before and defeated them, 2-1, in 2019. UP is 24-5 all-time against the Beavers, although OSU has won the last two meetings. 

The Toreros won the WCC Championship for the first time since a shared title in 2015 with Santa Clara. The last time USD won the Conference title outright was in 2014. The 2014 season also marked the last time San Diego competed in the NCAA Tournament, defeating Cal State Fullerton, 2-1, before falling to UCLA. San Diego is 13-13-1 all-time in the NCAA Tournament in 13 appearances with one appearance in the national title game in 1992. 

Portland returns to the NCAA Tournament for the third time since 2018. The Pilots reached the second round in the 2021 NCAA Tournament, defeating Seattle, 3-2, before losing to Washington. Portland is 16-13-4 all-time in the NCAA Tournament in 17 appearances with two final four appearances in 1988 and 1995.