Men's soccer team makes tourney -- barely

The men's soccer team usually watches the NCAA tournament draw to see what seed it will get. Or who it will be host to in the first round.\nMonday, the Hoosiers, NCAA champions the past two seasons, tuned in to the draw to see if they made the tournament at all.\nThey did.\nBut their road to the Final Four won't be an easy one.\nIU travels to undefeated and eighth-seeded San Jose State in the first round and will play on the road throughout the tournament. This season will be the first time since 1992 the Hoosiers haven't played their tournament opener at home. \nCoach Jerry Yeagley said he's pleased with making the tournament, regardless of where his team plays.\n"We have no one to blame but ourselves," he said. "It's a tough road, but we're in the tournament, and there are a heck of a lot of good teams that aren't. I'm just happy to be in the tournament really. We gave ourselves a real challenge, but I like our matchup."\nAnd no one's proven playing on the road early means elimination.\nLast season, IU played Santa Clara in the championship game. The Broncos won their second- and third-round games on the road. The year before, Stanford traveled cross country and beat Virginia before making it to the championship match.\nAnd the Hoosiers know their path to a third consecutive title could be tougher.\nSeveral seeded teams play perennial soccer powerhouses in the first round. South Carolina, the No. 7 seed, is host to Duke, while fourth-seeded San Diego is host to UCLA.\n"There are some traditional strong teams that are some of the lower teams, and that's always dangerous," Yeagley said. "There are some first-round games that are going to be fairly easy, but also a number of first-round games that are going to be very difficult."\nThat parity also shows in who did and did not receive seeds.\nOnly the top eight teams are seeded, and while the seeds are a fair indication of the strength of some teams, they don't necessarily predict who will advance to the final four.\n"You never know what they're going to do," senior midfielder Justin Tauber said. "Two years ago, we were No. 1 pretty much the whole year and had only two losses, and we got an eight seed. It's weird how they do it.\nThe Hoosiers might not have known how the committee was going to choose its 32-team field, but they now know where they stand.\nAnd they feel ready to defend their title.\n"I think our schedule has prepared us well for going on the road in the first round," junior goalkeeper Colin Rogers. "We've played games away from home on the east coast and recently on the west coast. So I think we'll be ready"