The SMU men’s soccer team earned the No. 3 seed for the NCAA tournament after clinching the C-USA Championship title. No. 1 Duke, No. 2 Wake Forest and No. 4 Virginia round out the rest of the top seeds for the tournament, which begins this weekend. SMU has received a first-round bye and will take on the winner of Saturday’s UCSB-San Diego State match-up on Wednesday Nov. 15 at Westcott Field.

SMU only lost one game in regular season play, ending with a 15-1-3 overall record.

The C-USA tournament presented few challenges for SMU, matching the team against conference opponents Florida International University, University of Alabama-Birmingham and Kentucky. After a 6-0 victory over FIU in the quarterfinals, SMU had a rematch with UAB in the semifinals.

The Blazers were the only team that beat SMU during the regular season, but the Mustangs did not let history repeat itself in the postseason. After regulation play and two overtimes, UAB and SMU went into penalty kicks and the Mustangs won 3-1.

SMU beat No. 2 seed Kentucky 2-0 on Sunday to clinch the C-USA victory.

Senior Chase Wileman put SMU on the scoreboard in the 42nd minute and Kentucky was unable to retaliate. In the second half, junior Adrian Chevannes put one past UK goalkeeper Matt Troop after assists from Mynor Gonzalez and Chase Wileman. The Mustang victory ended Kentucky’s season with a 14-5-2 record.

As a result of their No. 3 seed into the NCAA tournament, the Mustangs will enjoy home-field advantage for the majority of the tournament. SMU will face either UC Santa Barbara or San Diego State in the second round of play.

This is the fifth consecutive NCAA tournament for the 17th ranked UCSB Gauchos who recently won the Big West conference with a 1-0 victory over UC Riverside. Freshman Bongomin Otti will be the one to watch if UCSB makes it to Dallas. The Denver native is the lead scorer so far in 2006 and spent a year playing professional soccer for Real Colorado before joining the Gaucho roster.

The San Diego State Aztecs will face No. 17 UCSB in Santa Barbara on Saturday to decide who will face SMU in the second round. The Aztecs are one of four Pac-10 teams to make the national tournament. They finished second overall in the conference behind the UCLA Bruins, who received the 8th seed in the NCAA tournament.

If the Mustangs make it to the final four, they will head to St. Louis to compete in the College Cup Dec. 1-3. In 2005, the Mustangs went to the final four where they fell to Maryland, the 2005 NCAA champions. SMU was unseeded in the tournament last season, but defeated opponents such as UCLA, UNC Greensboro and North Carolina to reach the College Cup.

SMU soccer kicks off its NCAA tournament run Wednesday Nov. 15 at 7 p.m. at Westcott Field.