Nov. 15, 2004

With their first Conference USA regular season and tournament championship titles under their belt, the Memphis Tigers (16-3-1) earned their first NCAA Tournament berth as a member of C-USA and second bid in the history of the program.

Memphis will face Ohio State (10-6-2) in first-round action on Friday at 6 p.m. (CST) in Columbus, Ohio. The winner will take on No. 5 national seed Notre Dame (13-2-3) in the second round on Tuesday, Nov. 23.

Memphis is riding a seven-match win streak into the NCAA Tournament. The Tigers earned an automatic bid with their 3-2 come-from-behind victory against UAB in the 2004 Conference USA Tournament final. This is the first NCAA appearance for head coach Richie Grant, the C-USA Coach of the Year. Memphis has not been in the NCAA postseason since 1993 when it lost 6-0 against Indiana in the first round.

The Tigers have been led offensively by C-USA Player of the Year Dayton O'Brien, who ranked third in the nation with 14 assists (0.70 per game) and scored a conference-high 30 points. Senior goalkeeper Sebastian Vecchio was named the C-USA Defensive Player of the Year and posted an impressive 0.67 goals against average.

When the 2005 Conference USA men's soccer season kicks off, a total of six teams will be coming off NCAA appearances. In addition to Memphis, future men's soccer members Florida International, SMU, South Carolina, Tulsa and UCF all earned a spot among the 2004 NCAA tournament field.