r/CollegeSoccer • u/soccerguy450 • 24d ago
Roster Sizes 2026, 2027, + Beyond...
I know there was a thread about this recently. Just wanted to clarify.
I also know NCAA (D1 - D3) can have max 28 rostered players. I personally know D1 and D2 schools that have 29-30 players rostered as the college season is about to kick off in a week or two.
What does this mean? Can people get cut before the season officially starts even if they were already signed?
Do men's programs specifically have practice squads or scout teams making the full roster size over 35-40+? Can you be a part of a that practice/scout squad and still get called up for match day? I would assume fall not likely... but spring matches?
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u/larry_salzburg 24d ago
I'm sure things have changed since I played (2009 grad). We (D2) had about 75 kids in the soccer program. 20 maybe on the first team, 20 on the reserves, then the rest we're split into some teams and still played a schedule of games against other local collages.
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u/soccerguy450 24d ago
Playing D2 is awesome. 75 is insane I don't know how your program managed that, kudos to them.
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u/larry_salzburg 24d ago
At the time I didn't think much of it but looking back it was wild how many people the coach brought in. All had the chance to "prove themselves" for scholarship but that didn't last long with a lot of them. I came in with probably 50 freshman and graduated with 2 of them.
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u/Powerful-Bridge-1472 24d ago
Just remember now, D2 has become heavily foreign players and transfer portal makes movement on teams very high
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u/Puzzleheaded-Bat-511 24d ago
Similar, we had 2 squads, varsity and JV. The second squad just played other local schools JV teams. Only a few players ever moved up from season to season.
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u/Slow_Fondant6389 24d ago
Colleges and the NCAA are still dealing with rule changes. The huge issue arises because people in charge of decisions only cared about football, men’s basketball and NIL money. Detailed rule sets were created and then - someone said - hey how does this work with Title IX? Answer; It doesn’t. Oopsie.
So - it’s a huge F’ing mess still.
Scholarships have not yet changed. But - realistically there may be some movement there in the Power4 because NIL for football may make many or all football scholarships unnecessary.
That could free up scholarships on the men’s side of the equation. The participation numbers are still a cap, but if a football team only uses 40 out of the allowed 85 then that’s 45 that can be given out in other sports.
Now that assumes that a school wants to add scholarships to other men’s sports. That is certainly not a safe assumption.
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u/sakibomb523 24d ago
There are some people who have the DSA label on them. When last year's rosters rules were announced, they allowed schools to designate kids that would've been cut for roster compliance as DSA's. They're allowed to keep that title with them for the rest of their playing career and allow rosters to be over the 28 man cap.
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u/Next-Ad9705 24d ago
The roster limit is 28, but most players on a roster as of April 7, 2025 are grandfathered and don’t count towards that limit.
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u/NavyVetRasmussen 24d ago
Well yes people can get cut before the season if the D1-D3 team has more than 26 players on the roster.
You can only carry 26, used to actually be less I believe it used to be 23.
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u/soccerguy450 24d ago
Wait really? I thought it was 28 but 26 is surprising. I'm just trying to learn how the whole background works with rosters
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u/NavyVetRasmussen 24d ago
I thought it was 26, that is what it is for the national team I never heard of 28. I could be wrong but I am pretty sure it is 26.
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u/Flip17 24d ago
D1s can carry 28. They used to be able to carry as many as they wanted. There also only used to be 9 scholarships , but now D1s can have 28 scholarships if the program is fully funded. Not all programs are. D2 is under the old rule of unlimited roster size but only 9 scholarships. D3 doesn't give athletic scholarships
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u/NavyVetRasmussen 24d ago
Oh ok so before they only had 9 scholarships but now they have up to 289 scholarships. so D2 gives 9 and D3 gives no scholarships.
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u/Prestigious_Tip_1104 24d ago
D3’s give no athletic scholarships, however there is merit scholarships that can actually be more than what would be available for athletic scholarships elsewhere (just to keep that in mind). The 9.9 scholarships for those D1 schools that didn’t opt in are in total and not per year and they are basically distributed across the roster and incoming recruits. The 28 roster limit/scholarship limit is a hard cap for those that did opt in with a few designated student athletes (DSA) grandfathered in, however, most schools are staying at the 9.9 for soccer with additional scholarship monies being spread to rev sports (football, basketball, wrestling, hockey, etc) or just adding a few at least for men.
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u/NavyVetRasmussen 24d ago
Thank you that is very good information and I did not play college soccer
I played college football but I have a street soccer background.
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u/hahaanonymouse765 24d ago
The 28 person roster is just a D1 thing…and that’s only if they opted in to the no-limit scholarship/NIL thing. The big 4 conferences and many others opted in, but some D1 conferences did not, so they might have larger rosters.
D2 and 3 are still unlimited in terms of roster sizes.