Looking back at '05

Another electrifying college season went into the history books earlier this month, but before we ring in the New Year, lets look back (in no particular order) at ten of the top stories in NCAA Division I men's soccer in 2005.

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Jason Garey led Maryland to an NCAA title in 2005.

Let's just call him MAC Hermann Trophy winner Jason Garey, because the 21-year old from Gonzales, Louisiana is a sure bet to beat out New Mexico's Jeff Rowland and Indiana's Brian Plotkin for soccer's version of the Heisman. Garey suffered through three Final Four heartbreaks before 2005, but his desire to push the Terps over the top this year was so strong he remained in College Park rather than try his luck in MLS. Smart choice.

Garey led the nation in scoring with 22 tallies and the Terps beat Rowland's Lobos for the fairytale finish. His stellar senior year means he'll be an early pick in the January 20 SuperDraft - which is just desserts for Garey, UMD's all-time leading goal getter who's often compared to World Cup hopeful and former Terp hitman Taylor Twellman.

Fourth time lucky: Maryland takes it

The University of Maryland finally won the NCAA title, its first in 37 years since sharing the national crown with Michigan State. During coach Sasho Cirovski's 13-year watch, the Terps have become one of the nation's top programs. But although Cirovski had snared eleven tourney invites and four consecutive trips to the College Cup going into to this year's decider, that missing piece of hardware loomed large. Now, Cirovski has his much-deserved title, and all the haters have been silenced. Plus, with several key guys returning and another top recruiting class on the way, Maryland is the early pick to repeat next December.

Future powerhouses emerge

Akron, New Mexico, Penn State. 2005 saw these three lore-light programs come to the fore. PSU beat Indiana twice -- once in Bloomington -- then went on to capture the Big Ten crown. Akron was the top-ranked team in the land for most of the regular season and had a strong run in the tourney ended by the slimmest of margins - on PKs at eventual champ Maryland. And New Mexico silenced all its doubters from a year earlier with a trip to the final, where it lost to the top seed by a single goal in the heart of ACC country.

As we know, parity rules the college game, but it always seems to be the name schools that end up earning the accolades at the end of the year. Case in point: SMU and Clemson advanced to this College Cup despite subpar seasons. But the new kids on the block are paying their dues on the way to being both household names and top destinations for blue chip preps.

Clemson back where it belongs

With a great tradition, it's easy to forget that Clemson hadn't been around for the final weekend in eighteen years. But the Tigers enjoyed a great tourney this year, winning its first four contests before stumbling in the semifinals. The squad was inspired in part by coach Trevor Adair, who made several trips to his native Belfast to attend to his dying father during the season. His team punched its ticket to the final four by beating Notre Dame while Adair was across the pond burying his dad. It was the Tigers first trip to the College Cup since winning it all in 1987 and it's good to finally see the powerhouse get back on the map.

Underachievers

There were several candidates for this space. Schools like Stanford, Boston College, Michigan and Northwestern all came to mind. But UCLA had one of the nation's most talented rosters heading into 2005 despite losing midfielder Benny Feilhaber and forward Chad Barrett to the pros. With U.S. U-20 standouts Patrick Ianni, Jordan Harvey, Brandon Owens and Marvell Wynne on board, we (along with everyone else) expected the Bruins to do a lot more than end up a first round casualty, losing 3-0 at the feet of SMU.

Admittedly, the Bruins met the streaking Mustangs at the wrong time. But whatever the excuse, second-year coach Jorge Salcedo simply didn't have his team ready to play when it counted. UCLA's attack was virtually nonexistent during the season's second half, and another underachieving campaign will likely cost the former L.A. Galaxy player perhaps the country's most coveted job. But if Salcedo can't at least get one win in tournament play with the resources he has at his disposal, it's time for someone else to get a shot in Westwood.

Indiana's three-peat bid denied again

Talk about becoming a victim of your own success. For the Yankees of NCAA futbol, anything less than a national crown is a disappointment these days. Sure, other programs might boast better weather, hotter coeds and more impressive facilities, but no team in the land can match the Hoosiers when it comes to tradition. Despite missing out on back-to-back-to-back championships for the third time in school history, Bloomington is still the destination of choice for top prospects, and no program is a better pipeline to the pros than Mike Freitag's baby.

Still, IU had an uneven year, dropping two at Armstrong Stadium. And as loathe as Hoosier fans are to hear it, next year might be a rebuilding one as top scorer Jacob Peterson, captain/defensive leader Brian Plotkin and first-year revelation Lee Nguyen are all headed to the homework-less world of paychecks for playing ball.

On to the pros

At the end of every year, college soccer loses some of its top underclassmen to the pros, and this year is no exception. Indiana's Nguyen is leaving after one season and has already been spotted in Holland training with PSV Eindhoven. Fellow Hoosier Jacob Peterson, Sacha Kljestan of Seton Hall and UCLA's Marvell Wynne (the projected top SuperDraft selection) are also coming out early.

Stadiums

You've heard it before: Soccer-specific stadiums are the key to the sport's staying power in this country. World Cups come and go and mainstream buzz fizzles, but bricks and mortar are there to stay. Now the trend is hitting college soccer. Creighton's lovely Morrison Stadium opened in 2004 and New Mexico routinely packs the recently renovated UNM Soccer Complex. Now Maryland is looking to build a state of the art triple-S on its College Park campus. Coach Cirovski is leading the push, but behind him he's got the 20,000-plus fans who come to see the Terps annually at current venue Ludwig Field.

On the tube

One of the best things about following college soccer this year was the newfound ability to watch a game of the week on Fox Soccer Channel. FSC teamed up with the NSCAA and adidas to bring fans the action every Friday night throughout the regular season. It sure doesn't hurt to be on the same outlet that brings fans the English Premiership and MLS matches, and this deal can only up the growing interest in the game. Sure, it made little sense to end the coverage before the best part of the season -- tourney time, of course -- but let's not look a gift horse in the mouth here. We've come a long, long way baby! Let's hope the game of the week is here to stay.

Pipeline to the next level

Despite the near-constant stream of snide remarks and cheap shots, college soccer still plays a vital role in developing elite American players. Of course, some of the criticism is warranted, like the insanity of having an eight-month offseason. And the success of U.S. Soccer's Florida-based U-17 residency program is undeniable, having churned out a generation of national team standouts in Landon Donovan, DaMarcus Beasley and Eddie Johnson. But consider that 24 of the 30 World Cup hopefuls called into the national team's January camp played college ball. MLS coaches also continue to scout the college ranks tirelessly, looking for the next Clint Dempsey or Chris Rolfe who can be an impact player. Maybe it's not the ideal set up, but for now, future Nats will be paying their dues on a campus near you.

Doug McIntyre is a soccer columnist for ESPN The Magazine and ESPNsoccernet.