In the 2025 NCAA Men’s Soccer Tournament, Furman knocked out Hofstra on penalties after 110 minutes of a six-goal thriller. But according to the Mid-Major Madness Reacts Survey, the style points go to the Pride over the Paladins. Hofstra was voted to have the best mid-major soccer kits with 39% of the vote, with Furman coming in second with 22%.
Hofstra sports a blue kit with white pinstripes and the ‘Hofstra’ wordmark in white across the chest.
Its white kit has thin horizontal blue stripes, and the wordmark in blue across the chest. The Pride wore that white uniform in their upset win over No. 1 Vermont in the NCAA Tournament, knocking out the reigning champions in overtime to advance to the third round, where Furman defeated them.
It was the fifth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance for Hofstra on the back of a 7-1 record in CAA play. The Pride, led by head coach Richard Nuttall since 1989, are one of the top mid-major programs in college soccer.
Readers chose that simple look as the best one. Furman’s kit is a bit more complicated and varied. The kit that it wore in its NCAA quarterfinal win over Portland is a white and purple gradient with the Furman logo in the traditional top right spot where most soccer team logos are.
It brought a black and purple horizontal thick striped kit to the College Cup Semifinals, with the ‘Furman’ wordmark nestled inside one of the stripes.
The Paladins lost that game 3-1 to Washington, which went on to defeat NC State in the national championship. Furman is also led by a legendary head coach in Dan Allison, who has won over 350 games since taking over in 1995.
Old Dominion, Vermont and High Point tied for third place with 11% of the vote, while Western Michigan earned 6% of the vote.
The power dynamic in men’s college soccer favors mid-major programs (as defined by conference affiliation in basketball) more so than many other sports at the moment, with programs like Saint Louis, Furman, Vermont, Marshall, and Denver all advancing to the College Cup within the last two seasons.
Of last year’s soccer ‘Sweet 16,’ nine of the programs were mid-majors. Seven of the top 20 picks in the 2026 MLS SuperDraft came from mid-majors. At the 2026 FIFA World Cup, 12 former mid-major players participated, including Canadian fullback Richie Laryea (Akron), American center back Tim Ream (Saint Louis), and American goalie Matt Freese (Harvard).
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