The 1971 NCAA soccer tournament was the 13th annual tournament organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association to determine the national champion of men's college soccer among its members in the United States.

Howard initially won their first national title—defeating two-time defending champion Saint Louis, 3–2, in the championship game—but the Bison's title would later be vacated by the NCAA on disputed player eligibility grounds.

Two teams made their debut appearances in the NCAA soccer tournament: Chico State and Cornell.

The Championship was later vacated by the NCAA[2] on the grounds that two Howard players had played amateur soccer in Trinidad, exhausting their eligibility, and that two others had not taken entrance exams, required by the NCAA, to predict a grade point average of at least 1.6.

Howard University argued that the eligibility rules were vague and discriminated against foreigners, and that the players had all maintained grade-point averages of 3.0 or higher in college, but the NCAA did not reverse the ruling.