This college soccer season is nearly unprecedented for Butler and Indiana.

The Bulldogs might not need to win the Horizon League Tournament to make the 48-team NCAA Tournament.

IU’s Hoosiers might need to win the Big Ten Tournament to reach the postseason.

As in basketball, Ratings Percentage Index, a computer formula based on strength of schedule, will influence selection and seeding.

Through Oct. 25 (RPI is calculated biweekly), Indiana was No. 7 in RPI and Butler 13th.

Butler (11-2-1) is 24th in the national coaches’ poll and has beaten Indiana, South Carolina and DePaul.

The Bulldogs lost at Cleveland State 1-0 Saturday to fall to 4-1-1 in the Horizon. Butler is battling Wisconsin-Green Bay (5-2), Cleveland State (4-1-2) and Illinois-Chicago (3-1-2) for the No. 1 seed in the league tournament. Butler is at UIC tonight.

Coach Kelly Findley said the Bulldogs considered last year “a bit of a failure” because they were unbeaten in the league (5-0-3), finished 13-3-4 and did not reach the NCAA tourney.

Butler was considered for an at-large berth in 2008 and has an even better resume in 2009.

“Not getting ahead of ourselves is the key for us at this point,” Findley said.

The Bulldogs have been led by two Germans who have known each other since childhood: top scorer Boris Gatzky (five goals, six assists) and goalkeeper Fabian Knopfler .

For unranked Indiana, winner of seven NCAA championships since 1983, it remains to be seen whether its schedule will be a blessing or curse.

The Hoosiers (8-8-1, 2-3 Big Ten) were outscored by a cumulative 10-1 in losses to No. 1 Akron, No. 3 UC Santa Barbara, No. 4 Wake Forest and No. 5 Louisville.

“I believe in this team and their ability, and I challenged them this year with a very difficult schedule,” Indiana coach Mike Freitag said. “And maybe I put too much on their plate.”

He was told by those who have served on selection committees that a plus-.500 record, plus such a high RPI, would be enough for the Hoosiers to make the NCAA field.

They could earn an automatic bid by winning the Big Ten Tournament, which will be Nov. 12-15 at Indiana.

This is the lowest-scoring team in the 37-year history of IU’s program. The Hoosiers have 19 goals in 17 games, and have been shut out seven times.

Freitag said he hasn’t been able to settle on a satisfactory lineup, and the Hoosiers have lost some games in which they dominated play before allowing a late goal.

“That’s the difference in the year,” Freitag said.

Sports of all sorts

Cross country: New Mexico, led by former Butler coach Joe Franklin , swept Mountain West Conference men’s and women’s titles for the first time in school history Saturday at Orem, Utah. In upsetting then-No. 7 BYU, the Lobos men won their first title since 1988 and climbed to their highest ranking ever, No. 12.

Soccer: In her senior night game, UCLA forward Lauren Cheney (Ben Davis) scored two goals to lift No. 3 UCLA over USC on Friday. The Olympic gold medalist has 28 points (11 goals, six assists), second on the team behind Sydney Leroux ‘s 32 (15 goals, two assists). . . . The United States will play Italy in a quarterfinal of the under-17 men’s World Cup today at Kaduna, Nigeria (10 a.m., ESPN360). The U.S. roster includes Eriq Zavaleta , Westfield, and Perry Kitchen , Indianapolis. Zavaleta was a starting defender in 1-0 victories over Malawi and United Arab Emirates. . . . Jessica Okorafo scored her 50th goal to break the Purdue career record. She leads the No. 23 Boilermakers with eight goals this season.

Swimming: IU’s Kate Fesenko , a Ukrainian Olympian, was chosen Big Ten Swimmer of the Week for the second week in a row. She has the NCAA’s fastest times in the 100- and 200-yard backstrokes.