Some years there are a couple top teams with championship aspirations. Others there are more like 5-6. Throughout the first month and a half of this year’s college lacrosse season, Maryland has stood tall as the cream of the crop. Their 7-0 out of conference record is impressive and even more so that they are beating good teams with ease. Notre Dame and Loyola (which was a early February game) have given them tests, but the Terps have emerged as the favorite.
That being said, this spring I truly feel like there are 10 teams who have a legit shot at winning the National Championship. What that initially tells me is that its likely not all of them will even have a spot in the NCAA Tournament. If any year is going to serve as an example that the NCAA Lacrosse Tournament should be expanded it is this one. Give me four more teams and two mid-week play in games between the last four bubble teams. College lacrosse has needed something like that for about a decade and I think its a matter of time before we see some sort of change.
Without further ado, I think this week is a good time to put out my first version of bracketology.
Bracketology
- Maryland (Big Ten) vs Sacred Heart (MAAC) / Bryant (America East)
- Army (Patriot) vs Jacksonville (ASUN)
- Penn State vs Umass (A10)
- Notre Dame vs Fairfield (CAA)
- Cornell vs Georgetown (Big East)
- Princeton vs Duke
- North Carolina vs Ohio State
- Syracuse vs Johns Hopkins
Mid March Top 20
- Maryland
- Army
- Penn State
- Cornell
- Notre Dame
- Princeton
- North Carolina
- Syracuse
- Duke
- Johns Hopkins
- Georgetown
- Ohio State
- Harvard
- Richmond
- Fairfield
- Boston U
- Penn
- Umass
- St. Joes
- Colgate
Maryland’s domination continues as they are now 7-0 through their non conference slate. Clearly the frontrunner in the Big Ten so far but Penn State and Ohio State are going to be nipping at their heels. The Terps dominated Virginia and essentially bid them farewell in 2025 unless the Hoos have a magical May run. Maryland’s transfer led offense does not have a true #1 option, they may have three or four. They work to get the best shot each possession and it wears down defenses.
Cornell found themselves back on track after taking down #2 Princeton and holding them to only 10 goals. CJ Kirst was drawing two or three defenders every time he had the ball. He still put in five goals and two assists and became Cornell’s all time leading goal scorer. Big win for Cornell and Princeton has to now rebound in a tough Ivy League.
After losing two straight, Notre Dame gets back on track in a much needed way boat racing Michigan to the tune of 19 goals.
Richmond is a couple plays away from being a top-6 team in the country. Plenty of chances to knock off Duke this past weekend but ultimately fell in double OT. The #14 Spiders are more dangerous than people think but they haven’t been able to knock off the top teams. Duke on the other hand is 8-1 but have played games closer than expected. They are still finding ways to win, and I imagine they have another gear they might find themselves in come May.
Some other games that stood out over the weekend:
Hopkins challenged early by Navy but a big third quarter propels them to a three goal win. Hop is still quietly hanging around
Colgate finds themselves on the losing side of a high scoring game with Bucknell. The Patriot League never disappoints with upsets. This is a Bucknell team who lost to Holy Cross on March 1.
Utah and Ohio State continue to go in opposite directions. The Utes beat Ohio State Week 0. Since that game, Ohio State 8-0 and up to #12. Utah is 1-6.
Its Time for Conference Play – Conference Rankings
- Big Ten – Ohio State and Penn State pleasant surprises for the Big Ten this year. Very excited for the Maryland/Penn St matchup in two weeks
- ACC – All four besides Virginia have a shot at Championship weekend.
- Ivy – Yale is down, Penn disappointing but everyone else is up. Dartmouth taking a big step forward under Kirwan this year.
- Patriot – battle between Army, Boston and Colgate will be fun to watch. Army should win the league but don’t count out an upset. BU and Colgate can score.
- A-10 – Umass is on fraud watch just squeaking past Umass Lowell. St. Joes and Richmond feel like teams that can win games in the tournament
- Big East – Georgetown will win the games they are supposed to. Don’t feel lie Denver has it this year. Providence on the up and up
- CAA – Fairfield is undefeated. Towson with a high scoring overtime win over Delaware might give them some momentum
- America East – Vermont and Albany struggled early but don’t be surprised to see them turn it on late
- NEC – LIU and VMI with a fast start to the season. Have loved what Robert Morris has been doing despite their 4-4 record
- MAAC – any of these teams can win the conference.
- ASUN – Jacksonville and then the rest
Eight of the top twelve teams reside from the ACC or Big Ten. It seems like every year one of those two conferences is dominating the final four or cutting down the nets and that is why they are the top two. We could only see three conferences getting multiple bids this year. The Patriot League may be the fourth depending on who comes down the stretch hot (besides Army). Unfortunate for the Big East and A-10 but they just haven’t won enough out of conference games. Richmond vs Georgetown next weekend will be interesting. Of course Denver still could steal the automatic bid. All other conferences are a one bid league regardless.
What To Look For
Boston @ Army
Top two Patriot League teams after Colgate’s loss last week. A huge test though for the Terriers. Sean Byrne is the best goalie in college lacrosse and Army has the country’s best defense.
Colgate @ Syracuse
Expect fireworks. Colgate led by the Connor brothers can score, but Cuse is one of the better defenses they’ve faced. Harvard took down Cuse in a high scoring game in the dome, can Colgate do the same?
Richmond @ Georgetown
Big time RPI and conference boost for the winner of this game. Loser’s conference will take a dive and in danger of being a one bid league. Richmond has challenged a lot of top teams and it feels like time they take one down.
Dartmouth @ Penn
Penn on upset alert. Wouldn’t be surprised if theyre underdogs. Offense has not been in sync for them and quite the opposite for the Big Green.
Sunday Night Big Ten Lacrosse Ohio State @ Penn State
The first edition of Sunday Night Big Ten Lacrosse is going to be a fun one. Another test for Ohio State with the experienced and talented Penn State defense.
UNC @ Army – 3/29
Princeton @ Dartmouth – 3/29
Duke @ ND – 3/29
Penn St @ Maryland – 3/29
Two weeks from now we will be into April. May is getting closer. Expect to see teams stepping up to prepare for their tournaments. We will find out a lot about teams the first couple weeks of their conference schedule.
Lacrosse Analyst
Sam Kuhn currently is the graduate assistant for the men’s lacrosse program at Heidelberg University in Tiffin, Ohio and is working to complete his Masters of Business Administration in 2020. Sam graduated from the College of Wooster in 2018, where he received his Bachelors Degree in English and played lacrosse as well. In his four years, Sam was a two time All-NCAC selection, a first team All-Region selection in 2018, and surpassed 100 goals for his career, one of seven members in program history to do so. Sam has interned with Inside Lacrosse, and wrote for the sports section of The Wooster Voice.