Maryland has taken over the top spot in the second and final Division I Men’s Lacrosse Committee top 10 rankings.
With two victories last week, the Terrapins have won 10 games in a row and are 11-2 overall heading into their final regular-season game of the year Saturday against Johns Hopkins University. Brown University moved into the second spot in the rankings, which consider all games played through April 24. The Bears defeated Dartmouth College on Wednesday night in a game that wasn’t included in the rankings, clinching The Ivy League regular-season crown.
The University of Denver is ranked No. 3 with an 11-1 overall record and a 4-0 mark in Big East Conference play. The Pioneers’ only loss came earlier this season to Pennsylvania State University. The University of Notre Dame dropped from the No. 1 spot last week to No. 4 this week after a 17-15 loss to the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. The Fighting Irish are 9-2 on the season and playing Duke University in the Atlantic Coast Conference semifinals tonight. Rounding out the top five is the University at Albany. The Great Danes are 11-2 overall after a game Tuesday and have clinched at least a share of the America East Conference regular-season crown with a 5-0 slate.
The remainder of the top 10 includes Yale University, Johns Hopkins, the U.S. Naval Academy, Duke and Loyola University Maryland.
“The parity in NCAA lacrosse this season is incredible,” said Gene Doris, chair of the committee and athletics director at Fairfield University. “Not only is it shown by having two different No. 1 teams in two weeks of committee rankings, but also in how close the voting has been for all the teams in the discussion. These last two weekends are certainly going to be interesting. Between the forthcoming conference tournaments and late out-of-conference contests, there is certainly enough opportunity for teams to play their way into the NCAA tournament field.”
The ranking announcement will have no bearing on the final bracket, which will be revealed at 9 p.m. May 8 on the NCAA Division I Men’s Lacrosse Championship selection show, aired on ESPNU.
The championship field will be made of 18 teams, 10 of which will earn automatic qualifiers as conference champions and eight of which will be selected at large. The top six automatic qualifiers will earn slots to the first round of the tournament, which will be played May 14-15 on campus sites. The remaining four automatic qualifiers will face off in preliminary-round action May 11 on campus.
Two quarterfinal contests will be May 21 at Brown Stadium in Providence, Rhode Island, while the remaining two quarterfinals will be played May 22 at Ohio Stadium in Columbus, Ohio. The semifinals and championship game will be played May 28 and 30 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. Tickets for the quarterfinals, semifinals and championship game can be purchased at ncaa.com/tickets/lacrosse-men/d1.
The rankings are based on the criteria used to select and seed the 18 teams for the Division I Men’s Lacrosse Championship and include strength of schedule, Rating Percentage Index, head-to-head competition, results versus common opponents, significant wins and losses, and locations of contests. Additionally, input is provided by the regional advisory committees for consideration by the Division I Men’s Lacrosse Committee.
NCAA Division I Men’s Lacrosse Committee
April 29 – Top 10 rankings (record through April 24)
- Maryland (11-2)
- Brown (12-1)
- Denver (11-1)
- Notre Dame (9-2)
- Albany (NY) (10-2)
- Yale (10-2)
- Johns Hopkins (8-4)
- Navy (10-3)
- Duke (9-6)
- Loyola Maryland (10-3)
Others receiving consideration (in alphabetical order): Bryant, Marquette, North Carolina, Syracuse and Villanova.
