Lax Schedule Intel

[burnspbesq]

It's likely to be a while yet before the full 2013 men's and women's lax schedules will be out, but we know where the men will be on the last day of the regular season, Sunday, May 5: at first-year program Marquette.

Also, the NCAA announced that the women's final four will be held at Villanova, which will make for a full four-day, eight-game weekend in the Philly area. Time to start saving frequent flyer miles and hotel rewards points.

[buddy]

Hope the Iron Dukes save their money--4 days of tailgates! (I hope).

By the way, with Notre Dame joining the ACC, it means the conference will finally get an AQ for the NCAAs (not that it has mattered). Also would mean a 3 day tournament.

[burnspbesq]

By the way, with Notre Dame joining the ACC, it means the conference will finally get an AQ for the NCAAs (not that it has mattered). Also would mean a 3 day tournament.

How about a five-day tournament at a neutral site, i.e., Red Bull Arena?

Wednesday: first-round double-header.
Thursday: Blue Note or Village Vanguard
Friday: semifinal double-header
Saturday: shopping in the city followed by evening at the Met
Sunday: championship game

[buddy]

We could also take a page from the long-defunct Dixie Classic. Invite the 6 best non-ACC lacrosse teams to play the ACC. Call it the National Championship Tournament, which it would be.

Some very good men's lacrosse team is going to go 0-6 in the conference some year, all while being undefeated outside, and be denied an NCAA berth due to "fairness" concerns. But the games will be fun.

[MCFinARL]

Some very good men's lacrosse team is going to go 0-6 in the conference some year, all while being undefeated outside, and be denied an NCAA berth due to "fairness" concerns. But the games will be fun.

Yeah, this is a real risk. ACC teams may need to put more games on their schedules to increase their chances of avoiding losing records. Duke already does this (though I don't know if that's why), playing 15 non-tournament (either ACC or NCAA) games to 13 for UVA, MD, UNC.

[budwom]

Yeah, this is a real risk. ACC teams may need to put more games on their schedules to increase their chances of avoiding losing records. Duke already does this (though I don't know if that's why), playing 15 non-tournament (either ACC or NCAA) games to 13 for UVA, MD, UNC.

just a year or two ago I think UNC had gone more than a year or two without an ACC win (boo hoo), yet remained nationally ranked. Definitely an incredible lacrosse league now, but there should be enough out of conference games
to assert a team's worthiness.

[burnspbesq]

There has been concern expressed in some quarters that ACC schools will react to having five gruesome conference games by softening up their non-conference schedules. On that theory, "traditional" matchups like Murlund-Colgate, Duke-Loyola, Carolina-Penn, and Virginia-Cornell would be in danger of being discontinued, and it would be that much more difficult for teams in the Ivy, Patriot, MAAC, and ECAC to schedule games that, win or lose, enhance their SOS.

Wel'll see.

[buddy]

The selection committee relies heavily on strength of schedule in picking at large teams. The ACC will of course have an AQ (which I think will be the 8th), but with the round robin and the ACC Tournament, it would appear that each of the other 5 will have a sufficient SOS to make the tournament. That means scheduling enough patsies to have a winning regular season record. I would expect either some rivalries to disappear, or lots more patsies appear on the schedule. One outcome may be that the NCAA downplays SOS. I am sure there will be pressure from other conferences to keep from having the NCAA Tournament becoming a replay of the ACC Tournament. Maybe the NCAA will expand the field; however, this runs into real schedule problems with the hard close on Memorial Day, and the reality that you can't play at UMass and Cornell in February. But I think this expansion will have a significant impact on the sport at both the ACC and NCAA levels.

[burnspbesq]

Just so the Cuse and ND fan bases can, umm, "experience" the Varsity.

[burnspbesq]

As other schools release their 2013 schedules, we learn more about Duke's.

The Devils' season opener on February 9 is a doozy: home to Denver. The Pioneers lose Mark Mathews and his array of ridiculous moves, but they are still loaded.

Another first-year team is on the schedule: Duke hosts High Point on April 5.

[MCFinARL]

As other schools release their 2013 schedules, we learn more about Duke's.

The Devils' season opener on February 9 is a doozy: home to Denver. The Pioneers lose Mark Mathews and his array of ridiculous moves, but they are still loaded.

Another first-year team is on the schedule: Duke hosts High Point on April 5.

At least they will play in Durham this time instead of in Denver like last season--but it is a brutal way to start the season--especially since, unlike the basketball team, the laxers don't always look that sharp early in the season.