The reveal of the NCAA lacrosse committee’s top 10 teams entering play Saturday wasn’t exactly stunning.
Consider what last week’s USA Lacrosse Magazine’s eight seeds (which did not account for Friday’s games) looked like against the committee’s top eight (which did).
Seed | Our Projection | Committee Rank |
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1 | Notre Dame | Notre Dame |
2 | Duke | Duke |
3 | Johns Hopkins | Johns Hopkins |
4 | Denver | Denver |
5 | Virginia | Virginia |
6 | Maryland | Maryland |
7 | Syracuse | Penn State |
8 | Penn State | Syracuse |
Of course, neither of these could have accounted for what happened on Saturday, when Syracuse landed the most impactful victory of the weekend by edging Virginia 18-17. The Orange now rank in the top five of the RPI and strength of schedule and own three top-10 victories, more than anyone other than Notre Dame (four) and Johns Hopkins (three).
Its seeding in this week’s projection reflects its improved profile. But nothing else warranted a shuffling in the order of the other seven programs in both lists above, and they remain in position to land home games in the NCAA tournament with less than two weeks to go before Selection Sunday.
The following is based on RPI data available on the morning of Wednesday, April 24.
AUTOMATIC QUALIFIERS (9)
Team | W-L | RPI | SOS | T5 | T10 | T20 | LOSSES 21+ |
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Johns Hopkins | 10-3 | 3 | 4 | 0-2 | 3-2 | 7-2 | Navy (26) |
Denver | 10-2 | 4 | 12 | 1-1 | 2-2 | 4-2 | --- |
Cornell | 8-4 | 8 | 5 | 1-2 | 2-3 | 5-4 | --- |
Army | 10-2 | 13 | 36 | 1-0 | 1-0 | 1-1 | at Boston U (25) |
Saint Joseph's | 9-3 | 16 | 33 | 0-1 | 0-1 | 1-1 | Towson (22), Boston U (25) |
Towson | 10-3 | 22 | 41 | 0-1 | 0-2 | 1-3 | --- |
Utah | 9-4 | 28 | 45 | 0-2 | 0-2 | 0-3 | Air Force (36) |
Sacred Heart | 11-4 | 37 | 70 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 4 losses 21+ |
Albany | 6-7 | 39 | 38 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 0-4 | Bryant (31), at Drexel (42), at UMass (47) |
With its 7-5 victory over Maryland, Johns Hopkins is set up well to not have to travel beyond the Baltimore Beltway before Memorial Day Weekend. The Blue Jays’ metrics all but guarantee a first-round home game, and there’s a decent chance they’ll be in one of the quadrants of the bracket funneled to Towson for the quarterfinals. … Denver is also just about out of games to lose that could cost it a first-round home game. A victory over Marquette at home on Friday should all but lock in the Pioneers for a game at Peter Barton Stadium the second weekend in May.
Cornell can clinch the top seed in the Ivy League tournament — and hosting rights — with a victory at Dartmouth on Saturday. The Big Red have won 11 meetings in a row and 23 of 24 against the Big Green, and their last loss in Hanover came in 1997. … Army can clinch a share of the Patriot League title with a victory at Loyola on Friday. Colgate, Loyola and Lehigh also remain in contention for at least a piece of the conference crown. …
Saint Joseph’s visits Richmond on Saturday in the game of the year in the Atlantic 10, at least for the regular season. The winner will be the top seed in the conference tournament, which will be played at UMass. … Towson visits Delaware on Friday, with the winner earning the outright CAA regular-season title. The tournament will be played next week at Towson. …
If Utah wins the Atlantic Sun and is not in a play-in game, it seems like a sure shot to go to Denver for the first round. Utah will have to fly no matter where it goes, and anyone other than Air Force (which is in the same one-bid league as the Utes) would have to fly to Denver. It would be an easy pairing for the committee to make. … Winners of nine in a row, Sacred Heart earned an open weekend but will not host the Metro Atlantic tournament because it is not (yet) a full member. The Pioneers enter the MAAC in all sports this summer. …
Albany has not played host to the America East tournament since 2018, a drought that would end if the Great Danes beat Binghamton at home on Saturday. Scott Marr’s bunch sits a game clear of four other teams entering the final week of the regular season.