Conference Scenarios Shaping the Last Week of Regular Season Play

For as meaningful and memorable as next week’s conference tournaments are likely to be, this week’s race to polish off regular-season titles and simply extend seasons by a handful of days can be every bit as frenetic.

While some leagues have more settled situations than others, no one other than the Big Ten — which begins its postseason on Saturday — has its conference tournament brackets fully set. Only five of the 11 leagues have sorted out who the No. 1 seed will be. And the Ivy and Patriot leagues don’t know yet where their tournaments will be played.

Here’s the full breakdown of where things stand entering the final week of games prior to the conference tourneys.

AMERICA EAST

Format and site: Four teams, April 30/May 2, Albany, N.Y.

Top seed: Regular-season champion UAlbany (8-5, 5-0) earned hosting rights for the second time in three seasons.

Also clinched: UMBC (5-6, 4-2), Bryant (6-5, 3-2) and Vermont (5-6, 3-2) all wrapped up conference tournament berths with victories last week.

ACC

Format and site: Four teams, May 1/May 3, Charlotte, N.C.

Top seed: Three teams can still take the top spot. Notre Dame (9-1, 2-1) gets it with a victory over Syracuse. North Carolina (11-2, 2-1) takes it with a defeat of Duke and a Notre Dame loss. And Syracuse (11-3, 2-1) will finish alone in first place if it upends Notre Dame and North Carolina loses.

Also clinched: In addition to the three remaining title contenders, Virginia (7-6, 2-2) is also assured an ACC tournament berth.

ATLANTIC SUN

Format and site: Four teams, May 1/May 3, Jacksonville, Fla.

Top seed: It could still be one of three teams. Utah (9-3, 4-0) would finish alone in first place if it defeats Air Force (5-7, 3-1). The Falcons would take the top spot with a victory and if Jacksonville (7-5, 3-1) loses to Mercer.

But if both Air Force and Jacksonville win to create a three-way tie at 4-1, Jacksonville would get the top seed based on the fourth tiebreaker: Goal differential between the tied teams, with a cap of eight goals a game. Jacksonville beat Air Force 16-10 and lost to Utah 9-8, giving it a plus-5 margin. Utah sits at plus-1, and a loss wouldn’t improve that. Air Force is at minus-6, and the eight-goal cap means it can’t catch Jacksonville even if it wallops Utah.

Also clinched: Mercer (6-6, 2-2) has also wrapped up a conference tournament berth.

ATLANTIC 10

Format and site: Four teams, April 30/May 2, Richmond, Va.

Top seed: The winner of Friday’s game between Richmond (11-1, 5-0) and High Point (6-6, 5-0) — a rematch of last year’s conference title game — will determine the outright regular season champion.

Also clinched: The Richmond-High Point loser will be the No. 2 seed.

Still to sort out: Two of Delaware (5-7, 3-2), UMass (10-4, 3-3) and Saint Joseph’s (5-5, 2-3) will complete the field. Delaware winning at Saint Joseph’s on Friday would avoid the need for tiebreakers; the Blue Hens would be the No. 3 seed, UMass would finish in fourth by itself and the Hawks would miss the field.

If Saint Joseph’s wins, it would create a three-way deadlock. UMass beat Saint Joseph’s 14-12 and lost 8-7 to Delaware. The logjam would likely be settled by goals allowed in head-to-head competition. That currently sits at Delaware 7, Saint Joseph’s 14, UMass 20, and a two-way tie in this would revert to head-to-head result. So long as Saint Joseph’s doesn’t win by the exact margin of 13-6, there won’t be a need to go to another tiebreak.

BIG EAST

Format and site: Four teams, April 30/May 2, Providence, R.I.

Top seed: Georgetown (7-4, 4-0) visits Villanova (6-6, 3-1) on Friday to determine the No. 1 spot in the conference tournament.

Also clinched: In addition to Georgetown and Villanova, Providence (6-8, 2-2) is assured a place in the semifinals.

Still to sort out: The last spot in the field will be decided when Marquette (6-6, 2-2) visits Denver (5-7, 1-3). Call it a play-in game or a de facto quarterfinal … both are applicable to Friday’s contest in the Mile High City.

BIG TEN

Format and site: Six teams, Saturday (at higher seeds), April 30/May 2, Piscataway, N.J.

Top seed: Johns Hopkins (8-4, 3-2) capped its worst-to-(tied for) first push in the Big Ten regular season with Saturday’s 9-8 defeat of Maryland.

Also clinched: Everyone gets into the Big Ten tournament. Ohio State (10-3, 3-2) will play host to Michigan (5-8, 2-3) on Saturday, with the winner facing Hopkins in the semifinals. Maryland (6-5, 3-2) welcomes Rutgers (8-6, 1-4) to College Park for the second time in three Saturdays; the winner of that game will meet Penn State (7-5, 3-2).

CAA

Format and site: Four teams, April 30/May 2, Towson, Md.

Top seed: Towson (9-3, 5-0), winners of 23 consecutive games against CAA opponents, is already assured hosting duties for the third year in a row.

Also clinched: Drexel (9-4, 5-1) is locked into the No. 2 seed, and Stony Brook (7-5, 3-2) needs only to defeat winless Hampton to claim the No. 3 seed.

Still to sort out: Monmouth (5-6, 2-3) locks up the final spot in the field with a victory over Fairfield (4-9, 1-4). Were Monmouth to lose, Hofstra (4-9, 2-3) would get the No. 4 seed outright with a victory at Towson or via a tiebreaker with a loss to the Tigers.

A three-way tie between Fairfield, Hofstra and Monmouth at 2-4 would be decided by goal differential in in games against each other, with a max of 10 goals per game. (The three teams would all be 1-1 against each other and have identical outcomes against the rest of the league.)

Hofstra already owns a plus-6 margin since it beat Fairfield 13-6 and lost to Monmouth 13-12. Monmouth is at plus-1 but would slide back since it would lose this week in this scenario. Fairfield is at minus-7 and can’t get to better than plus-3 with the 10-goal cap.

IVY

Format and site: Four teams, May 1/May 3, No. 1 seed

Top seed: Cornell (9-3, 4-1) can clinch hosting duties for the third year in a row if it beats Harvard (9-3, 3-2) on Saturday. With a Big Red loss, Princeton (10-2, 4-1) would take the top spot regardless of how it does against Dartmouth (4-8, 0-5) later in the afternoon.

Also clinched: In addition to Cornell, Princeton and Harvard are assured places in the Ivy playoff.

Still to sort out: Yale (8-4, 3-2) is in with a victory over Brown. But the Bulldogs would also get in with a loss and a Harvard loss that created a three-way tie at 3-3 between Harvard, Penn and Yale. (The three teams split their meetings, and Yale would have the best conference victory in that group — its upset of Cornell — and Harvard would get in over Penn by virtue of a head-to-head triumph.)

But Penn (6-6, 3-3) would get the last spot if Yale loses and Harvard wins. The Quakers beat Yale 9-7 on March 21.

METRO ATLANTIC

Format and site: Five teams, Sunday (higher seed), April 30/May 2, Loudonville, N.Y.

Top seed: Defending champ Siena (11-3, 7-0) secured a share of the regular season title with its defeat of Mount St. Mary’s on Saturday.

Also clinched: Marist (8-4, 6-1) will be the No. 2 seed regardless of Wednesday’s games. Sacred Heart (10-3, 4-3), Merrimack (5-8, 4-3) and Quinnipiac (5-8, 4-3) will occupy the other three spots.

Still to sort out: Who besides Siena and Marist gets a bye into the semifinals. Quinnipiac beat both Merrimack and Sacred Heart, so it needs only a victory over last-place Manhattan to lock up the No. 3 seed.

NEC

Format and site: Four teams, April 30/May 2, Moon Township, Pa.

Top seed: Robert Morris (11-3, 6-0) won’t have to leave campus for its conference title defense; the Colonials locked up an outright regular season title with Saturday’s 14-10 defeat of LIU.

Also clinched: LIU (9-3, 4-2) and Cleveland State (6-6, 4-2) are assured of a trip to the Pittsburgh suburbs next week. Those two teams meet Saturday, with the winner claiming the No. 2 seed.

Still to sort out: VMI (6-6, 3-3), Wagner (5-7, 3-3) and Detroit Mercy (3-9, 2-4) are all alive for the final spot. VMI has the most direct path, needing a victory over Detroit Mercy on Saturday.

PATRIOT

Format and site: Six teams, April 28 (higher seeds), May 1/May 3 (No. 1 seed)

Top seed: Army (10-3, 5-2), Boston University (7-5, 5-2) and Loyola (8-5, 5-2) can all still earn the chance to bring the Patriot tournament to their respective campuses. (Though considering just one host school has won this league as a No. 1 seed since 2018, maybe that’s not the best thing.)

The teams split their games amongst each other — Army over Loyola, Loyola over Boston U, Boston U over Army — so there isn’t a clean solution in case of a three-way tie.

There are some not-so-complicated scenarios. Army gets the top seed with a victory over Colgate (5-7, 4-3) and a Boston U loss to Holy Cross (6-7, 2-5). Loyola needs a victory over Navy (7-6, 3-4) and an Army loss to claim the top seed. Boston U takes it with a victory and a Loyola loss.

If all three win, the tiebreaker would work its way through the rest of the Patriot standings. Boston U’s other loss is to Colgate, which would be 4-4. Loyola stumbled against Lehigh, which would be 4-4 or 3-5. Army tripped up at last-place Lafayette, which would be 2-6 or 1-7. That actually works to the Black Knights’ advantage, and the league tournament would head to West Point.

If all three somehow lose and create a four-way tie at 5-3 that also includes Colgate, Loyola would be the beneficiary. Both the Greyhounds and Raiders would be 2-1 in the four-team mini group, while Army and Boston U would be 1-2. Loyola would take the top spot based on a 13-11 victory at Colgate on Feb. 28.

Also clinched: In addition to the current top three, Colgate has also sewn up a Patriot tournament berth.

Still to sort out: Bucknell (8-5, 4-4), Lehigh (6-7, 3-4) and Navy (7-6, 3-4) all remain in contention for the last two places in the field. If Navy loses, it gets shut out of the postseason regardless of how Lehigh fares against Lafayette. (Bucknell plays a non-conference game against UMBC on Friday.)