2010 NCAA Lacrosse Tournament Thread

[RyanMcD29]

So the brackets will be announced tonight for the 2010 NCAA Men's Lacrosse Tournament. This is one of the most intriguing tournaments yet because of things like

-Syracuse going for the 3-peat

-The whole situation going on at Virginia

-How mediocre everyone from 8th on back will be

-Johns Hopkins might actually miss a tournament (though knowing the selection committee they'll screw this up and put them in)

-The ACC taking up 4 out of the top 5 seeds

Here's the 6 teams automatically in

-Patriot: Army

-CAA: Delaware

-ECAC: Denver

-MAAC: Mt. Saint Mary

-America East: Stony Brook

-Ivy: Cor...

Well, remember how Cornell blew away their lead to Syracuse in the national title game last year? And again this past April? Well today against Princeton, after completely dominating for the 1st half, the Big Red blow a 4 goal lead and lose to the Tigers in overtime. so

-Ivy: Princeton

Other locks are the entire ACC (no AQ) and Syracuse (Big East also has no AQ). Cornell by virtue of losing today's also an at-large. That means the current top 6 will all be at large bids, meaning only 4 will be up for grabs tonight. Should be interesting to see how the committee makes the bracket (and how much they screw up, including but not limited to possibilities of putting 7-7 Hopkins into the tournament and making 13-1 Syracuse a 4 seed for not playing in the ACC) and hopefully this year's tournament's every bit exciting as last year's.

[Seadragon76]

OK, those 6 are in and you might as well make Virginia and Syracuse auto bids themselves since they are the regular season champions of their respective conferences.

Those 8 spots are taken. This leaves 8 at-large bids. Three will be taken by the remaining ACC teams (Maryland, Duke and North Carolina) and Cornell, despite choking away the Ivy's auto bid, will get in as well. This leaves 4 teams for the remaining at large bids.

Some of those teams that come to mind are...

-Georgetown [9-5, 2nd in the Big East]

-Villanova [10-5, 3rd in the Big East]

-Drexel [10-5, 2nd in the CAA]

-Hofstra [9-4, 4th in the CAA]

-Loyola (Maryland) [9-3, 2nd in the ECAC]

-Yale [10-4, Tied for 1st in the Ivy]

-Siena [12-5, MAAC Regular Season Champions]

There were a few teams with 8 wins I didn't include because I think that 9 or more wins is pretty a shoo-in for the NCAA's. The one that has to be the most afraid here is Hofstra. They didn't even get to be in their conference tourny because of a tiebreaker and that might be a fatal blow for the Pride.

[RyanMcD29]

OK, those 6 are in and you might as well make Virginia and Syracuse auto bids themselves since they are the regular season champions of their respective conferences.

The ACC doesn't have an auto-bid because they only have 4 teams and the Big East does not have an auto bid until 2012, just to clarify. You're also right on the money with Hofstra. What's also intriguing is they hurt themselves less by missing the CAA tournament than Drexel by making it because they lost to bubble team Delaware twice, who bubble team Hopkins has defeated. It's really gonna be hard to pick all these teams for the final four spots that are gonna be open.

[Seadragon76]

OK, those 6 are in and you might as well make Virginia and Syracuse auto bids themselves since they are the regular season champions of their respective conferences.

The ACC doesn't have an auto-bid because they only have 4 teams and the Big East does not have an auto bid until 2012, just to clarify. You're also right on the money with Hofstra. What's also intriguing is they hurt themselves less by missing the CAA tournament than Drexel by making it because they lost to bubble team Delaware twice, who bubble team Hopkins has defeated. It's really gonna be hard to pick all these teams for the final four spots that are gonna be open.

True, but Delaware did win the CAA Tourny so they aren't a bubble team any more. I think missing the CAA Tourny would be the fatal blow for Hofstra.

As for John Hopkins: Yeah, they have some nice wins. But, they're only .500 on the season. Yes, they have tons of history on their side, but a .500 team shouldn't even be sniffing a tourny bid at this point.

Oh, and the funny part is that the ACC only has four teams and all four are Top 5 caliber squads.

[RyanMcD29]

OK, those 6 are in and you might as well make Virginia and Syracuse auto bids themselves since they are the regular season champions of their respective conferences.

The ACC doesn't have an auto-bid because they only have 4 teams and the Big East does not have an auto bid until 2012, just to clarify. You're also right on the money with Hofstra. What's also intriguing is they hurt themselves less by missing the CAA tournament than Drexel by making it because they lost to bubble team Delaware twice, who bubble team Hopkins has defeated. It's really gonna be hard to pick all these teams for the final four spots that are gonna be open.

True, but Delaware did win the CAA Tourny so they aren't a bubble team any more. I think missing the CAA Tourny would be the fatal blow for Hofstra.

As for John Hopkins: Yeah, they have some nice wins. But, they're only .500 on the season. Yes, they have tons of history on their side, but a .500 team shouldn't even be sniffing a tourny bid at this point.

Oh, and the funny part is that the ACC only has four teams and all four are Top 5 caliber squads.

That's what I would hope, but you can't leave it past the NCAA to put the old guard in (granted they did leave out Syracuse in 07 (though they weren't eligible) and Princeton in 08) so I included them for argument's sakes.

[Jigga]

OK, those 6 are in and you might as well make Virginia and Syracuse auto bids themselves since they are the regular season champions of their respective conferences.

The ACC doesn't have an auto-bid because they only have 4 teams and the Big East does not have an auto bid until 2012, just to clarify. You're also right on the money with Hofstra. What's also intriguing is they hurt themselves less by missing the CAA tournament than Drexel by making it because they lost to bubble team Delaware twice, who bubble team Hopkins has defeated. It's really gonna be hard to pick all these teams for the final four spots that are gonna be open.

True, but Delaware did win the CAA Tourny so they aren't a bubble team any more. I think missing the CAA Tourny would be the fatal blow for Hofstra.

As for John Hopkins: Yeah, they have some nice wins. But, they're only .500 on the season. Yes, they have tons of history on their side, but a .500 team shouldn't even be sniffing a tourny bid at this point.

Oh, and the funny part is that the ACC only has four teams and all four are Top 5 caliber squads.

It's Johns Hopkins. Johns, not John.

[Seadragon76]

The first round games are unveiled...

(16) Mount St. Mary's at (1) Virginia (The MAAC champion Mountaineers take on the Cavs in their first game since the death of Women's Lacrosse player Yeardley Love)

(9) Denver at (8) Stony Brook (The ECAC and America East champs face off in a rematch of a game that sparked the Pioneers run to the postseason)

(12) Johns Hopkins at (5) Duke (It's 39 in a row for JHU as they draw powerhouse Duke in the 1st Round)

(13) Delaware at (4) North Carolina (The cinderella Blue Hens take on the Tar Heel juggernaut)

(14) Hofstra at (3) Maryland (Despite missing the CAA tourny, the Pride get in and attempt to take down the Terps)

(11) Notre Dame at (6) Princeton (Princeton won the first ever Ivy League tourny today. Their prize? A home date with the Fighting Irish)

(10) Loyola of Maryland at (7) Cornell (Cornell blew it's chance to take the Ivy League's auto bid and faces the hard charging Greyhounds)

(15) Army at (2) Syracuse (After starting 1-4, the Black Knights won 9 of their final 10 games to earn the Patriot League's auto bid. Now, they must try to stop the potential three-peat hopes of the Orange)

[RyanMcD29]

I am loving this bracket for the Orange. Syracuse has already beat Army, Cornell, Notre Dame, Princeton, and Maryland and Hofstra in scrimmages. I would've preferred to face Princeton 2nd round, but considering how Cornell's choked away 3 out of 4 of their big rivalry games (Cuse and P'ton, almost blowing a 4th), plus Princeton and Maryland always hit a brick wall in the tournament, I'm very pleased with how this came out

But, Johns Hopkins, Hofstra, and Notre Dame as at-larges? Really? A team that went .500, a team that was barely .500, and a team that didn't even make their conference tournament. I can't even believe I'm saying this as a Cuse guy but Georgetown got screwed.

[Seadragon76]

5 games today and 3 tomorrow... Here's where it stands:

Saturday's Games:

(5) Duke 18, (12) Johns Hopkins 5 (Duke advances to face North Carolina in Quarterfinals)

(3) Maryland 11, (14) Hofstra 8 (Maryland advances to face Notre Dame in Quarterfinals)

(7) Cornell 11, (10) Loyola [Maryland] 10 [3OT] (Cornell advances to face Army in Quarterfinals)

(8) Stony Brook 9, (9) Denver 7 (Stony Brook advances to face Virginia in the Quarterfinals)

(1) Virginia 18, (16) Mount St. Mary's 4 (Virginia advances to face Stony Brook in the Quarterfinals)

Sunday's Games:

(11) Notre Dame 8, (6) Princeton 5 (Notre Dame advances to face Maryland in the Quarterfinals)

(4) North Carolina 14, (13) Delaware 13 (North Carolina advances to face Duke in the Quarterfinals)

(15) Army 9, (2) Syracuse 8 [2OT] (Army advances to face Cornell in the Quarterfinals)

Quarterfinals:

At Princeton

-(5) North Carolina vs. (4) Duke

-(11) Notre Dame vs. (3) Maryland

At Stony Brook

-(8) Stony Brook vs. (1) Virginia

-(15) Army vs. (7) Cornell

[RyanMcD29]

Dear God Cornell cannot hold a lead in the 4th quarter for their lives. Never mind 3 goals vs. Syracuse or 4 against Princeton, how about having to go to triple OT after being up by 7 to a Loyola team who had two bad losses to end the season. Normally I'd be very pumped for the Orange after a performance like that, but Syracuse-Cornell is always a throw the history books out matchup, and so is Syracuse-Army tomorrow to an extent. However I'm pretty confident about tomorrow night's game.

Oh, and thanks for proving why you should've been in the NCAA Tournament, Hopkins. Losing 5-18. Really? I'd be furious if I was a Georgetown (I would never be) or Drexel guy. Well, time to break this out earlier than ever

Lastly, I will be at all the quarterfinals next week. I'm gonna try to make an Otto the Orange costume for at least the Stony Brook games to stop Quint Kessenich from going on his annual rant about how Syracuse doesn't bring Otto to tournament games.

[Viper]

JH isn't the only team getting smoked like a cheap cigar today... Mt. St. Mary's is down 13-1 to Virginia (on ESPNU as I type this), and it's still only the 3rd quarter.

Update: 3rd quarter just ended... it's now 16-2 Cavs.

[Seadragon76]

JH isn't the only team getting smoked like a cheap cigar today... Mt. St. Mary's is down 13-1 to Virginia (on ESPNU as I type this), and it's still only the 3rd quarter.

Update: 3rd quarter just ended... it's now 16-2 Cavs.

I think the thing is that everybody knew that Mount St. Mary's was nothing more then a feeble lamb sent to the slaughter, but Johns Hopkins' pitiful showing probably made all Georgetown and Drexel fans laugh their asses off. This is a program with tons of history in D-I lacrosse and they get drilled.

I also wonder... Do they name the sites for the Quarterfinals ahead of time, because it doesn't seem fair that Virginia and Maryland, both higher seeds, would have to play what amounts to a road game for the next round.

[RyanMcD29]

Yes they announced Princeton and Stony Brook as the quarterfinal sites about 2 weeks after last year's tournament ended. I guess it would be more fair to have it so that Princeton would play at Stony Brook and vice-versa like they do in Basketball, but I think the NCAA allows them to play at home due to it being non-revenue or something. Not too sure what the reasoning behind it is.

[Waffles]

[RyanMcD29]

Be prepared to see the censored smiley a lot here...

Are you :censored:ing kidding me? Really, out of all the seeded teams to lose the first round, it's not Chokenell, it's not UNC, it's not even Stony Brook in an even 8-9 matchup. It's the Syracuse Orange, my alma mater, and the Princeton Tigers, where I'm family friends with one of their seniors. Give me a :censored:ing break. How the hell did the basketball playing down to the opponent trickle down to the lacrosse team? Couldn't win any ground balls, taking bad shots, not possessing the ball whatsoever, Coach Desko not calling any timeouts in OT once the Orange get the ball. This is worse than the Butler loss in the sweet 16. This just makes me sick. All I needed was Princeton and Syracuse to win, and they both lose. The only team that I can even consider rooting for is Cornell, which isn't gonna win anyway because they'll just blow a 8 goal lead to Army next week. I hate UVA, Maryland, Duke, UNC, and Notre Dame's a Big East rival so can't root for them. Un-be-:censored:ing-lieveable. This has to be the worst day of college lacrosse I've ever had to go through. I don't even know if I wanna go to the quarterfinals next week anymore. Just.. wow.

[Jigga]

Be prepared to see the censored smiley a lot here...

Are you :censored:ing kidding me? Really, out of all the seeded teams to lose the first round, it's not Chokenell, it's not UNC, it's not even Stony Brook in an even 8-9 matchup. It's the Syracuse Orange, my alma mater, and the Princeton Tigers, where I'm family friends with one of their seniors. Give me a :censored:ing break. How the hell did the basketball playing down to the opponent trickle down to the lacrosse team? Couldn't win any ground balls, taking bad shots, not possessing the ball whatsoever, Coach Desko not calling any timeouts in OT once the Orange get the ball. This is worse than the Butler loss in the sweet 16. This just makes me sick. All I needed was Princeton and Syracuse to win, and they both lose. The only team that I can even consider rooting for is Cornell, which isn't gonna win anyway because they'll just blow a 8 goal lead to Army next week. I hate UVA, Maryland, Duke, UNC, and Notre Dame's a Big East rival so can't root for them. Un-be-:censored:ing-lieveable. This has to be the worst day of college lacrosse I've ever had to go through. I don't even know if I wanna go to the quarterfinals next week anymore. Just.. wow.

Serves you right for all the :censored: you talked about Hopkins. Stick it, Orange boy!

[tBBP]

I say HOOAH, cotdammit!!!

[RyanMcD29]

So the Final Four's set

7. Cornell vs. Notre Dame

1. Virginia vs. 5. Duke

Two possible first time winners (including one that's always in the Final Four these days), one winner who hasn't won it in ages, and one of the four that say no to parity. Oughta be interesting to say the least.

[RyanMcD29]

Bumping this because for the first time since all the way back in 1992, we're going to have a new national champ added to the fray on Monday. Notre Dame beats Cornell pretty handily and Duke holds off Virginia, which means we actually have parity this year!

On the women's lacrosse side, however, still no parity. Maryland vs. Northwestern tomorrow, which is worth noting that although more schools have won women's titles than have men's teams, it's been the Northwestern, UVA, Princeton, and Maryland show since 1991. Which is kinda like the men being the Syracuse, UVA, Princeton, and Hopkins show since 1992, but at least this year there's a fresh face in the men's game (and I realized its UVA and Princeton and you just switch around the journalism schools and the Maryland schools around to get your champs). Oh, and Northwestern's going for the sixpeat tomorrow night. Yes, the same Northwestern women's lacrosse team that wore sandals to the White House.

[lordsketor]

Duke win its first NCAA Lacrosse title 5 seconds into OT with a 6-5 victory over Notre Dame.