NCAA committee chair Christy Leach, the head coach at Stetson, put it best.

“It was definitely tough with the Big Ten,” she said on the NCAA Selection Show Sunday night.

That led to some difficult omissions. Even if Penn State and Ohio State had disappointing records (a byproduct of the conference-only competition that prompted Leach’s comment), both teams had compelling at-large resumes.

Penn State twice beat Maryland, a team that felt little anxiety about being included in the 29-team field. Ohio State’s resume was slightly less impressive, but the Buckeyes swept Penn State.

Instead, a scrappy UConn team got a bid, as did both Temple and Vanderbilt.

The official Division I Women’s @NCAALAX Bracket. pic.twitter.com/cOJpOXA0G8

— US Lacrosse Magazine (@USLacrosseMag) May 10, 2021

The Big Ten teams that did make the field are Northwestern, which earned the No. 2 national seed, Maryland, Johns Hopkins and Rutgers.

North Carolina unsurprisingly earned the No. 1 overall seed. In total, five ACC teams were seeded — UNC, No. 3 Syracuse, No. 4 Boston College, No. 5 Notre Dame and No. 7 Duke.

The Duke seeding is a curious one. As US Lacrosse Magazine contributor and bracketology expert Jeremy Fallis tweeted, Duke earned just two wins over teams in the tournament field. Perhaps Drexel’s loss to James Madison in Sunday afternoon’s CAA championship game created a seeding opportunity for the Blue Devils.

The Duke seed is curious.

The Blue Devils had 2 wins over teams in the field.

Unseeded teams with 2 or more such Ws:
Drexel 5
Maryland 4
JMU 4
Hofstra 3
Penn State 3
Rutgers 2
Virginia 2
Temple 2
Towson 2
Vandy 2 https://t.co/W0KHIsCDVE

— Jeremy Fallis (@JeremyFallis3) May 10, 2021

Check back to uslaxmagazine.com tomorrow for more bracket analysis from Fallis.

For now, check out the first- and second-round matchups below. Play gets underway this Friday.

FIRST ROUND
Friday, May 14, All Times Eastern

James Madison vs. Johns Hopkins, 5 p.m. — @ North Carolina
Drexel vs. Rutgers, 4 p.m. — @ Stony Brook
Towson vs. No. 8 Stony Brook, 12 p.m. — @ Stony Brook
No. 5 Notre Dame vs. Robert Morris, 1 p.m. — @ Notre Dame
Virginia vs. UConn, 5 p.m. — @ Notre Dame
UMass vs. Temple, 4 p.m. — @ Boston College
No. 4 Boston College vs. Fairfield, 1 p.m. — @ Boston College
Loyola vs. Hofstra, 3 p.m. — @ Syracuse
Jacksonville vs. Vanderbilt, 6:30 p.m. — @ Florida
Mercer vs. No. 6 Florida, 4 p.m. — @ Florida
No. 7 Duke vs. Mount St. Mary’s, 3 p.m. — @ Duke
Maryland vs. High Point, 7 p.m. — @ Duke
Stanford vs. Denver, 6 p.m. — @ Northwestern

SECOND ROUND
Sunday, May 16, All Times Eastern

No. 1 North Carolina vs. JMU/Hopkins, 12 p.m. — @ North Carolina
Drexel/Rutgers vs. Towson/No. 8 Stony Brook, TBD — @ Stony Brook
No. 5 Notre Dame/Robert Morris vs. Virginia/UConn, TBD — @ Notre Dame
UMass/Temple vs. Fairfield/No. 4 Boston College, TBD — @ Boston College
No. 3 Syracuse vs. Loyola/Hofstra, 1 p.m. — @ Syracuse
Jacksonville/Vanderbilt vs. Mercer/No. 6 Florida, TBD — @ Florida
No. 7 Duke/Mount St. Mary’s vs. Maryland/High Point, TBD — @ Duke
No. 2 Northwestern vs. Stanford/Denver, 1 p.m. — @ Northwestern