NCAA Releases First Regional Rankings for Division II Men’s, Women’s Lacrosse

The NCAA released its first regional rankings Wednesday for NCAA Division II men’s and women’s lacrosse, reflecting game results through April 13.

On the women’s side, the NCAA ranks eight teams from each of the four geographic regions (Atlantic, East, South, Midwest), listing the teams only in alphabetical order. Subsequent rankings will list teams in rank order.

The Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (Atlantic Region), Northeast-10 Conference (East Region) and Sunshine State Conference (South Region) all had six teams included, the most among conferences.

The NCAA regional rankings help determine participants for the NCAA tournament. This year’s expanded 24-team women’s tournament will feature 12 teams that earn automatic qualification as conference champions, and 12 additional teams selected at-large by the national committee. The top two seeds in each region receive a first-round bye.

Selections will be announced Sunday, May 4, with first-round games beginning May 8.

The NCAA will release a second regional ranking on April 23 and a third and final regional ranking on April 30.

On the men’s side, which divides teams into two geographic regions (North and South), Wednesday’s ranking features 10 teams in each region, also listed only in alphabetical order.

The men’s tournament will feature a 16-team bracket, with eight teams selected and seeded from each of the two regions. Those selections will also be announced May 4, with first-round games played May 7.

The Division II men’s championship game will be played May 25 at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass.