Is this the year the curse ends?
Maryland, which last won a national championship in 1975, is the top seed for the NCAA Division I men's lacrosse tournament. The field was announced Sunday night on ESPNU. The Big Ten champion Terps had the No. 1 RPI and No. 1 strength of schedule, according to LaxPower, and will host the winner of a play-in game between MAAC champion Monmouth and Northeast Conference champion Bryant next Sunday in College Park.
The Terps' path to championship weekend will not be easy, however, as the other half of their pod features two of the hottest teams in the country in eighth-seeded Albany and defending NCAA champion North Carolina. The Great Danes, despite a No. 3 RPI, drew the toughest first-round matchup among seeded teams in the Tar Heels, who rallied from below .500 to win the ACC championship with wins over Syracuse and Notre Dame.
"We talked about it being a basketball bracket of 64 and we started that weekend," North Carolina coach Joe Breschi said on the selection show. "We had six games ahead of us to reach our goals."
"To win a national championship is not going to be easy for any team," Great Danes coach Scott Marr said. "Playing the defending national champions, you really can't ask for anything more than that. We're two of the faster teams in the country. It should be entertaining, for sure."
The NCAA committee strayed somewhat from the RPI rankings, opting to seed Denver fifth despite dropping to No. 8 in RPI after its upset loss to Marquette in the Big East semifinals. The Pioneers will draw a geographically friendly first-round matchup with Southern Conference champion Air Force. Opposite them are fourth-seeded Notre Dame — which limps into the tournament with two straight losses and injuries to star players Ryder Garnsey (foot) and Sergio Perkovic (wrist) — and the aforementioned Marquette.
Big Ten runner-up Ohio State drew the third seed but a tricky first-round opponent in Patriot League champion Loyola, a 2016 NCAA semifinalist featuring Tewaaraton candidate Pat Spencer. The winner of that game will face either sixth-seeded Johns Hopkins or Duke in the quarterfinals.
Anchoring the bracket, Penn State is the fourth Big Ten team to get a first-round home game. The seventh-seeded Nittany Lions will host CAA champion Towson, with the winner advancing to play either second-seeded Syracuse or Ivy League champion Yale.
US Lacrosse Magazine bracketologist Patrick Stevens correctly projected the 17-team field and five of the eight first-round pairings.
Newark, Del.
(1) Maryland (12-3) vs.
Bryant (10-7)/Monmouth (14-3)
(8) Albany (14-2) vs. North Carolina (8-7)
Hempstead, N.Y.
(5) Denver (11-3) vs. Air Force (12-5)
(4) Notre Dame (8-5) vs. Marquette (8-7)
Hempstead, N.Y.
(3) Ohio State (13-4) vs. Loyola (10-5)
(6) Johns Hopkins (8-6) vs. Duke (12-4)
Newark, Del.
(7) Penn State (12-3) vs. Towson (10-4)
(2) Syracuse (10-5) vs. Yale (12-3)
Division II
The Northeast-10 conference swept all four North Region bids and Wingate will make its NCAA tournament debut in the South.
In the North, top-seeded Adelphi will play fourth-seeded Pace and second-seeded Le Moyne will meet third-seeded Merrimack each for the third time this season. These were the same pairings for the NE-10 semifinals this weekend.
Adelphi and Pace split their two previous meetings, with the Setters' 10-6 victory April 11 in Garden City constituting their biggest win of the season. The Panthers avenged the loss in the conference semifinals Friday before bowing out to Le Moyne 7-2 in the championship game Sunday.
The conference champion Dolphins have defeated the Warriors, who ascended to the No. 1 ranking in the Nike/US Lacrosse Division II Men's Top 20 before faltering this weekend, seven times in the last three years.
In the South, if Wingate and Lenoir-Rhyne want to continue their historic seasons, they will need to get through Limestone and Tampa, respectively.
North Region
(1) Adelphi (14-3) vs. (4) Pace (12-3)
(2) Le Moyne (14-2) vs. (3) Merrimack (13-3)
South Region
(1) Limestone (18-1) vs. (4) Wingate (13-3)
(2) Lenoir-Rhyne (12-2) vs. (3) Tampa (14-4)
Bracket
Division III
Salisbury and RIT may have stumbled, but both perennial powers finished strong and were selected to anchor the South and North regions, respectively, of the 34-team bracket.
South Region
In addition to Salisbury, homestanding teams in the round of 32 include Hampden-Sydney, Cabrini, Franklin & Marshall, Denison, Aurora, Lynchburg and York. Hampden-Sydney and Franklin & Marshall each are making their first NCAA tournament appearances since 2003 after surprise runs to the ODAC and Centennial Conference championships, respectively.
Salisbury (17-1) vs. Misericordia (12-3)/Lasell (13-3)
Hampden-Sydney (15-5) vs. Transylvania (13-3)
Cabrini (15-3) vs. Colorado College (10-5)
Franklin & Marshall (15-2) vs. Elizabethtown (14-3)
Denision (15-1) vs. Carthage (16-4)
Aurora (18-2) vs. Illinois Wesleyan (15-3)
Lynchburg (13-6) vs. Sewanee (10-6)
York (16-3) vs. Morrisville State (10-5)
North Region
RIT's season-ending winning streak included a win over St. Lawrence in the Liberty League championship game. Both teams will have home games in the round of 32. Despite being upset by Plattsburgh in the SUNYAC championship game, Cortland also will be at home. As will Stevenson. The remaining four gome games went to NESCAC squads, including conference champion Wesleyan, Tufts, Amherst and Bates.
RIT (16-2) vs. John Carroll (12-4)/Albion (15-3)
Stevenson (13-5) vs. Nazareth (11-8)
Cortland (15-2) vs. Endicott (10-7)
St. Lawrence (15-2) vs. Montclair State (11-7)
Bates (14-1) vs. Plattsburgh (12-5)
Amherst (12-4) vs. Springfield (12-4)
Tufts (12-5) vs. Keene State (14-3)
Wesleyan (17-1) vs. New England College (13-5)