Defending national champion Maryland is the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Division I men’s lacrosse tournament and will host the winner of a play-in game between MAAC champion Canisius and NEC representative Robert Morris. The bracket was finalized Sunday and unveiled on ESPNU.

With Yale and Denver falling in their conference championship games this weekend and thus landing in the at-large pool, the bubble boiled down to four teams —Bucknell, Rutgers, Ohio State and Villanova — for one spot. Villanova got it and will play at No. 4 seed Duke in a first-round game.

WE ARE NCAA TOURNAMENT BOUND! #GoNova pic.twitter.com/uFSpVcmRh0

— Villanova Men's Lax (@NovaLacrosse) May 7, 2018

The Wildcats boast an early-season top-five RPI win over Yale, but struggled down the stretch, getting blown out by Denver and losing twice to Georgetown. All three Big East teams are in the tournament, giving the conference more selections than the vaunted Big Ten (two).

Contrarily, Ohio State heated up late, defeating Big Ten foes Michigan, Maryland and Rutgers before Johns Hopkins edged the Buckeyes 6-5 in the conference semifinals.

“Looking at Villanova, we went through a series of pretty close assessments and analyses,” said John Hart, chair of the NCAA men’s lacrosse committee, during the ESPNU broadcast.  “We gave them credit for their quadrant-one win over Yale. Of the group they had the best non-conference strength of schedule…the best RPI and also the best win-loss record. Drilling down further on RPI, they had very strong average RPI wins and losses.”

ESPN analyst Quint Kessenich questioned how Villanova could qualify with a negative scoring margin for the season (opponents have outscored the Wildcats 165-161) and devastating injuries at the goalie and faceoff positions and without defeating an opponent that finished with a winning record since February.

“Unfortunately, the eye test and how a team is trending down the stretch isn’t a part of our criteria,” Hardt replied.

Another surprise was Syracuse as the No. 8 seed, getting a home game despite losing in the ACC semifinals and losing head-to-head by five goals to its first-round opponent, Cornell. Hardt pointed out that the Orange went undefeated in the ACC during the regular season, notching impressive wins over Duke, Notre Dame and Virginia, while the Big Red, despite upsetting Yale in the Ivy League championship game, had significant blemishes in losses to Princeton and Colgate.

There are three other first-round matchups that are rematches of games from the regular season — No. 3 seed Yale vs. UMass, No. 6 seed Loyola vs. Virginia and No. 7 seed Notre Dame vs. Denver.

Albany, the darling for most of the season, still earned the No. 2 seed despite an ugly regular season loss at UMBC and a blowout loss at Yale. Playing without injured star Connor Fields, the Great Danes nonetheless defeated Vermont handily in the America East final Saturday and will host Richmond.

Winning the Big Ten championship did not bolster Johns Hopkins’ standing as much as anticipated, as the Blue Jays drew the No. 5 seed and will host Big East champion Georgetown in the first round.

FULL BRACKET: @TerpsMLax get the seed and will face either @RMUMLacrosse or @GriffsMLax in the first round. Who's ready for May Madness? pic.twitter.com/Q3cZLrUwKe

— US Lacrosse Magazine (@USLacrosseMag) May 7, 2018

NCAA DIVISION I
MEN’S LACROSSE BRACKET

Annapolis, Md.

(1) Maryland vs. Robert Morris/Canisius
(8) Syracuse vs. Cornell

Annapolis, Md.

(5) Johns Hopkins vs. Georgetown
(4) Duke vs. Villanova

Hempstead, N.Y.

(3) Yale vs. UMass
(6) Loyola vs. Virginia

Hempstead, N.Y.

(7) Notre Dame vs. Denver
(2) Albany vs. Richmond

New Blood in Division II Tournament

In the 25 years since the NCAA reinstated the Division II men’s lacrosse tournament, five teams — Adelphi, Le Moyne, Limestone, LIU Post and NYIT — have combined to win all but three national titles.

If the eight-team bracket released Sunday is any indication, however, a changing of the guard is at hand.

Field of eight teams has been announced for the Men's #D2Lax Championship: https://t.co/8SPg4DbsqH!

Interactive bracket https://t.co/IXiIME7i30 pic.twitter.com/T0YHcTJ7oL

— NCAA Division II (@NCAADII) May 6, 2018

For one, there will be a first-time finalist out of the South.

Defending NCAA champion and South Region standard-bearer Limestone is not in the field. Instead, Lenoir-Rhyne is the top seed despite losing to Wingate in the SAC championship game. The Bears will draw fourth-seeded Colorado Mesa, the RMAC champion.

On the other half of the South bracket, Sunshine State Conference rivals Saint Leo, the third seed, and Tampa, the fourth seed, will meet for the third time this season. They split the first two meetings, with the Spartans getting the better of the Lions in the SSC championship game.

Lenoir-Rhyne, Colorado Message and Saint Leo are all first-time NCAA tournament participants.

The North Region will feature three mainstays — top-seeded Merrimack, third-seeded Le Moyne and fourth-seeded NYIT. The second seed, Seton Hill, is making its second NCAA tournament appearance after defeating Mercyhurst for the G-MAC championship Saturday. The Griffins’ only loss this season is to Lenoir-Rhyne.

RIT, Tufts, Salisbury, Gettysburg Anchor Division III Bracket

RIT, Tufts, Salisbury and Gettysburg earned first-round byes as the top four teams in the 36-team NCAA Division III men’s lacrosse bracket, which was announced Sunday.

RIT (18-0), the national runner-up a year ago, is the only undefeated team in the country and crushed Ithaca 23-3 in the Liberty League championship game Saturday — the fifth time the Tigers have eclipsed the 20-goal mark this season.

Tufts (16-1) completed the NESCAC gauntlet with a 12-9 win over Wesleyan in the conference championship game Sunday.

Salisbury (16-3), the two-time defending NCAA champion, have won 10 straight since a March 24 loss at York dropped the Sea Gulls to 6-3. Salisbury avenged that defeat in the CAC title game Saturday.

Gettysburg still managed to earn a bye despite getting upset by Dickinson 9-8 in the Centennial Conference championship game.