College Lacrosse Weekend Internet Talking Interface: April 21 and 22, 2012

Do you see that image up there. Yes? That's what gazing long into the abyss looks like. It is also gazing back at you.

There are 26 games on Saturday and two -- one a "championship," if you believe that championships exist for fake leagues -- on Sunday. It's a packed slate across the nation, with implications all over the place (like, how you're going to explain to your boyfriend or girlfriend that a walk in the park isn't happening today because your television isn't going to watch itself).

Here are your six highlights for the weekend:

• Albany at UMBC: Since starting the season endlessly winless, Albany has become one of the hottest teams in the America East. (That's not exactly a glowing endorsement of Albany, the America East, or heat.) UMBC lost its head-to-head with Stony Brook last weekend, but has a chance to pull itself back toward the top of the league table with a home date against the Great Danes. This is your moment to power slide, UMBC and Albany; don't waste it.
• Denver at Fairfield: This is where the ECAC separates the men from the boys and the boys from the bratty punks whose parents should have taught them some manners or something. Denver is looking for a win of any kind, Fairfield is looking for a win that isn't covered in rust, and America just wants to know if either is going to be an NCAA Tournament dietary supplement.
• Princeton at Harvard: Harvard did itself zero favors with its 13-11 loss last weekend against Pennsylvania. Cornell, Princeton, and Yale have already qualified for the Ivy League Tournament, and if the Crimson want to assure themselves of a spot at the table, a win today at home against Princeton would go a long way. There is, however, a bit of a problem for Harvard today: Princeton doesn't care about Harvard's problems. So, there's that.
• Georgetown at Syracuse: With a game in hand, the Hoyas are sitting behind St. John's for that precious four-seed at the Big East Tournament. Syracuse is tenuously holding down the tournament's three-seed at the moment and simply needs victories -- actual instead of moral would be preferential -- to even start thinking about an at-large NCAA Tournament invitation. You could have argued that this game would be big for both teams at the beginning of February, but I don't think it would have had this kind of context. (As in, this reeks of desperation.)
• Hofstra at Massachusetts // Drexel at Towson: THUNDERDOME! Four of the league's top-five teams are playing each other this weekend, although Hofstra (ROLL PRIDE! HOFBAMA!) likely has the most on the line as it holds exactly zero head-to-head tiebreakers against the teams in front of them on the table. This is where the magic violently happens, people.
• Duke at North Carolina: Catch yourself up, son.

And here's the rest of the slate for the weekend:

This is your open thread for Saturday and Sunday. It's going to be [insert your local weather forecast here], so make sure that you [wear a jacket/bring an umbrella/wear sunscreen/avoid the Godzilla attack].

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