2012 NCAA Lacrosse Tournament Final Four Open Thread: (Unseeded) Maryland at (3) Duke

Game time!

With only 61 teams in Division I and the elite tending to want to hang out with each other at least once during the regular season, avoiding rematches in the NCAA lacrosse tournament is kind of a difficult thing to accomplish. This evening, Duke and Maryland will square off in a rematch of a rematch, a rubber game in which the Terrapins and Blue Devils will settle a 1-1 deadlock between the schools on the year. The result of this game may cause the universe to swallow itself from within, leaving nothing but a Memorial Day Weekend hamburger floating in the vacuum that was existence.

It's an ACC showdown in Foxborough, Massachusetts -- Don't you want in on this, Boston College? -- and ESPN2 and ESPN3 will show you the graphic and disturbing video. And, in case you didn't know, Duke head coach John Danowski would probably rather have this game played somewhere near Port Jefferson, New York.

Here are a couple of things to keep an eye on today:

• Everyone on the planet knows that Maryland is going to try and push the pace of this game into ground. The issue, though, is this: If Duke starts to dominate the possession game, will the Terrapins be forced to press if they fall behind? Pragmatism is Maryland's calling card, and if the Blue Devils want to avoid playing long defensive possessions, disruption through sharp offensive efficiency generated through extra offensive possessions may be the best means to that end.
• There is a strong possibility that a lot of this game eventually gets decided on which team's special situation units perform the strongest. Both Maryland and Duke are prone to playing in man-down situations; whichever set of personnel imbalance units can survive and thrive may control how this game shakes out.
• I once at three whole lobsters for dinner. I weigh 165 pounds. See you on Coney Island on the Fourth of July.

Anyway, here's how the game shakes out on the Fun Factor scale:

This is your open thread for the game. Rock and roll is evil. Remember: If you haven't yet, give a "like" to College Crosse over on Facebook and make sure to give a follow to College Crosse on Twitter.

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