2015 NEC Lacrosse Tournament: THE FACEOFF

A little under a year ago, Bryant made its way to The Big Barbeque's quarterfinal round while simultaneously sending John Desko into an insane fit over the state of faceoffs in lacrosse. After that triumph, things were projected to be pretty easy for the Bulldogs in the Northeast Conference in 2015 -- Bryant started the season with a comfortable ranking in the polls, partly based on the team's domination of the NEC in prior seasons.

Except it wasn't. Bryant limped to a 6-9 regular season record, putting up a solid 4-2 conference mark, but still nowhere near the unmitigated charge people were expecting. Instead, St. Joseph's became the conference's standout team, going 10-5 overall and stringing together an unblemished run in NEC competition. Hobart turned some heads, too, picking up the two-seed in the league's postseason event. Sadly, as close as the Seahawks came to making it an appearance in the NEC Tournament, Wagner will not participate in the fun in Philly, instead passed over by Mount St. Mary's (which made the tournament on the strength of a head-to-head win against Sacred Heart).

No matter who wins this, there's always the potential for a charmed run in the biggest tournament of them all.