The Second Trip Down The 10 Circles Of Lacrosse

The conference tournaments are coming! Two of them happen this week, and the Patriot League gets things started tomorrow evening with Holy Cross-Navy and Lehigh-Boston University. The ACC Tournament begins Friday with North Carolina-Syracuse and Notre Dame-Duke.

For the other nine conferences, they have one week left in conference play before their conference tournaments begin.

Like last week, we’ll travel down each circle (conference) of lacrosse, just like Dante did with his circles of hell in his epic poem Dante’s Inferno, which was written in the 1400s. For a short summary, the author, Dante Alighieri, is also the main character and travels through the nine circles of hell with the ancient Roman poet Virgil. You can read the epic poem, but here’s a graphic for you as well.

All teams in bold have clinched spots in their respective conference tournament. At-large teams must be at or above .500 in order to qualify.

ACC

1. Syracuse (4-0) (clinched ACC regular season title)
2. Duke (3-1)
3. Notre Dame (2-2)
4. North Carolina (1-3)
5. Virginia (0-4)

Pretty much, North Carolina has to win the ACC Tournament to be considered for an at-large bid, and that still might not be enough to get in. Syracuse, Duke, and Notre Dame are locks in my eyes.

Patriot League

1. Loyola (6-2)
2. Army West Point (6-2)
3. Boston University (5-3)
4. Navy (4-4)
5. Holy Cross (4-4)
6. Lehigh (4-4)
7. Colgate (3-5)
8. Bucknell (3-5)
9. Lafayette (1-7)

With Army losing their second straight, the Patriot League is a one-bid conference. If Loyola loses at home, they shouldn’t be considered for an at-large spot. If Army loses, they do have Notre Dame next week in their season finale, but that might not be enough. Same scenario with BU, as they have Duke next weekend before their season concludes. I’m not sure if there’s a favorite to win the entire thing.

America East

1. Albany (5-0)
2. UMBC (3-2)
3. Binghamton (3-2)
4. Stony Brook (3-2)
5. Hartford (2-3)
6. Vermont (1-4) (OUT)
7. UMass Lowell (1-5) (OUT)

UMBC joined Albany in the America East Tournament with a loss to Hartford on Saturday. But Binghamton and Stony Brook aren’t officially in just yet. Hartford can still get in with a win over Albany and a Vermont victory over UMBC. Binghamton plays Stony Brook this weekend.

Albany is the only locker, and is on the bubble regarding a possible spot as a seeded team. UMBC, Binghamton, Stony Brook, and Hartford would need to win the America East in order to get in.

Big East

1. Denver (4-0)
2. Providence (3-1)
3. Villanova (3-1)
4. Marquette (2-2)
5. St. John’s (0-4)
6. Georgetown (0-4)

With their win over St. John’s, Villanova is in the Big East Tournament, and also brought Marquette along with them. St. John’s and Georgetown are out. Denver has the top seed locked in with a blowout win over Providence, while the Friars and the Wildcats square off to decide the second and third seeds, so they’ll play twice in a span of a week-and-a-half. Both of those teams defeated Marquette in the regular season, so the Golden Eagles will be the fourth seed.

Denver is a lock, while Villanova is flirting with an at-large bid. I’d think they need to win the Big East Tournament in order to get in.

Big Ten

1. Ohio State (3-1)
2. Maryland (3-1)
3. Johns Hopkins (3-1)
4. Penn State (2-2)
5. Rutgers (1-3)
6. Michigan (0-4)

Penn State secured the final spot in the Big Ten Tournament with their huge win over Rutgers on Sunday. Now it just comes down to seeding. A win over Rutgers secures the top spot for Ohio State. If that happens, then the winner of Johns Hopkins-Maryland gets the two seed, and the loser gets the three seed. That means we’ll have The Rivalry played twice. Penn State plays Michigan (a gimmie win) and will be the four seed in that scenario.

If OSU loses and Penn State wins, the winner of Hopkins-Maryland will be the top seed, then it goes to regular season records (if we follow the tiebreaking procedure in men’s basketball). The second seed would be Penn State, followed by Ohio State, and the loser of Hopkins-Maryland. Again, this is applying the men’s basketball procedure.

I think all four Big Ten Tournament teams are locks to get in. Rutgers is on a bubble, and might not make the NCAA Tournament once again.

CAA

1. Towson (3-1)
2. Drexel (3-1)
3. Hofstra (3-1)
4. UMass (2-2)
5. Fairfield (1-3)
6. Delaware (0-4)

All four teams are set, but the seeds are still waiting to be determined. Towson and Hofstra square off, while Drexel and UMass tussle as well.

Here are the scenarios, with the teams in order by seed for each situation:

• If Towson and Drexel win, it will be Towson, Drexel, Hofstra, UMass.
• If Towson and UMass win, it will be Towson, followed by the teams with the fewest amount of conference goals allowed (UMass has 30, Hofstra has 35, Drexel has 40 at this time), unless this has changed.
• If Hofstra and Drexel win, it will be Drexel, Hofstra, Towson, UMass.
• If Hofstra and UMass win, it will be Hofstra, Towson (head-to-head wins over Drexel and UMass), UMass, Drexel.

I think Hofstra has a chance to be on the bubble, but I highly doubt that.

Ivy League

1. Yale (5-0)
2. Princeton (4-1)
3. Brown (3-2)
4. Penn (3-3)
5. Cornell (2-3)
6. Harvard (1-4)
7. Dartmouth (0-5)

Yale will host the Ivy League Tournament and will play Penn, while Princeton will take on Brown. At this point, only conference records are to be decided, as seeding has been locked in.

With Yale’s loss, they’re still a possible bubble team, but a win against the Great Danes would have helped immensely. Princeton is still on the bubble, but I think one Ivy team gets in at the end of the day.

MAAC

1. Monmouth (5-0)
2. Canisius (3-2)
3. Marist (3-2)
4. Siena (3-2)
5. Detroit Mercy (3-3)
6. Quinnipiac (1-4) (OUT)
7. Manhattan (0-5) (OUT)

Monmouth, Marist, and Canisius are all in, with Monmouth sealing the top seed in the MAAC Tournament. As for the final spot, it depends on how Siena does against Marist. A win would give the Saints a four-game winning streak after starting the season 0-10, but also the final spot in the MAAC Tournament. A loss puts Detroit Mercy in.

No team will be able to get an at-large birth, so the conference tournament is the only way to get in the NCAA Tournament.

NEC

1. Robert Morris (4-1)
2. Hobart (4-1)
3. Bryant (4-2)
4. Sacred Heart (3-2)
5. Wagner (1-4)
6. Mount St. Mary’s (1-4)
7. St. Joe’s (1-4)

The top spot and host in the NEC Tournament is up for grabs this weekend as Robert Morris plays host to Hobart. A Colonial win gives RMU the top seed and Bryant will be the second seed. The tiebreaker in the NEC after head-to-head record against tying teams is head-to-head against the top seeded team. Sacred Heart would be third with a win against Wagner in this scenario, and Hobart would be fourth. If Hobart wins, the Statesmen get the top seed, followed by Bryant, Robert Morris, and Sacred Heart.

Again, no team will be able to get an at-large birth, so the conference tournament is the only way to get in the NCAA Tournament.

SoCon

1. Furman (6-0)
2. Air Force (5-1)
3. Richmond (5-1)
4. Bellarmine (3-3)
5. High Point (2-4)
6. Jacksonville (2-4)
7. Mercer (1-5) (OUT)
8. VMI (0-6) (OUT)

The fourth and final SoCon spot is up for grabs, with Bellarmine controlling their own destiny. A win for the Knights puts them as the four seed in the SoCon Tournament, while a loss kicks them out. If this happens and High Point beats Air Force, the Panthers are in, but a loss gives Jacksonville the final seed. As for the top seed, a Furman win over Richmond locks them up as number one, followed by Air Force and aforementioned Richmond A loss means things get murky. Like the CAA, there’s no public document regarding a lacrosse tiebreaker, so we’ll use football’s model and go with fewest goals allowed in league play. Currently, Air Force has given up 30 goals and would be the top seed, followed by Richmond (40 goals), and Furman (43 goals)

With Richmond’s loss to Air Force, the SoCon is definitely a one-bid league, and there’s no way Richmond gets an at-large bid.