May 4, 2008
by Matt DaSilva, Lacrosse Magazine Online Staff
How big is Brown?
Big Brown won the 134th Kentucky Derby from a No. 20 post, yes. But can little Brown, the Ivy League tri-champion from Providence, R.I., qualify for the 38th NCAA Division I men's lacrosse tournament by virtue of its big win over Princeton?
As mainstream sports enthusiasts begin their annual infatuation with horses and the Triple Crown, the Lilliputians of lacrosse turn their attention to Selection Sunday. The 2008 NCAA tournament field stands to be the least predictable after a number of eye-opening results Saturday.
Brown beat Princeton, giving Cornell the Ivy League's automatic berth and putting both of them on the precarious bubble. Colgate stunned Syracuse, Army gagged against Penn, and Hofstra upended Drexel in the CAA championship game.
Oh, the irony and agony.
The selections will be announced at 9 p.m. on ESPNU, which, for many cable subscribers, means scouring the Web to find the field.
Colgate, Cornell, Hofstra, Loyola, UMBC have all secured their respective conferences' automatic qualifiers, with the GWLL (Ohio State vs. Notre Dame, 12 p.m.) and MAAC (VMI vs. Canisius, 2 p.m.) bids to be determined today, leaving nine at-large berths.
Four will go to ACC teams Duke, Maryland, North Carolina and Virginia. Add independents Johns Hopkins, which won its final five games to play back into a probable seed, and Syracuse, as locks. As the only team to beat Duke this season, Georgetown appeared to be sitting pretty for a seed before getting knocked off Saturday by Penn State. While the Hoyas' RPI holds, they probably lost the seed.
That leaves two at-large berths to be siphoned from the GWLL runner-up, Brown, Princeton, Army and Navy. Saturday's wins by Hofstra and Penn help Brown a bit, while Colgate's win bolsters the Patriot League hopefuls.
I'm going with Brown and the GWLL runner-up - be it Ohio State or Notre Dame (but definitely if it's Notre Dame) - leaving Navy and Princeton on the outside looking in.
Of course, St. John's could beat Duke today and throw everyone's RPI out of whack, leaving all prognosticators speechless in the grandstands as the horses cross the finish line - but I wouldn't hedge my bets.
Contact Matt DaSilva at mdasilva@uslacrosse.org.
