Lacrosse?

Are you tired of watching college sports, knowing that the juggernaut team will always win? It’s time you started following the top division of collegiate men’s lacrosse. You may not be familiar with some of these schools being at the top of any sports list (Cornell?, Albany?), but those teams have certainly earned it so far this year. The Big Red of Cornell are currently ranked 1st in the nation. When is the last time you heard of Cornell’s football team (1-AA) or basketball team doing something great? The beauty of lacrosse is that its recent explosion in popularity has meant an explosion in talent. Everyone knows a kid that was a great basketball player. Did that kid ever do anything with his skills? There are nearly 300 Division I Men’s basketball teams, but you will probably hear of only 10 teams really competing for the championship in any given season. Lacrosse was like that in the not too distant past, but with the talent base growing, those great players can’t all attend the same few colleges. New opportunities are opening up for lesser known schools and the fans are in a postition to benefit. While the lacrosse world is still small and very interconnected, it’s never too late to jump on board.

So far, this year has seen something amazing. The #1 team has changed four consecutive weeks. The season started out with defending national champion Virginia being upset by Drexel…in Charlottesville, VA. The torch was then passed to Georgetown, but the pollsters voted Duke number one the following week. During the third week of the season, both Georgetown and Duke lost. The newest #1 team is Cornell. Albany is pushing them with victories over then #2 Johns Hopkins and then #10 Delaware. You might be thinking that at the end of the season the champion will be Hopkins, Syracuse, Duke, or Virginia, but don’t count out the new guys. Cornell lost 3 games by a total of 4 goals last year. Albany finished 8-7. However, during that season they beat national runner up Massachusetts, and hung tough with Syracuse and Hopkins.

Just because the top teams can't hang on to the top spot, that doesn't mean lacrosse is a weak game. Instead, this trend highlights a strength, specificically strength of schedule. Division I lacrosse teams pound on each other during the season, and it's a wonder they have any gas left for the playoffs. Despite not being able to take nearly any team lightly, we all love to see two heavyweights compete. The top 5 teams in the preseason poll were Virginia, Hopkins, Duke, Princeton, and Syracuse. Hopkins and Princeton have already played each other. Duke and Virginia meet later in the season in an ACC clash (and probably in the ACC tourney too). Syracuse plays Hopkins, Virginia, AND Princeton...oh, and they also play Massachusetts, Albany and Cornell. Eight of their thirteen games are against teams currently ranked, including 1, 2, and 3. Hopkins plays 10 out of 13 games against teams currently ranked. 2 of their 3 other games are against teams that were ranked at some point this season. When will you ever see those kinds of schedule in another sport? Wouldn’t you love to see a college football schedule with Ohio State playing Florida, LSU, and USC inside of a month and a half and THEN having to finish up with Michigan? You might be saying to yourself, "Nobody can go undefeated and who wants a 12-3 National Champion?" I’d take a 12-3 champion that played a tough schedule and won when it counted. Besides, Virginia went 17-0 last year with 11 games against teams that were ranked at the end of the year.

The next big lacrosse clash is Hopkins and Syracuse on St. Patty's Day, quickly followed by Duke and Cornell on the 20th. What channel you ask? Hopkins and Syracuse will probably make it on ESPNU because it’s a Saturday, but Duke and Cornell will go uncovered by TV. ESPNU carries some games on Saturdays, but without you loyal fans pushing to see this kind of action, it will be relegated behind bowling, baseball, and basketball (both men's and women's). Do you want to live in that kind of world? Besides, if you need any more encouragement to go watch some college lacrosse, there are crushing hits and mind boggling displays of athleticism each and every game. This sport has everything except your eyes. So, why aren’t YOU watching?