2023 NCAA Championship Bracket

[TNLAX]

Does an 8-8 JHU team really belong in the field?

[Seacoaster(1)]

Does an 8-8 JHU team really belong in the field?

I confess I don't follow the B1G very carefully, but I am surprised that it got five teams into the tournament: NU, MD, PSU, Michigan and JHU. I am sure there is some chemical equation of RPI and SOS and other stuff that might explain it it, but this seems pretty odd. JHU has the least cogent explanation, seems to me.

[thedisciple516]

Any chance Notre Dame picks off Florida in the round of 16?

Sure. They seem evenly matched based on scoreboard comparisons (never an exact science though).

[LaxPundit07]

Does an 8-8 JHU team really belong in the field?

Back in the day, the NCAA used the last six games of a teams season as part of their evaluation. If still true, then I guess you could make a decent argument for Hop based on those games.

[jeremyfallis]

Hopkins wasn't even among the last 4 teams in the field. A top 20 RPI, a top 10 SOS, several wins against teams in the field. They ticked off every box asked of all teams to make the tournament.

[Womenslaxxfan]

Agreed. Nice work Jeremy on picking the teams in the field. I am going to stop trying to build a bracket as some of the geographic calls make no sense at all. This is a particulru great field as all of the AQs except two have RPIs of 26 or lower…

[PhanLax99]

Penn State just set a new standard for lowest RPI to get in. They lost to Vanderbilt but beat Maryland. Guess who is on the committee.....Cathy Reese. Guess who Penn State lost to twice (once in convincing fashion), JHU who is only 8-8 but was a lock in the field. Now JHU is considered an elite win which leads to a team that didn't make the CAA championship being in the field by beating them...Drexel. All roads lead to Maryland as Drexel plays MD in the first round!

[Womenslaxxfan]

I’m not sure you’re correct in psu being the lowest at large RPI ever even though, as a 29 team field versus 26, it is more likely that a lower rpi than usual would get an at large bid.

But a top 10 win goes a long way in sorting the last couple of at large spots and neither nova nor navy had anything close.
I like penn state in the field. Their upside is proven to be higher than navy or novas.

I am not on the committee and not Cathy Reese….but still had them in….

[jeremyfallis]

I’m not sure you’re correct in psu being the lowest at large RPI ever even though, as a 29 team field versus 26, it is more likely that a lower rpi than usual would get an at large bid.

But a top 10 win goes a long way in sorting the last couple of at large spots and neither nova nor navy had anything close.
I like penn state in the field. Their upside is proven to be higher than navy or novas.

I am not on the committee and not Cathy Reese….but still had them in….

I think this was in reference to the fact that Penn State is the highest RPI team to make the field as an at-large team at 32. Previously, it was Louisville at 31 in 2017 when the field was 26. This happened to be a year with a lot of AQs in the 20-30 range, shifting the bubble down a little bit. Last year the committee didn't even consider teams at 30 or below and didn't select anyone below 25.

There just isn't an argument for Villanova, Navy, Towson or Yale when they either didn't beat anyone of substance (Nova) or lost multiple games to teams that didn't make the field. This was one of the more clear-cut bubbles we've ever had, it was just a matter of if this committee liked quality wins more than RPI, which hasn't always been the case (remember Arizona State?).

[Lax101]

Any chance Notre Dame picks off Florida in the round of 16?

Very interesting and fun game. ND slightly better in my opinion. Florida struggled with ECU this week but Florida home and has lots of talent as well. If Florida follows BC defensive game plan vs ND the odds shift toward Florida, but very winnable game for ND.

[Lax101]

Do people see one bracket as much harder or easier than others?

[Old Bay addict]

JMO, but women’s lacrosse, is one of the fastest, growing sport in the country, so give it its full due and seed a full bracket to 32 teams, with the entire bracket fully seeded so we know what seed, USC, Notre Dame, and Maryland actually are. Take out the regional factor. No other NCAA tournament takes into account regional factors that I am aware. This past winter in women’s basketball, Hawaii played in Greenville South Carolina in a first round game. You still have to pay for lodging, and meals. Yes, the transportation cost could increase somewhat, but I don’t think any of the male sports are worried about or have to conform with seeding rules regarding school location/travel when they seed their brackets.

[Dasher]

Hopkins wasn't even among the last 4 teams in the field. A top 20 RPI, a top 10 SOS, several wins against teams in the field. They ticked off every box asked of all teams to make the tournament.

Looking at Hopkins's schedule 5 of their 8 losses were to top 10 teams. Pretty bold scheduling for a first-year coach.

[Womenslaxxfan]

JMO, but women’s lacrosse, is one of the fastest, growing sport in the country, so give it its full due and seed a full bracket to 32 teams, with the entire bracket fully seeded so we know what seed, USC, Notre Dame, and Maryland actually are. Take out the regional factor. No other NCAA tournament takes into account regional factors that I am aware. This past winter in women’s basketball, Hawaii played in Greenville South Carolina in a first round game. You still have to pay for lodging, and meals. Yes, the transportation cost could increase somewhat, but I don’t think any of the male sports are worried about or have to conform with seeding rules regarding school location/travel when they seed their brackets.

Agree 100 percent.

[laxfan22]

I know no one care about d3 but the ncaa bracket is criminal. Some good teams left off for an 11-5 DePauw team and mount union lol sorry girls at Amherst, haverford, Williams, Ithaca, etc., you don’t really matter.

[TNLAX]

JMO, but women’s lacrosse, is one of the fastest, growing sport in the country, so give it its full due and seed a full bracket to 32 teams, with the entire bracket fully seeded so we know what seed, USC, Notre Dame, and Maryland actually are. Take out the regional factor. No other NCAA tournament takes into account regional factors that I am aware. This past winter in women’s basketball, Hawaii played in Greenville South Carolina in a first round game. You still have to pay for lodging, and meals. Yes, the transportation cost could increase somewhat, but I don’t think any of the male sports are worried about or have to conform with seeding rules regarding school location/travel when they seed their brackets.

Agree 100 percent.

I don't know about this. There are only 120 D1 college lacrosse teams. If you had a field of 32 teams, that means 30% of the teams make the tournament. Compare that to womens basketball which has 351 teams, and a 64 team bracket means 18% of the teams make the tournament.

Kind of dumb downs making the tournament if you have a field of 32. At least in NCAA basketball there are upsets during the tournament. When was the last time there was a major upset in the womens lacrosse tournament? There may have been a few, but I don't recall any major ones.

[Womenslaxxfan]

With 15 aqs you need a big tourney……
So going from 29 to 32 isn’t a big deal.
Btw, I’m more interested in the full seeding 1-x without regard to travel than in the big field.
With 15 aq you need a field of at least 26 to make sure the tourney isn’t too weighted with bad aq winners.

Women’s lax has 126 programs. 32 would be roughly 1 in 4 teams. Seems high on the margin but AQs are how you grow the sport collegiately…

[Brownlax]

JMO, but women’s lacrosse, is one of the fastest, growing sport in the country, so give it its full due and seed a full bracket to 32 teams, with the entire bracket fully seeded so we know what seed, USC, Notre Dame, and Maryland actually are. Take out the regional factor. No other NCAA tournament takes into account regional factors that I am aware. This past winter in women’s basketball, Hawaii played in Greenville South Carolina in a first round game. You still have to pay for lodging, and meals. Yes, the transportation cost could increase somewhat, but I don’t think any of the male sports are worried about or have to conform with seeding rules regarding school location/travel when they seed their brackets.

Agree 100 percent.

I don't know about this. There are only 120 D1 college lacrosse teams. If you had a field of 32 teams, that means 30% of the teams make the tournament. Compare that to womens basketball which has 351 teams, and a 64 team bracket means 18% of the teams make the tournament.

Kind of dumb downs making the tournament if you have a field of 32. At least in NCAA basketball there are upsets during the tournament. When was the last time there was a major upset in the womens lacrosse tournament? There may have been a few, but I don't recall any major ones.

The women’s NCAA Tournament is not getting rid of regional matchups. It’s how they save money on a tournament that does not make them any money.

[Matnum PI]

Bunch of games today...

https://www.insidelacrosse.com/league/WDI/scores

1 Denver #4 vs #16 USC 05/12/2023
2 James Madison #6 vs #22 Army 05/12/2023
3 Richmond #15 vs #17 Marquette 05/12/2023
4 Florida #7 vs #27 Jacksonville 05/12/2023
5 Maryland #9 vs #26 Drexel 05/12/2023
6 Penn #14 vs #21 UConn 05/12/2023
7 Stony Brook #11 vs #24 Penn State 05/12/2023
8 Notre Dame #10 vs #28 Mercer 05/12/2023
9 Johns Hopkins #19 vs #20 UMass 05/12/2023
10 Virginia #12 vs #37 UAlbany 05/12/2023
11 Loyola #8 vs #52 Fairfield 05/12/2023
12 North Carolina #5 vs #90 Sacred Heart 05/12/2023
13 Michigan #13 vs #101 Central Michigan 05/12/2023

[madlaxer59]

Bunch of games today...

https://www.insidelacrosse.com/league/WDI/scores

1 Denver #4 vs #16 USC 05/12/2023
2 James Madison #6 vs #22 Army 05/12/2023
3 Richmond #15 vs #17 Marquette 05/12/2023
4 Florida #7 vs #27 Jacksonville 05/12/2023
5 Maryland #9 vs #26 Drexel 05/12/2023
6 Penn #14 vs #21 UConn 05/12/2023
7 Stony Brook #11 vs #24 Penn State 05/12/2023
8 Notre Dame #10 vs #28 Mercer 05/12/2023
9 Johns Hopkins #19 vs #20 UMass 05/12/2023
10 Virginia #12 vs #37 UAlbany 05/12/2023
11 Loyola #8 vs #52 Fairfield 05/12/2023
12 North Carolina #5 vs #90 Sacred Heart 05/12/2023
13 Michigan #13 vs #101 Central Michigan 05/12/2023

Just don’t go by the times listed on ILW some are wrong and they never update .