After more than three months of play, the college lacrosse regular season is wrapped up with the conference tournaments just hours ahead of the selection of the field of 18 teams that will fight it out for the national championship.
The committee selecting the bracket has its work cut out for it this season with 10 spots going to automatic qualifiers and competition among the Atlantic Coast Conference, Big Ten and Ivy League for the main contenders for at-large spots.
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So how will the decisions come down on Sunday night? Our bracket projection will try to answer those questions.
The results of the conference tournaments clarified some things. Richmond avoided an upset to eliminate potential bid thief St. Joseph’s in the Atlantic 10 final. Georgetown earned its place with a win in the Big East title game.
Notre Dame, despite a loss in the ACC semifinals, is the projected No. 1 overall seed. Princeton took the No. 2 spot with a dominating win in the Ivy League championship game against Cornell.
At the bottom of the bracket, Duke and Maryland earned the last at-large spots with Yale and Harvard predicted to fall just short after both lost in the Ivy League semifinals.
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NCAA lacrosse tournament bracket projection
Hempstead bracket
1. Notre Dame vs. Jacksonville/Robert Morris
8. Penn State vs. Georgetown
4. Richmond vs. Duke
5. Syracuse vs. Maryland
Dover bracket
2. Princeton vs. Stony Brook/Marist
3. North Carolina vs. Albany
6. Cornell vs. Army
7. Virginia vs. Johns Hopkins
When is the NCAA lacrosse selection show?
The NCAA men’s lacrosse field will be announced Sunday, May 3 at 9:30 p.m. ET on ESPNU.
When is the NCAA lacrosse tournament?
The tournament begins with two play-in games on Wednesday, May 6. First-round games will take place on Saturday, May 9 and Sunday, May 10 on campus sites of the higher seeds. Hofstra and Delaware will host quarterfinal matches on Saturday, May 16 and Sunday, May 17.
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The national semifinals will be held at Scott Stadium in Charlottesville, Virginia on Saturday, May 23 and the final will be held at the same location on Monday, May 25.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NCAA lacrosse bracket projection: Who will make the field of 18?
