[SPORTS] NCAA Lacrosse Preview 2010

A lot of fanfare is made about the beginning of NCAA basketball and football seasons in the summer and fall respectively. Often overlooked by mainstream audiences are sports like Hockey, Baseball and lacrosse. Baseball and Hockey are pretty much only shown to a national audience during their respective post season tournaments. But college lacrosse (as of late) is more visible than ever.

It may still be winter, but some NCAA spring sports are starting up this week. Baseball may be America’s past time, but the college sport I care the most about is lacrosse. That’s because (on top of my work for thefatherlife) I write about professional and college lacrosse for Inside Lacrosse Magazine.

There has never been a better time to get on the lacrosse bandwagon. Don’t worry; I won’t judge you for getting in on it while it’s hot. Lacrosse is the fastest growing sport in the U.S. (at the youth level) and gets more and more national media coverage every season. In 2008 ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU broadcast just under fifty Division I games. Last year, they upped it to just under sixty games. This season, they have fifty-seven games on tap as well as (for the fourth year in a row) every NCAA tournament game.

Some of the key games this season include: defending champion Syracuse at Virginia on March 6th, North Carolina at Duke on March 10th, Syracuse at Johns Hopkins on March 20th, Johns Hopkins at Virginia (ESPN2) on March 27th, Virginia at Maryland on April 3rd, Navy at Maryland on April 10th and Cornell at Princeton on Mat 1st. All of these games can be seen nationally.

The Syracuse Orange are the two-time defending national champions. They beat Johns Hopkins 13-10 in 2008 and won a 10-9 barnburner in overtime over Cornell last season. Clearly, they are the team to beat to start the year. But, teams like Duke, Virginia, Hopkins and Cornell (as well as many others) will be vying for their shot at  national championship.

CHRIS OSBURN’S NCAA LAX POWER RANKINGS

1. Syracuse

2. Duke

3. Virginia

4. Johns Hopkins

5. Cornell

6. North Carolina

7. Maryland

8. Princeton

9. Hofstra

10. Notre Dame

11. Navy

12. UMBC

13. Harvard

14. Loyola

15. Georgetown

16. Brown

17. Umass

18. Albany

19. Bucknell

20. Denver

21. Ohio State

22. Villanova

23. Towson

24. Penn State

25. Delaware

Check out ESPNU’s schedule for this season to a find some games you may want to check out:

Date Time (ET) Game
Fri, Feb 19 5 p.m. Manhattan at Johns Hopkins
Tue, Feb 23 5 p.m. Delaware at Johns Hopkins
Sat, Feb 27 Noon Hofstra at Princeton
2 p.m. Maryland at Georgetown
Sun, Feb 28 Noon Siena at Johns Hopkins
Sat, Mar 6 11 a.m. Konica Minolta Face-Off Classic: Duke at Maryland
1:30 p.m. Konica Minolta Face-Off Classic: Princeton vs. Johns Hopkins
4 p.m. Syracuse at Virginia (ESPN360.com)
Sun, Mar 7 12:30 a.m. North Carolina at UMBC
Tue, Mar. 9 11:30 p.m. UMBC at Johns Hopkins
Wed, Mar. 10 4 p.m. Towson at Johns Hopkins (women)
7 p.m. North Carolina at Duke
Sat, Mar 13 11 a.m. Towson at Maryland
2 p.m. Georgetown at Syracuse
Sat, Mar 20 2 p.m. Maryland at UMBC
8 p.m. Syracuse at Johns Hopkins
Sun, Mar 21 Noon Virginia at Towson
Sat, Mar 27 Noon Johns Hopkins at Virginia (ESPN2)
Noon Duke at Georgetown
2 p.m. Maryland at North Carolina
Sun, Mar 28 2 a.m. Towson at Loyola (Md.)
Sat, Apr 3 Noon North Carolina at Johns Hopkins
8 p.m. Virginia at Maryland
Sat, Apr 10 Noon Navy at Maryland
2 p.m. Albany at Johns Hopkins
4 p.m. Konica Minolta Big City Classic: North Carolina at Virginia
6:30 p.m. Konica Minolta Big City Classic: Princeton at Syracuse
Sun, Apr 11 Noon Notre Dame at Georgetown
Sat, Apr 17 Noon Georgetown at Loyola (Md.)
4 p.m. Smartlink Day of Rivals: Navy vs. Army
6:30 p.m. Smartlink Day of Rivals: Maryland vs. Johns Hopkins
8:30 p.m. Duke at Virginia
Sun, Apr 18 6 p.m. Syracuse at Rutgers
Sat, Apr 24 11 a.m. ESPNU Warrior Lacrosse Invitational: Massachusetts vs. Georgetown
1:30 p.m. ESPNU Warrior Lacrosse Invitational: Denver vs. Fairfield
Sun, Apr 25 5 p.m. Penn State at Towson
Wed, Apr 28 7 p.m. Towson at Johns Hopkins
Sat, May 1 Noon Hartford at UMBC
5 p.m. Cornell at Princeton
7 p.m. Syracuse at Notre Dame
Sun, May 2 Noon Ohio State at Johns Hopkins (women)
Sat, May 8 Noon Johns Hopkins at Loyola (Md.)

2010 NCAA Division I Men’s Lacrosse Championship Coverage on ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU

Date Time (ET) Game Network
Sat, May 15 Noon NCAA First Round – Game 1 (TBD) ESPNU
2:30 p.m. NCAA First Round – Game 2 (TBD) ESPNU
5 p.m. NCAA First Round – Game 3 (TBD) ESPNU
7:30 p.m. NCAA First Round – Game 4 (TBD) ESPNU
Sun, May 16 Noon NCAA First Round – Game 5 (TBD) ESPNU
2:30 p.m. NCAA First Round – Game 6 (TBD) ESPNU
5 p.m. NCAA First Round – Game 7 (TBD) ESPNU
7:30 p.m. NCAA First Round – Game 8 (TBD) ESPNU
Sat, May 22 Noon Quarterfinal # 1 – Princeton, N.J. ESPNU
2:30 p.m. Quarterfinal #2 – Princeton, N.J. ESPNU
Sun, May 23 Noon Quarterfinal #3 – Stony Brook, N.Y. ESPNU
2:30 p.m. Quarterfinal #4 – Stony Brook, N.Y. ESPNU
Sat, May 29 4 p.m. Semifinal #1 – M&T Bank Stadium (Baltimore) ESPN2
6:30 p.m. Semifinal #2 – M&T Bank Stadium ESPN2
Mon, May 31 3:30 p.m. NCAA National Championship – M&T Bank Stadium ESPN

*Also check your local TV listings for teams in your area. Syracuse, Hobart and RIT (D-III) are shown often where I live.

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