The Boston College women's lacrosse team is having a tremendous season, posting an 11-1 record so far with 5 games remaining in the regular season. BC sits at #2 and #3 in the national polls, and atop the standings in the highly competitive ACC. If you're looking to jump on the bandwagon down the stretch, here's a quick primer on the postseason picture.
ACC Tournament: April 23-26, Charlottesville, VA
BC is still seeking its first ACC championship in a sport other than men's soccer. Women's lacrosse seems to be the best bet to deliver it, sitting atop the standings right now - but the conference is loaded, as always.
BC has two ACC games remaining: vs. Duke on Saturday, and at Virginia Tech next Saturday. If they win both, they will lock up the ACC tournament's #1 seed. All 8 teams make the conference tournament with a simple 1-8, 2-7, 3-6, 4-5 format.
Current standings:
1. BC 4-1
2. Duke 4-1
3. UNC 3-1
4. UVa 2-2
5. Louisville 1-2
6. Cuee 1-2
7. ND 1-3
8. Va. Tech 1-4
On paper, it certainly looks like Saturday's clash with Duke will go a long way in determining the ACC regular season title.
NCAA Tournament: Begins May 8; Final Four in Philadelphia May 22 & 24
26 teams make the NCAA tournament and it's safe to say BC has a spot pretty much locked up barring going completely in the tank down the stretch. However, BC is in position to potentially earn a top 6 seed, which would get them a first round bye.
The first round consists of 20 teams looking to play-in to the octofinal round of 16, with the top 6 awaiting them.
BC currently sits at #5 in the RPI rankings, behind Maryland, North Carolina, Northwestern and Syracuse, and just ahead of Stony Brook and Duke. (Lacrosse is finally an example of a sport where getting rid of Maryland and replacing them with Louisville is actually helpful to us for once...though Louisville is no slouch either, Maryland is always loaded.)
In addition to the top 6 first round bye cutoff, another big cutoff is #8, as the top 8 teams will have the opportunity to host round 2 of the tournament. Campus-sites host the tournament all the way up until the Final Four, which will be held at PPL Park just outside of Philadelphia.
Here's a look at BC's opponents' RPI rankings for the erst of the season:
4/4 Duke #8
4/7 Harvard #34
4/11 @Va. Tech #43
4/18 @UNH #46
4/23-26 ACC Tournament: ALL OF THE GOOD TEAMS
5/2, after the ACC tournament (weird) vs. BU: #65
So to re-state the obvious, if BC beats Duke this weekend they are in good shape. Good luck to the Eagles as they attempt to bring home ACC and national crowns. We're all behind you.