The Big Ten has vaulted to the top of college lacrosse. Make that a headline.
And it’s not just what the league has achieved, but how it did it—unexpectedly, emphatically, and, most importantly, quickly.
How quickly? The Big Ten didn’t start playing lacrosse as a league until the ’14-15 Academic Year. That’s right: this year.
Courtesy: laxbuzz.wordpress.com
Before then the record was spotty for Big Ten lacrosse teams. Only the Northwestern women (7 titles since ’05) have distinguished themselves in the sport. But NU did most of that winning as a Big Ten team playing in the American Lacrosse Conference.
And, while the Maryland women aren’t strangers to championship lacrosse (the Lady Terps have won 11 national titles since 1990), until last weekend (when they won the crown again) all the titles were earned as an Atlantic Coast Conference affiliate.
On the men’s side, only a handful of schools—Ohio State, Penn State, Michigan, and Michigan State—had fielded lacrosse teams.
Ohio State’s program, which began in the ‘50s, is the league’s only long-time, continuing lacrosse program. While Penn State’s program was born thirty years earlier than OSU’s, the Nittany Lions didn’t join the Big Ten until the ‘90s. Michigan’s program wasn’t founded until 2012. A fourth school, Michigan State, dropped its men’s program two decades ago.
So—with only three lacrosse-playing schools in place (as late as 2012)—how did the Big Ten make a big splash in college lacrosse?
Institutional additions is the answer.
Maryland (a national power) and Rutgers became Big Ten members in 2014, and Johns Hopkins (another national power) became a conference affiliate (lacrosse-only), also in 2014. Those three schools joined OSU, PSU, and Michigan—existing B1G lacrosse programs–to create a 6-team league.
The league’s official launch date was June 2013. That’s right: the Big Ten lined up its new lacrosse participants before they were admitted officially to the Big Ten Conference.
To give you an idea of just how new is this league, consider this: the conference’s first post-season tournament was held … well … just a few weeks ago – on April 30 and May 2 2015.
Courtesy: NCAA
That’s unreal, especially when you consider how well conference teams performed in the 2015 national tournaments–men’s and women’s.
For starters, Maryland represented the Big Ten in both championship games—men’s and women’s.
Four B1G women’s teams—Maryland, Northwestern, Penn State, and Ohio State—made the women’s championship field. The women’s teams did well. Only OSU lost a First Round game. Penn State and Northwestern played in Quarterfinal games (two B1G teams played each other, NU v. Maryland). And Maryland won the crown, beating UNC.
Three B1G men’s teams—Maryland, Johns Hopkins, and Ohio State—made the men’s championship field. The men’s teams did well. OSU upset perennial power Duke in Durham. Maryland and JHU made the Final Four and Maryland played in the championship game, losing to Denver.
Courtesy: bleacherreport.com
But let’s be blunt: nobody is going to confuse a one-year burst from the Big Ten with long-term lacrosse supremacy. And those are just the right words to describe the ACC in lacrosse.
Some of the most iconic names in college lacrosse belong to the ACC—Duke, North Carolina, and Virginia, to name three. The addition of Notre Dame and Syracuse to the conference only adds strength to an already uber-strong cast of teams.
All five ACC teams made it to the men’s and women’s tournament this year. Three of four semi-finalists in the women’s bracket were from the ACC—Syracuse, Duke, and UNC (a finalist). And Notre Dame came within an eyelash of making it to the men’s championship game, losing in OT to eventual champ, Denver.
But the big news in college lacrosse is that the Big Ten has arrived, seemingly out of nowhere, to occupy a power seat at the championship table. It’s not going to be a one-shot deal, either. The foundation is set–albeit with quick-dry cement. More success is in store for Big Ten lacrosse fans.
And who would have thought?
Make room for the Big Ten, ACC.
