The NCAA lacrosse tournament bracket will feature 18 teams, with 10 spots reserved for automatic qualifiers. The selection committee faces tough decisions among top conferences like the ACC, Big Ten, and Ivy League.
NCAA lacrosse tournament bracket projection: Who will make the field of 18 teams?
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.
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.
Hempstead bracket
Notre Dame vs. Jacksonville/Robert Morris
Penn State vs. Georgetown
Richmond vs. Duke
Syracuse vs. Maryland
Dover bracket
Princeton vs. Stony Brook/Marist
North Carolina vs. Albany
Cornell vs. Army
Virginia vs. Johns Hopkins
The NCAA men's lacrosse field will be announced Sunday, May 3 at 9:30 p.m. ET on ESPNU.
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.
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?
There are 10 automatic qualifiers for the NCAA lacrosse tournament, awarded to conference champions.
The Atlantic Coast Conference, Big Ten, and Ivy League are the main contenders for at-large spots.
The NCAA lacrosse tournament bracket will be announced on Sunday night.
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