ND is probably the most consistent program out there over the last 10+ years to not win a title. It will eventually come - they've been too close the last couple of years.

...a title. And by people, I mean the lacrosse media.

I just wish we had won the OT faceoff in 2010 instead of Duke and we could have put this whole discussion to bed and be working on our second or third title.

Fuck that longstick!!!

happen in the tournament. My hunch is that Duke should be the odds on favorite given they have Miles coming back for his senior year and he is an absolute beast. They also bring back most of their defense.

Then you have Denver and Baptiste. You can't get the ball, makes it hard to score. Hopkins went out to Denver last weekend for a scrimmage and lost 14-10 (give or take) but Hopkins only won 6 of the 28 faceoffs (or there about).

..but it does feel as if there's more hype about ND in the media this year than any other time I can remember.

But you're right, it's not like we're odds on favorites to win. It will be very interesting to see how the team handles all the hype though.

games start next week. It is way too early.

I don't waiting until March 1 really costs anyone anything.

To play as many games as possible without going to 2 games/week on a regular basis.

view is generally misplaced. While the games are physical they are no where near the level of football. And, further, most teams carry upward of 45+ players. They should be able to play 2 games a week a couple of times in a season. In fact, if I was a top team, I would want to schedule at least once a year when I play 2 games in 3 days to simulate FF weekend.

One of the other issues is that conference tournaments now take up a weekend that used to be free. In the past, most conferences didn't have tournaments or only a few teams did or conference tournaments were played sporadically or earlier than the last weekend (the ACC did that in the past) and not the weekend before the NCAAs. Now, most conferences have tournaments. That essentially means all the teams need to keep a weekend clear to play in the tournament. Some conferences have worked it out to have the losing team ready to play another team like the ACC did with Penn but most times that means no games for teams that didn't make the tournament.

Week of the regular season. The ACC tourney is on the penultimate weekend of the regular season, and ACC teams play an OOC game against an opponent from the Patriot League (the only other conference which plays its conference tourney prior to the last week of the season) in the final week.

I see where you're going with the plethora of conference tourneys, but that's a consequence of the growth of the sport at the Division I level. I think it would be very difficult, if not impossible, to separate the two.