Growth of the sport further complicates the issue
by tf86 (2018-02-14 09:12:00)

In reply to: Absolutely. The issue has been that  posted by steelhop


Down the road, if not now.

One of the factors that has helped the sport to grow is the fact that the NCAA grants automatic bids to every conference which steps up to the plate to sponsor men's lacrosse. If not for that, it's possible that neither the NEC nor the SoCon would have gotten off the ground.

I've posted for awhile now that I think it's only a matter of time before the A10 adds men's lacrosse with the impending movement of St. Bonaventure to Division I next season. Further down the road, I could see the Pac-10 adding men's lacrosse (although it could be the Mountain West or a lacrosse-specific conference, but I think we'll see something out west eventually), as well as another conference in the Midwest (most likely the Horizon League, although the MAC is also a possibility if a few of their members add lacrosse, as is a lacrosse-specific Midwest conference).

The upshot of all of that is that I think in the long-term, a 24-team NCAA tournament field is inevitable, although it likely will take at least another 10-20 additional schools adding Division I men's lacrosse programs before we get to that point. That, of course, adds another full round to the tournament, which could cause the NCAA to end regular seasons a week earlier than is the case now (I don't think the NCAA wants to give up Memorial Day weekend as the championship weekend in lacrosse).

The only options that would be available at that point would be to begin the season earlier, or to schedule more mid-week games. And as you mentioned, teams are reluctant to embrace the latter option for a host of reasons.