Adding Division 1 programs with no football (FBS or FCS) and no women's lacrosse (presumably to add the sport in conjunction with men's lacrosse and negate Title IX issues) isn't the sexiest way to grow the sport, but it may be the most effective way to grow the sport given the Title IX issues this sport in particular faces.

If that's the approach to take, these are the schools to target (grouped by primary conferences, note that the websites I relied upon may not be 100% accurate):

ASUN: Florida Gulf Coast, Lipscomb, North Florida
A-10: Saint Louis
Big East: DePaul
Big West: UC San Diego, UC Santa Barbara
CAA: Northeastern
Horizon: Milwaukee, Wright State
MAAC: Iona, Rider, St. Peter's
MEAC: Coppin State
Missouri Valley: Evansville
Ohio Valley: SIU Edwardsville
Patriot: American
Summit: Kansas City
WCC: Loyola Marymount, Pacific, Portland, San Diego

As for what that would do for the tournament, I could see the field expanding to 24 teams with as few as five additions from this list, provided that they were the right additions. To get to 32 you would need to add almost everybody on that list.

It would help if the ACC could get to 6 teams and have a de facto "real" conference.

So, should people lean other ACC teams, as you note, such as Louisville, Pitt and BC, all of which have women's teams.

I've always thought my son's alma mater, Wake Forest, would be a prime candidate for lax since -- after North Carolina and Georgia -- they draw heavily from New Jersey and New York, which are obviously lax hotbeds for both guys and girls.

And then the ACC could do what I think is obvious: see if Johns Hopkins wants to leave the B1G and join the ACC, which would fit in much better with their draw.

Asked the ACC first about being an affiliate member like it is with the B1G because it would have made a ton of sense given Hopkins already played most of the ACC. The ACC said no. Even with this season, I doubt the ACC has changed their mind.

That has been unfortunate. If we're looking for a silver lining in the results of the NCAA selection committee, that could be it.

The problem the ACC faces is that it probably has to add two programs simultaneously. If only one program joins, it faces the likely prospect of cellar dwelling for the foreseeable future. Adding two programs at least gives those programs the opportunity to compete against each other to avoid the cellar.

From a Title IX perspective, I believe Georgia Tech might be the easiest ACC school to add men's lacrosse. If memory serves, Georgia Tech has 63% male enrollment.

...he says, fully joking about old stereotypes.

From a "where they draw from" perspective, Wake Forest would be an excellent candidate. However, from a Title IX perspective, they're 54% female and 46% male. If anything, a girls lax program would be an idea for them.

I brought this up earlier, how about the idea of getting Johns Hopkins to switch from B1G to ACC?

The B1G probably would have to add a homegrown program, in which case they might not care too much about Hopkins. Also, the B1G has Maryland, so that offsets the geographic advantage the ACC otherwise would have.

I had no idea. I figured it was a 15-team league.

As you can tell, I don't know squat about college lacrosse.

That would be awesome for the sport. I think Miami and FSU would have no problem finding high school talent if they wanted to commit to programs.

I still have a sneaking suspicion that there's a portion of the lacrosse community that would not welcome that kind of growth, because it threatens their hegemony.

One day though, before I die hopefully, I would love to see a men's final four that looks something like ND/USC/Georgia Tech/Oregon.

OOC scheduling traditionally has been an important part of men's lacrosse. In a sport with a short season, either a conference that size would threaten OOC play, or alternatively, you wouldn't play every team in your conference. Either situation is not ideal.