That was the impetus for the Big Ten to add men's lacrosse

Along with adding Maryland and Rutgers to the conference at the same time. Prior to that, Penn State and Ohio State were the only Big Ten programs that had men's lacrosse. Penn State played in the CAA and Ohio State played in the ECAC lacrosse conference, which disbanded when the Big Ten started playing men's lacrosse.

Michigan upgrading to D1 level, along with the addition of Maryland and Rutgers to the conference, pushed the number of men's lacrosse programs in the Big Ten to five. At the same time, Hopkins was pursuing conference membership, and the Big Ten added them to get to AQ status.