Ever wonder how they determine which teams get selected for the NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Championships?
You’re not alone. We actually took the time to read the NCAA legal handbook on this, and we’ll try to simplify it all below broken out into sections. We will present the rules for Division 1, but most of the rules apply to D2 and D3 as well. We have skipped over some of the boring legal mumbo jumbo, and tried to keep it high-level.
Championship Selection and Seeding:
- To be eligible, a team must have over a .500 winning percentage, and must have played at least 10 Division 1 teams during the season.
- The Men’s Lacrosse Committee will select teams based on the following criteria:
- win/loss record
- strength of schedule
- eligibility and availability of student-athletes
They use the Rating Percentage Index (RPI) as compiled by the NCAA – which is calculated as:
- 25% the institution’s winning percentage;
- 50% opponents’ success;
- 25% opponents’ strength of schedule.
The lacrosse committee will then review the following primary factors in selecting at-large teams for the field (not in priority order):
Primary Criteria
Strength of schedule index [based on a team’s 10 highest-rated contests; (2 games
against the same opponent will count as two contests)].
- Results of the RPI
- record against ranked teams 1-5, 6-10, 11-20, 21+
- average RPI win (average RPI of all wins)
- average RPI loss (average RPI of all losses)
- Head-to-head competition.
- Results versus common opponents.
- Significant wins and losses. (wins against teams ranked higher in the RPI and losses against teams ranked lower in the RPI)
- Locations of contests.
Note: Coaches’ polls and/or any other outside polls or rankings are not used as a selection criterion by the committee for selection purposes.
The 16-Team Bracket
The top eight teams will be seeded and separated in the bracket, the remaining eight teams will be placed geographically. In making bracket assignments, the closest geographical consideration will be used as well as the ability to separate conference opponents during first round competition.
Automatic Qualifiers
The Division I Championships/Sports Management Cabinet determined that the
following seven conferences shall receive automatic qualification this season, based
on the Men’s Lacrosse Committee’s recommendation:
- America East Conference
- Colonial Athletic Association
- Eastern College Athletic Conference
- Great Western Lacrosse League
- Ivy Group
- Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference
- Patriot League
Other Random Rules
I thought these were worth noting because they’re hilarious. Yes, these are actually written in the NCAA rule book!
- Cheerleaders and/or spirit team members, not to exceed 12 in number, plus the mascot shall be admitted, if in uniform
- The use of trampolines, stunts more than two persons high, “basketball tosses” and cheerleader flips is not permitted
- All coaches and student-athletes shall be available for interviews
- The Brine lacrosse ball will be used in all NCAA tournament games. These balls will be sent by the manufacturer to the tournament manager at the host institution for each round of competition
- It is the responsibility of the host institution to provide an adequate number of ball retrievers. Ball retrievers must be at least 10 years of age. These individuals must wear helmets and be dressed so that their “uniform” colors do not blend with those of the participating teams.
And there you have it – NCAA Lacrosse Selection for Dummies. Now see if you can figure out which teams will make it, and which ones won’t. Nearly every year there’s a few teams on the bubble that seemingly get screwed, but at least now you’ll be able to explain why.
