04-26-2020, 07:37 AM
I came across this article on "Some of the Biggest 'What-ifs' in College Lacrosse". While most are just fun to think about (for me anyway), there is one that is realignment related.
The article asked "What if NC State and Michigan State Never Dropped Lacrosse?" and bring up some interesting ideas.
For NC State, "On the NC State side, would another program in the state have made it more difficult for Duke to rise to power in the sport? Could NC State have risen to become the dominant team in the state? Also, would three DI teams in the state have made Wake Forest look into adding lacrosse?"
There's no telling what NC State could have theoretically done but the idea of Wake adding yet another school to ACC lacrosse is thought provoking.
For Michigan State, "The Big Ten didn’t add lacrosse until 2014. But if Michigan State hadn’t dropped lacrosse would that have happened sooner? Would the Spartans’ presence have made Michigan decide to DI sooner? If so, could having two DI teams in the state have helped lacrosse boom in the state and midwest earlier than it did?"
Earlier expansion of lacrosse to the mid-west is interesting but I'm more interested in what happens with Johns Hopkins. They came in with Maryland and Rutgers to form the Big Ten lacrosse league and have 6 teams so they could have an autobid. In this thought exercise, the Big Ten doesn't need Hopkins. Does Maryland still insist on them coming when they join or does the Big Ten push back since they would have the minimum require for AQ? Do they take a harder look at the ACC? Where do they go? Also, with earlier expansion into the mid-west, does someone like Indiana, Northwestern (for men's team, they have a women's) or Wisconsin/Minnesota look into upgrading?
The article asked "What if NC State and Michigan State Never Dropped Lacrosse?" and bring up some interesting ideas.
For NC State, "On the NC State side, would another program in the state have made it more difficult for Duke to rise to power in the sport? Could NC State have risen to become the dominant team in the state? Also, would three DI teams in the state have made Wake Forest look into adding lacrosse?"
There's no telling what NC State could have theoretically done but the idea of Wake adding yet another school to ACC lacrosse is thought provoking.
For Michigan State, "The Big Ten didn’t add lacrosse until 2014. But if Michigan State hadn’t dropped lacrosse would that have happened sooner? Would the Spartans’ presence have made Michigan decide to DI sooner? If so, could having two DI teams in the state have helped lacrosse boom in the state and midwest earlier than it did?"
Earlier expansion of lacrosse to the mid-west is interesting but I'm more interested in what happens with Johns Hopkins. They came in with Maryland and Rutgers to form the Big Ten lacrosse league and have 6 teams so they could have an autobid. In this thought exercise, the Big Ten doesn't need Hopkins. Does Maryland still insist on them coming when they join or does the Big Ten push back since they would have the minimum require for AQ? Do they take a harder look at the ACC? Where do they go? Also, with earlier expansion into the mid-west, does someone like Indiana, Northwestern (for men's team, they have a women's) or Wisconsin/Minnesota look into upgrading?