Their are currently 9 automatic bid conferences this year, and next year there will be 10 when the ACC has 6 teams. The Big East will likely lose its in 2 years when Rutgers, Syracuse, and Notre Dame are gone. Which means only 7 at-large selections this year, and 6 next year. A majority of the at-large selections have come from the ACC, Syracuse, Johns Hopkins over the years.
When the dust settles in 2015 the B1G will have 5 lacrosse teams Ohio State, Michigan, Maryland, Rutgers, Penn State, the ACC 5 will have 5 lacrosse teams Syracuse, Duke, North Carolina, Virginia, Notre Dame. You need 6 teams for an automatic bid. With how sparse at-large bids are going to become Johns Hopkins will be the key to determine which league ACC or B1G gets an automatic bid. Hopkins 42 year NCAA tournament run is going to end this year most likely.
If Hopkins wants to play in the more competitive league its obvious the ACC is the better league and geographically they would be closer to all ACC teams and they already play Syracuse yearly. If Hopkins wants the academic affiliation of the CIC they will go the B1G and become the big dogs with Maryland each year, but I am sure they would have to dump some regular games to get Rutgers, Ohio State, Penn State on their schedule annually. I think its important to see is how long Hopkins contract with ESPN is for, as if Hopkins went to the B1G then most of their games would go from ESPN to BTN. If I was Swofford I would lock Hopkins up just to F with Delany even more, and make yourself by far the best lacrosse league and lock Maryland into the inferior league within their own state.
When the dust settles in 2015 the B1G will have 5 lacrosse teams Ohio State, Michigan, Maryland, Rutgers, Penn State, the ACC 5 will have 5 lacrosse teams Syracuse, Duke, North Carolina, Virginia, Notre Dame. You need 6 teams for an automatic bid. With how sparse at-large bids are going to become Johns Hopkins will be the key to determine which league ACC or B1G gets an automatic bid. Hopkins 42 year NCAA tournament run is going to end this year most likely.
If Hopkins wants to play in the more competitive league its obvious the ACC is the better league and geographically they would be closer to all ACC teams and they already play Syracuse yearly. If Hopkins wants the academic affiliation of the CIC they will go the B1G and become the big dogs with Maryland each year, but I am sure they would have to dump some regular games to get Rutgers, Ohio State, Penn State on their schedule annually. I think its important to see is how long Hopkins contract with ESPN is for, as if Hopkins went to the B1G then most of their games would go from ESPN to BTN. If I was Swofford I would lock Hopkins up just to F with Delany even more, and make yourself by far the best lacrosse league and lock Maryland into the inferior league within their own state.
