The LAX Super-Conference

Enough about football and basketball. Let's checkout the implications of Syracuse's move to the ACC for lacrosse. By Sydney McMinn      

(AP Photo/Ron Edmonds)

     
     While football seems to run the conference shake-ups in recent memory, Syracuse joining the Atlantic Coast Conference brings huge changes to the landscape of lacrosse nationwide.  
     Powerhouse programs like Maryland, Duke, and North Carolina currently make up the ACC along with 2011 National Champion Virginia. Adding Syracuse makes the ACC a lacrosse super-conference. And the expansion could continue. Villanova has applied for ACC membership and Georgetown may follow suit. If the ACC gains a sixth member, it will earn an automatic qualifier into the NCAA Tournament every year.  The level of competition in the ACC will increase both on the field and off. Teams are going to have to start recruiting prospects earlier and more aggressively to compete with big-name teams in the conference. 


     This super-conference comes with downsides, though. With the ACC’s many strong contenders, the winner of the conference championship may end up as the favorite for the National Championship too. Traditional contenders may fall victim to a mediocre conference record and miss the tournament. Fans could potentially lose out if familiar games between Syracuse and other New York teams like Hobart and Albany get cut to make room for games in their new conference. 
     Regardless, the remaining teams in the Big East love the move. With Syracuse gone, programs like Providence and Notre Dame will stand a much better chance in the conference. Better conference records will then improve their chances for making the tournament.  The conference also could also potentially add Texas Christian in the future. If the Horned Frogs still have a conference to join next fall, should they and will they create a Division-I lacrosse team? TCU has the option of pulling a move similar to Michigan’s and jumping from MCLA to DI, replacing Syracuse after it moves to the ACC. But the chances of TCU hanging with the other teams in the conference aren’t great.