clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Big East Lacrosse, Coming To A Dome Near You

By Sean Keeley
The idea of the Big East Lacrosse Conference is one we've discussed in the past and it seems like every season it gets closer and closer to happening. Well, you can probably pencil in 2010 as the year it finally does happen:
"I think it's going to happen," Notre Dame coach Kevin Corrigan said. "As a matter of fact, it's not a matter of if it is going to happen, but when."
According to the Baltimore Sun, Notre Dame, Syracuse, Georgetown, Rutgers, St. John's, Villanova and Providence are the seven teams who would be a part of the conference. Syracuse, a longtime holdout due to their independent scheduling status, is finally seeing the light. If anything, what will hold up the development of the conference will be the smaller school's ability to catch up quick enough:
Apparently, the holdup centers on whether Villanova and Providence can come up with the money for enough scholarships and assistant coaches to meet NCAA Division I requirements.
Syracuse coach John Desko laid his concerns out on the table as well:
"When we first had preliminary talks, I talked with our athletic director about the strength of schedule, RPI rating and having some flexibility in who we scheduled," Orange coach John Desko said. "We don't want to give up the Blue Jays, Tigers or Loyola.

"We had local rivalries with Albany, Cornell, and 45 minutes down the road, we have Colgate and Hobart on the schedule," Desko said. "I don't know where we're at with it, but I do hear it's moving along."
For Syracuse, it's seems like a pretty simple fit. They already play Georgetown and Rutgers on a regular basis with Villanova now in the mix. They just trade out some teams such as Hobart or Army for the Big East folks, keep playing the Virginias and Princetons of the world and their SOS is not that much worse off.

It would benefit programs like Providence and Villanova immensly to have Cuse and G'town on their schedules every year and provide instant credibility for recruiting, only making the conference stronger.

And Desko is also quick to point out the Big East can be a great safety net for the Orange if they have another season like last year:
"If you look at the season we had last year, it was an off year, but if we were in the Big East, we still might have had a shot at the tournament," Desko said of Syracuse.
So in theory, here's what a Syracuse Big East schedule might look like:

Villanova
Virginia
Providence
Johns Hopkins
Binghamton
Georgetown
Loyola
Princeton
Cornell
St. John's
Rutgers
Albany
Notre Dame
Colgate
Big East Championship (TBD)

Is that much worse off strength-wise than it is now? Hardly. Hopefully, this will get sorted out soon and NCAA lacrosse can take another big step forward towards legitimizing itself.



More From Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician