Lacrosse Bracketology (Updated, 4/11)

***Note: This is not a reflection of where teams sit today, but where I project them to be at season's end***

***Note 2: This post was updated when I realized a few errors in predicting future results. Denver is added as a seeded team and Hofstra falls off the seed line. This also affected matchups due to geography***

There were a few shakeups to the lacrosse bracketology this week. Duke's loss to Denver alters the top of the bracket, while some teams that looked like contenders turned into pure, unadulterated pretenders. Let's take a look ...

No. 1 Syracuse vs. Siena (AQ)
No. 8 Denver (AQ) vs. Hofstra (AQ)

No. 5 Virginia vs. Stony Brook (AQ)
No. 4 Duke vs. Villanova

No. 3 Notre Dame vs. Bucknell (AQ)
No. 6 Maryland vs. North Carolina

No. 7 Cornell (AQ) vs. Massachusetts
No. 2 Hopkins vs. Mount St. Mary's (AQ)

Last two in: Villanova, Massachusetts
First two out: Yale, Army


Analysis
The biggest winners this week are likely Yale and UMass, who were nowhere near the tournament last week, and both could end up with at large spots by the end of the season. For now, the edge goes to the Minutemen, who have racked up quality wins over Army, Ohio State and Brown. The Bulldogs are right on their heels though.

With Bucknell’s win over Army, the Bison take the Patriot League AQ spot for now. Bucknell also puts itself in the driver’s seat for an at-large bid if it stumbles in the PL tournament with another quality victory on its resume.

Army likely drops out of the tournament picture for now, but the Black Knights will have their chances to creep back in. With a game left against Johns Hopkins and the Patriot League tournament still on the schedule, Army could very possibly make its way back into the picture.

Penn and Delaware both played themselves out of tournament contention with losses to Brown and Villanova, respectively. Likewise, Villanova is now solidly in the tournament, and can possibly lose one more and still hold onto an at-large bid.

As far as seeding goes, Duke drops to fourth as its fourth loss will be too much to keep ahead of a one-loss Notre Dame or Syracuse. I still think the Blue Devils run the table in the ACC though, and finish with a high seed.