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Division 1 College Lacrosse Championship Favorites

The 2023 NCAA Men’s Division 1 College Lacrosse season begins on February 4th. DraftKings has put out the team futures odds to win it all in 2023. Here are the three biggest takeaways based on the odds.

The Favorites


John Tillman and Maryland (+450) are favored to repeat as champions. The Terps have been dominant over the last two years going 33-1. They will be without their top four offensive players and will have a new set of SSDMs to break in. Tillman has used the transfer portal to reinforce the offense and can also rely on Luke Weirman, Ajax Zappitello, Brett Makara, and Logan McNaney to keep the Terps in the hunt again on Memorial Day.

Notre Dame (+650), Virginia (+700), and Duke (+850) round out the top four. Having Notre Dame and Duke this high is a bit surprising given how both teams missed the tournament in 2022. The three ACC teams mentioned have some of the best talent in the Men’s Division 1 College Lacrosse landscape. Duke and Notre Dame will be playing with blood in their mouths this season. Duke will be led by Brennan O’Neill, the youngest member of Team USA. Notre Dame will be led by the Kavanaugh brothers and imported Brian Tevlin and Chris Fake from Yale.

Virginia might have the best all–around talent. Lars Tiffany and company continue to recruit at a high level and bring in the top graduate transfers through the transfer portal. Everyone is excited to see how Ricky Miezan looks for the Cavaliers. The former No.1 lacrosse commit spent the last five years as a linebacker at Stanford

No Respect Ivy League


The Ivy League sent six teams to the tournament in 2022. Cornell and Princeton both made trips to Memorial Day weekend. Cornell (+1200) has the 6th best odds and returns a ton of talent in CJ Kirst, Michael Long, and Gavin AdlerPrinceton (+2000) comes in with the 10th best odds despite returning six of their seven leading scorers from 2022.

Yale (+1600) has the 7th best odds. Yale had some problems getting defensive stops last year but very little on offense. Leo Johnson and Matt Brandau will probably have close to 175 points combined this season. Penn (+2000), Brown (+3000), and Harvard (+3500) are all outside the top 10. Each of these teams has some of the top players in the game and proved that in 2022.

 

Sleeper Candidates


Georgia rode the “no respect” card all the way to a national championship in football this year. While that may not have been entirely true, teams are always looking at bulletin board material for motivation. Here are my three sleeper candidates based on the odds.

1. Georgetown (+1000)

The Hoyas looked dominant for most of the 2022 season. They had a lockdown defense and a dynamic offense that allowed them to race out to a 15-1 start before the NCAA Tournament. A short bench and an amped-up Delaware put an early end to the season. Georgetown brought in Tucker Dordevic from Syracuse and looks to come back with a vengeance. They are the highest-rated team outside of the major conferences.

2. Yale (+1600)

Brian Tevin and Chris Fake have transferred to Notre Dame. Matt Brandau and Thomas Bragg haven’t gotten creative to extend their time with Andy Shay and the Bulldogs. Faceoffs and defensive lapses hurt Yale in 2022. They will once again be one of the most explosive offenses in Division 1 College Lacrosse. Shoring up the defense to go along with the 10–man ride will put a lot of teams in the hole early.

3. Ohio State (+2200)

I don’t understand the disrespect for the Buckeyes. Nick Myers bolstered his offense and defense in the transfer portal this spring. The Buckeyes open a new facility and represent a strong challenge to Maryland for the top of the Big Ten and a candidate to win it all in May.