At this point in the D1 lacrosse season, we have a pretty good gauge of where every team in Division 1 lacrosse stands. Some teams have overperformed, while many have underperformed relative to their preseason expectations. Conference play is a great way to negate a lot of early-season blunders by pulling out quality wins against common opponents. I wanted to take a minute to break down five D1 lacrosse teams whose NCAA postseason aspirations are reliant on them overachieving in conference play. I’m not necessarily saying all of these five teams have underperformed to start the season, but with how the current landscape is playing out, they really need to make some noise in conference play if they want to at least secure an at-large bid come NCAA tournament time.
Johns Hopkins (Big Ten)
Johns Hopkins fans are certainly disappointed with how the season has gone so far. A one-goal loss against UNC was not the end of the world, but losing a close one to Syracuse paired with a three-goal conference loss to Rutgers? Yikes. This team has the talent to win games and potentially win the conference, but they have not set themselves up for success. The next four games are make-or-break for the Blue Jays. They start off on the road at Michigan, followed by a home game against Ohio State, and then back-to-back road games against Penn State and Maryland. Their last three games are against three of the top six teams in the country. Hopkins has the potential to walk away with a win or two, but if they underperform, you might as well kiss their postseason hopes goodbye. If they had won either the UNC or Syracuse game and not lost to Rutgers, this would be a different story. But the reality is, the Blue Jays need to do a lot of work to stay in the postseason conversation.
Dartmouth (Ivy League)
This is the first time in quite a while that Dartmouth lacrosse is legitimately looking to compete in the Ivy League. While I don’t think they have all the resources to win the conference outright, they could definitely make a case for an NCAA tournament appearance. Seriously, the Big Green have only made the NCAA tournament once—back in 2003 when they won the regular season title. The road ahead in the Ivy is not easy. They need to pull out at least one win against Princeton, Harvard, or Cornell, and also handle business against Yale and Brown. If Dartmouth can manage that, don’t be shocked when they earn an at-large bid come postseason.
Notre Dame (ACC)
It was tough deciding whether to put Virginia or Notre Dame on this list. I ended up choosing the latter mainly because the Fighting Irish are coming off back-to-back D1 lacrosse national championships. Right now, Notre Dame is 4-2 with two one-goal losses to Maryland and Ohio State. Certainly not bad losses, but I think many fans are still unsure about what caliber of contender this Notre Dame squad really is. They simply haven’t played enough meaningful games yet. Upcoming matchups against Duke, Syracuse, Virginia, North Carolina, and Penn will tell us everything we need to know. ACC play will definitely be make-or-break for Virginia, but I think many people have already written them off as postseason contenders, whereas Notre Dame is still on the fence. Both teams control their own destiny, but Notre Dame has the bigger question mark next to their name, making conference play crucial.
Denver (Big East)
The Denver Pioneers have had a somewhat lackluster start to their season. Coming off a Final Four appearance just last year, the Pioneers already have four losses on their schedule. Those losses came against Johns Hopkins, Cornell, Yale, and Ohio State. These blemishes make conference play more important than ever for the Pios. Upcoming matchups against Villanova, St. John’s, Providence, and Marquette will be crucial. But the real dagger comes in the middle of that stretch—a road game against Georgetown. The Big East has really been a two-horse race between Georgetown and Denver for years now, and 2025 is no different. The resume right now is not strong enough to warrant an at-large bid, so the only real path for Denver is to win the conference outright.
Army (Patriot League)
The Patriot League appears to be the most unforgiving conference in Division 1 lacrosse this season. It seemed like Army was the clear No. 1 until Boston University walked away with an overtime victory. But you can’t put Boston at the top because they lost to Navy just a few games prior. And you can’t put Navy there either, due to their loss to Lehigh. See where this gets confusing? The reality is, the conference is going to eat itself alive when it comes to postseason at-large bids. It feels like Army is the only team with a legitimate shot to make a run at Championship Weekend, but they need to get through conference play to get there. The most pressure is on the Black Knights following that loss to Boston, because it would be a real shame if this team isn’t competing for a D1 lacrosse national title come May.
