NCAA Conference Comparison Week 3

EDITOR’S NOTE: The records listed in the NCAA Conference Comparison for each conference are based on the Monday through Sunday schedule of the previous week.

In this week’s NCAA Conference Comparison, things are starting to take on a slightly better shape. The ACC saw the biggest gain of the lot, while the Big Ten actually gave a little bit of ground. We also finally have all of the conferences active now that the Ivys joined in the fun. Unfortunately, they didn’t have a great debut. Harvard, Yale, Dartmouth, and Penn all lost their openers. What hurts them most as far as this table is concerned, is that they lost to the top four NCAA lacrosse conferences.

WATCH: Check out the top NCAA Men’s Lacrosse plays from Week 3 here.

Instead of diving into the matchups that were, let’s take a look at the games coming up this weekend that could have some big implications. The main places I’m looking here are top Patriot League matchups because they’ll all be starting their conference slate soon. And once that begins, they tend to just live in that.

NCAA Week 4 Key Matchups

Penn St @ Yale: Yale is reeling after that opening loss and now they have one of the hottest teams in the country rolling in. This will be a massive game for both teams, conferences aside.

Bucknell @ Ohio State: Bucknell is a solid team while Ohio State’s strength of schedule has been lacking so far. Both teams are looking to make a statement here.

Hopkins @ UNC: Hopkins has not looked good and are getting truly desperate for a win. UNC had a good win over Harvard and can help give the ACC a leg up on the Big Ten all in one shot.

Maryland @ Navy: Realistically, this game should be all Maryland, but Navy has some potential for an upset if they get the right bounces.

Towson @ Georgetown: Towson has been rolling, while Georgetown could be a spoiler. The Tigers are going to be getting up for this one like their opener against Hopkins.

Penn @ Duke: Penn has been sneaky early in the season and Duke has already shown they are susceptible to a loss this year. Coming off of the win over Denver, the Blue Devils are looking better. But, they can’t take this one lightly at all.

Hofstra @ Nova: Nova is going to be flying high after the Yale win, but it really means they are not going to sneak up on anyway. If they show up flat, Hofstra could make this a game.

UVA @ Princeton: UVA is the higher ranked team, but a loss to High Point has flooded them with question marks. Princeton was dominant in their opener, and this could be an Ivy win if the Hoos can’t figure out that attack line of the Tigers.

UMass @ Harvard: Purely in terms of conference implications, this is a decent one. UMass is a little off this year so far while Harvard only has the one game to their credit. I honestly don’t think I even have a favorite here.

Loyola @ Rutgers: Rutgers is stinging a bit while Loyola is looking to just keep rolling. I think Rutgers will put up a good fight, but this should be all Loyola. Which would knock the Big Ten down another notch.

Sunday:

Army @ ‘Cuse: One of my favorite games of the year. It’s always physical, and pretty much always close. The question is if ‘Cuse is the Albany team or the Colgate team.

Lehigh @ Cornell: Cornell has a quick turnaround before dealing with Lehigh. They should win, but crazier stuff has happened.

As always, here are the past two years for reference.

2018:

2017: