Reverb: Conference Call

by Jac Coyne | MCLA.us

LA CROSSE, Wis. – Two tickets to Round Rock have been issued out of the SELC to Georgia Tech and Florida Atlantic and now we prep for the other 16 to be dished out this weekend. Let’s take a look at where we stand in the other leagues as we prep for the 2025 MCLA National Championships presented by New Balance. Stay tuned on socials for streaming information.

Division I

Atlantic Lacrosse Conference (ALC)
Clemson pulled a stunner, flipping a 15-11 regular-season home loss into a 14-12 road victory against Virginia Tech in the first round of the ALC tourney, sending the Tigers to the semifinals in Lynchburg City Stadium and potentially sending the Hokies home for good. Clemson gets Liberty, which will be a very tall order, although they haven’t seen each other this spring. On the other side, James Madison took care of Pitt to earn a rematch with Tennessee. The Vols took the regular-season meeting, 16-15, led by four goals from Tommy Ruddo. Bracket linked above. The championship game is on Saturday at 3 p.m. EDT.

Continental Lacrosse Conference (CLC)
Things played out as expected with Northeastern grabbing the top seed followed by Boston College, UConn and New Hampshire. As we’ve talked about before, a Northeastern loss would knock someone off the bubble, but it’s not looking likely. The championship game is on Sunday at 4 p.m. EDT.

Lone Star Alliance (LSA)
The cancellation of the season-ending Texas-TCU matchup forced some scrambling, but the conference administrators were able to seed an eight-team bracket. The Horned Frogs grabbed the top seed in the South, setting up a duel with Kansas while Texas checked at #2S, earning the Horns a matchup with Mizzou. Baylor grabbed the top number out of the North, forcing a tough quarterfinal with Texas A&M. SMU and Oklahoma round out the bracket. The championship game is on Sunday at 3 p.m CDT.

Pacific Northwest Collegiate Lacrosse League (PNCLL)
Simon Fraser ran the table to grab the top seed followed by Oregon, Boise State and Oregon State. The Ducks and Broncos should provide a dramatic semifinal and produce the one candidate that has a chance at jumping up to grab the conference AQ. The championship game is on Sunday at 1 p.m. PDT.

Rocky Mountain Lacrosse Conference (RMLC)
Colorado State subduing Colorado and Brigham Young holding off Utah Valley vaulted the Cougars back to the top of the charts and setting up a rematch of BYU’s only loss against the Buffs. The loss to CSU wasn’t a great look for CU’s tournament resume, but they will get a chance to lock it in withe a second win over BYU. The championship game is on Saturday at 1 p.m. MDT.

Southwestern Lacrosse Conference (SLC)
The three-way tie got cracked and Chapman ended up as the last team out. Arizona State clashes with Grand Canyon – a team it just beat on Saturday night – while San Diego State and Arizona revisit a game that ended with a 17-10 Aztec win in early March. Shipping three desert teams up to Santa Barbara is bit fiscally unfortunate, but it’s something you can’t predict. The championship game is on Sunday at 12:30 p.m. PDT.

Upper Midwest Lacrosse Conference
It took a pair of tiebreakers to solve the East division miasma, but it finally spit out the results on Sunday. Michigan State edged out Miami (Ohio) for the top seed thanks to goal differential (the two teams were unable to make up their regular season contest). The three-way tie for third eventually produced Indiana as the final candidate, placing Miami against Illinois and Indiana against Minnesota in the two first-round contests. Iowa State has the other top seed. The championship game will be on Sunday at 2 p.m. CDT.

Western Collegiate Lacrosse League
The seeds did not hold out of the first round as Santa Clara dropped Cal to set up a date with top-ranked Cal Poly. Second seed UC Santa Barbara gets Sonoma State in the other semifinal in Los Gatos. The championship game is on Sunday at 3 p.m. PDT.

Division II

Atlantic Lacrosse Conference (ALC)
The seeds held out of the first round, setting up a pair of entertaining semifinals. UNC-Charlotte will tangle with Virginia Tech D-II on one side. UNC-Wilmington and Wake Forest reacquaint themselves with each after meeting on Feb. 1 in a Deacs win. The championship game is on Sunday at 12 p.m. EDT.

Continental Lacrosse Conference (CLC)
Bridgewater State, Rhode Island, Maine and UMass-Dartmouth fill out the schedule from No. 1 through 4, respectively. The AQ will seemingly come out of the top two seeds, but all four of these teams were competitive throughout the conference season. The championship game is on Sunday at 1 p.m. EDT.

Lone Star Alliance (LSA)
Tulane received the bye in the seven-team field and will get the winner of the rematch between Missouri State and Drury, with the Bears winning on Thursday, 9-7. Arkansas and North Texas clash in one of the other quarterfinals, and will square off with the winner of Texas State/Rice in the semifinals. The championship game is on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. CDT.

Pacific Northwest Collegiate Lacrosse League (PNCLL)
This tournament kicks off on Friday to avoid Sunday conflicts and will feature Northwest Nazarene locking horns with Western Oregon at 10 a.m. followed by Montana and College of Idaho at 1 p.m. The championship game is on Saturday at 10 a.m. PDT.

Rocky Mountain Lacrosse Conference (RMLC)
Technically this bracket isn’t set yet. Air Force is playing Mines on Monday at 7 p.m. in Golden, which will officially create the field. If Mines pulls off the upset of the year and beats the Falcons, it will set up a three-way tiebreaker with Denver for the two spots. On the other side, Utah State and Montana State are locked into the two spots, respectively. The championship game will be on Saturday at 4 p.m. MDT.

Southwestern Lacrosse Conference (SLC)
Cal State San Marcos’ upset of No. 1 UC San Diego gave the Cougars the top seed and the Tritons the second. San Marcos will tangle with Northern Arizona while UCSD gets Arizona Christian. The top two squads won the regular season matchups with their semi opponents by an average of 12.5 goals. The championship game is on Sunday at 9:30 a.m. PDT.

Upper Midwest Lacrosse Conference (UMLC)
This three-day extravaganza kicks off on Friday with (potentially) a couple of first round games that will lead into Saturday’s semifinals. Grand Valley State and St. Thomas appear to be on a collision course for Sunday’s championship game, with only North Dakota being a team to derail that. The title tilt will start at 11 a.m. CDT.

Western Collegiate Lacrosse League
UC Davis breezed through the conference to get the top seed and a three-way tiebreaker placed San Jose State, UC Santa Cruz and Chico State in the two-through-four seeds, respectively. The championship game is on Sunday at 11 a.m.

My Top Fives

Division I

1. Liberty (13-1) – Clemson looks like a gift, but prevents the Flames from a revenge game.
2. Brigham Young (13-1) – Colorado loss looking flukier and flukier. Cougs look poised now.
3. Northeastern (13-2) – Feasting on the CLC for a month may not keep the Huskies sharp.
4. Georgia Tech (12-4) – Revenge win over Florida and the AQ in the pocket has Bees feeling great.
5. Cal Poly (10-2) – Trading in Cal (one-goal win) for Santa Clara (10-goal win) is fortuitous.

Division II

1. Grand Valley State (11-0) – NDSU and St. Thomas are all that stand between the Lakers and the top seed.
2. Florida Atlantic (13-2) – The Owls get to kick back, get some rest and get ready for Round Rock.
3. UNC-Charlotte (11-1) – The ALC tourney is looking like a formality at this point.
4. Northwest Nazarene (13-2) – A PNCLL title keeps them in the hunt for coveted Top 4 seed.
5. Cal State San Marcos (12-2) – Mission accomplished against UCSD. Need to get ready for round two.

Slides & Rides

- We know that Georgia Tech and Florida Atlantic won their respective SELC divisional championships, but what about the runners-up? An overtime loss in a league title game probably won't kill Florida in the committee's eyes, but it likely sweeps them out of a potential two seed and a date with the PNCLL champ. It's tough seeing them fall much below No. 5.

In Division II, Kennesaw's late run will make the committee sweat. The Owls are just above .500 against D-II competition with a monster win over UNC-Charlotte in their bag. They also played Grand Valley State to its closest margin against D-II competition, which includes St. Thomas. They have the talent to compete in Round Rock, but the results might not be there. It'll be close.

- There’s obviously a pretty significant case of recency bias, but this seems like the deepest Division II field that the MCLA has ever had. It wouldn’t surprise me if any of the current Top 10 teams in the junior circuit made it to Thursday at nationals.

- Second to last week of awards. Get your nominations in for Warrior Player of the Week and PEARL Goalie of the Week to info@mcla.us by noon on Monday.