BC Tabbed as No. 3 Seed in NCAA Tournament
Andy Backstrom (@andybackstrom)
Publisher
Not only did Boston College's loss to North Carolina Saturday cost the Eagles the ACC Championship, but it also dropped head coach Acacia Walker-Weinstein's team to the No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
BC, the reigning national champion, was the No. 1 team in the country the first five weeks of the season. The Eagles were No. 2 all but one of the other seven weeks before Selection Sunday and the release of Monday's Inside Lacrosse Top 25.
Last year, when the Eagles won it all, they were the No. 4 seed. This time around, they'll have an opening round bye. Then they'll play the winner of Denver and Vermont. BC beat Denver, 9-5, in a cold-shortened game on March 9.
The Eagles don't have a fellow ACC team or a Big Ten squad in their region. They do, however, have sixth-seeded Loyola and red-hot James Madison, which has won 10 straight games—a stretch that started with three top-20 victories.
There are six ACC teams in the field, including Notre Dame and Virginia, both of which weren't eligible for at-large bids before the NCAA Tournament. Upset wins over Duke and Syracuse, respectively, got them to the necessary .500 mark for qualification.
The Big Ten snuck five teams into the field, thanks to Michigan and Johns Hopkins grabbing "Last Four In" spots. The "First Four Out" teams, in no particular order, were Temple, Arizona State, Yale and Ohio State, according to NCAA committee chair Michael Scerbo.
Arizona State was perhaps the biggest snub. The Sun Devils were 7-2 in their final nine games, had three top-25 wins, reached the Pac-12 Championship for the first time in program history and were ranked No. 26 in RPI.
Top-Eight National Seeds
1. North Carolina (18-0)2. Maryland (17-1)
3. Boston College (16-3)
4. Northwestern (13-4)
5. Syracuse (13-5)
6. Loyola (19-1)
7. Florida (15-4)
8. Stony Brook (14-2)
Other Notes
— There is a scenario where BC plays UNC in the National Championship. The Eagles have now lost three ACC Championship games to the Tar Heels but have taken down head coach Jenny Levy's team twice in the Final Four (2019 and 2021).— But, before BC can get to the national title game, it will likely have to get past second-seeded Maryland, which is back to its normal self after a fluky 2021 season.
— BC was unseeded when it made its first run to the National Championship in 2017. The Eagles were the No. 4 seed in 2018 and the No. 2 seed in 2019. Last year, of course, they were the No. 4 seed. So this is the first time they're the No. 3 seed.
— BC has now made 10 NCAA Tournaments, including the last nine.
— The Eagles are trying to be the first team to repeat since Maryland in 2014-15.
—All NCAA Tournament games hosted by BC will be played on Newton Field because of university commencement taking place in Alumni Stadium.
