Schools That Should Add DI Lacrosse

While lacrosse is the fastest-growing sport in the country, it has long been plagued by lack of growth at the NCAA DI level. The sport currently has 61 division I teams (Marquette and High Point will join the ranks next season); that's three teams short of even being able to field the NCAA basketball tournament. It was also recently announced that BU will be adding varsity men's lacrosse in the near future.

By comparison, the sport has 189 teams playing division III, and over 200,000 players at the high school level. One of the big reasons for the lack of growth at the division I level is Title IX. Schools with football programs can't make a men's lacrosse team feasible because of Title IX sanctions. Michigan being able to add the sport is a big step. Below are five schools that could add successful lacrosse programs, and why:

1. Northwestern University: The Northwestern women's program has been extremely successful as of late; (6 championships in the last 7 years) so there is clearly a recruiting formula for lacrosse success in Chicago. Illinois is also getting very good high school lacrosse from schools like New Trier, Fenwick, St. Ignatius Prep, and Loyola. Travel to games becomes less of an issue with schools like Marquette, Notre Dame, Michigan, and Ohio State relatively nearby. Northwestern would also join Michigan, Ohio State, and Penn State as Big 10 schools with lacrosse, making the Big 10 eligible to make lacrosse a conference sport.

2. Wake Forest: Wake Forest could join a competitive ACC, which would attract top recruits right away. Lacrosse in North Carolina is really picking up, and a private school like Wake reaches into the images of lacrosse's prep-school history. The Mid-Atlantic region has plenty of schools to schedule close by for out-of-conference games with Johns Hopkins, UMBC, Towson, and Navy.

3. Boston College: New England lacrosse is growing rapidly, and BC would do well with local recruiting. Schools like Duxbury and St. John's Prep are competitive nationally every year. Schools like Glastonbury, Fairfield Prep, and Hotchkiss in Connecticut produce top talent, as well. If Wake and BC both added lacrosse, the ACC would have a six team conference, making for a much less redundant post-season tournament. They also have a great natural rival already with BU. With BC, BU, and Harvard having lacrosse, Northeastern would be the only school needed for a lacrosse Beanpot tournament.

4. Connecticut: Again, great local recruiting from Glastonbury, Fairfield prep, and Hotchkiss, as well as the rest of New England. Long Island would also be considered local recruiting for the Huskies. UConn would join an a very competitive Big East with Syracuse, Notre Dame, Georgetown, Marquette, Villanova, Providence, Rutgers, and St. John's. It would be hard for a recruit to say no to a schedule that loaded with top teams.

5. Kentucky: The SEC school is the long-shot of the list. Trinity and St. X in Louisville have some top high-school talent for UK to recruit from, and so does the state of Ohio. Kentucky could schedule Ohio State, Michigan, Bellarmine, Penn State, and Notre Dame without having too much cost on traveling. The same goes for Northwestern's potential team, but scheduling games with Notre Dame will be very tough early on; the potential is there, though.