Projecting A Michigan Schedule: 2012

Now that Michigan is confirmed to be joining Division-1 lacrosse next spring, who are they likely to play in their inaugural season?

For starters, the Wolverines have applied to the ECAC, and they’re expected to join the league right away. Assuming no other changes to the league’s membership (not a guarantee), that means games against the following teams:

• Denver
• Loyola (Maryland)
• Ohio State
• Fairfield
• Air Force
• Hobart
• Bellarmine

Denver is taking a big step toward the nation’s elite (they hired longtime Princeton coach Bill Tierney a couple years back, and in his second season with the Pioneers he has them in the Final Four), and Loyola, Ohio State, and Fairfield are decent competition. The other three schools are mid-to-low level Division-1 opposition.

This season, ECAC teams averaged 14.2 regular season games (8.2 non-conference games). With another team added to the ECAC mix, 6 conference games becomes 7, so I’m expecting 7 or 8 out-of-conference contests – leaning toward 8, since a lot of teams might want to get a shot at a presumably weak Michigan squad. Some likely opponents include:

• Johns Hopkins (past scrimmage opponent, JP has an existing relationship with Dave Pietramala)
• Army (past scrimmage opponent)
• Navy (rumorz!)
• Penn State (Big Ten foe)
• Notre Dame (traditional rival)
• Detroit (geography)
• Bad teams (some bros gotta win, right?)

AnnArbor.com’s Mike Rothstein has been hitting his sources hard, and they tell him that Michigan will be playing the Irish and Nittany Lions in year one, but Pietramala himself says that Michigan and Hopkins will not square off in 2012 (2013 and 2014 are likely, though), no idea whether that has any effect on 412’s Navy rumor being a first-year thing.

So, with two opponents definitely in and one definitely out, we’re looking for 5-6 additional opponents. I’d go with Detroit (possibly at a neutral site), both service academies, one marquee opponent to play at home (likely from the ACC or Big East), and two bad teams – Mercer and Wagner, for example.

As more information starts to come out (starting with a final decision from the ECAC on Michigan’s entry, followed by a release of the ECAC schedule), I’ll fine-tune the assumptions and go forward from there.