As you could likely tell from my post on a possible rebirth of the Great Western Lacrosse League, I’m of the opinion that conference affiliations in Division-1 lacrosse are often… funky. Some are geographically-oriented, some group together schools with similar academic profiles or sporting philosophies (i.e. non-scholarship leagues), and some seem to be nearly random.
D-1 Conferences: Not so geographically-oriented
Though this entire post is a work of fantasy, the world we live in has SOME rules. For example, there are a few leagues that aren’t going to change in membership. The Big East, ACC, and Ivy League are what they are. Sure, more schools from those conferences (Columbia in the Ivy League, and any of the football schools you’re familiar with in the Big East/ACC, or the Big East’s basketball-only members) could add lacrosse and be admitted to those leagues, but Notre Dame will not play lacrosse in a different conference now that there is Big East Lacrosse, and the ACC isn’t going to add anybody that isn’t a full member of their league in other sports.
Outside of those leagues, which are locked in for the purposes of this post, I’m going to assume (unfairly) a blank slate. With the Ivy League, ACC, and Big East removed, and all conference affiliations ignored, the Division-1 Lacrosse landscape looks like this:
View Other Conferences in a larger map
For a zoomable, clickable version of the top map, click here. It’s interesting to see some of the options (pipe dreams though they may be), including things like an all-DC/Baltimore conference, and obviously West-based leagues. Feel free to play around, and see what you can come up with.
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