😳 MICHIGAN SAID WHAT!?

Michigan’s trip to Charlottesville this weekend just got a whole lot more interesting.

Coming off the program’s first-ever Big Ten Championship and an appearance in the NCAA Quarterfinals, Michigan head coach Kevin Conry must feel pretty confident. In a recent interview with Inside Lacrosse, Conry dropped a quote that is guaranteed to trigger some ACC fans.

“We play in the best conference in the country,” Conry said of the Big Ten, according to Inside Lacrosse. “It’s not the pretty-boy conference. It’s full of 6-foot-4 gorillas ready to rip your face off.”

Woo-boy…where to start?

The Big Ten is a very solid conference. You’ve got Maryland, who went undefeated and won the NCAA Championship a couple seasons ago. Johns Hopkins also has a rich history of success, of course, and Penn State made it to Championship Weekend last year.

The other three teams in last year’s NCAA Semifinals, however, came from the ACC. One of those teams was Virginia, who Michigan will visit on Saturday.

Last season, Michigan gave Virginia a hard-fought battle on the road but ultimately lost to the Cavaliers, 17-13. In that game, former Virginia midfielder Ricky Miezan — a 235-pound ex-Stanford linebacker — scored his first collegiate lacrosse goal.

Not exactly “pretty boy” material.

Was Conry directly referencing the ACC when he made his statement? Maybe not. But when you claim that your conference is the “best,” it’s not a stretch to conclude that his comments apply to any non-B1G conference — including the ACC.

If I were Virginia head coach Lars Tiffany, I would make sure every player on my team knows Conry’s quote before taking the field at Klockner Stadium against Michigan at 12 ET on Saturday.

⚡️ TLN Hats at PLL Champ Series

TLN will be on-site at the 2024 PLL Championship Series, and we won’t be empty-handed. We’ve re-stocked three of our best-selling hats, and we’re breaking out two new ones as Champ Series exclusives.

Here’s a look at the collection we’re bringing to the St. James in Springfield, Virginia next week:

In that collection, you can see the Royal and Black TLN Script Hats which previously sold out. We’ve added a navy and red version, which features a special 2024 PLL Championship Series lightning bolt on the side to commemorate the event.

The TLN Fast Break hat is also one of our best-sellers. We’ve restocked the original colorway and added a new black-and-white version specifically for this on-site drop.

If you’re in the D.C. area or willing to make the trip, you should check out Champ Series and stop by the TLN Stick Doctor’s tent. Let our stringers hook you up with a great pocket, while you enjoy the fastest game on the planet in one of these exclusive hats.

👀 You Gotta See Syracuse

Now in Year 3 under head coach Gary Gait, Syracuse Lacrosse has become must-watch television. Whether they can hang with the top dogs in the ACC remains to be determined, but that’s beside the point. If you like flashy, fast-moving lacrosse, then you gotta see this team in action.

Star attackman Joey Spallina leads the team with 16 points (7G, 9A) through two games, but Syracuse’s offense is loaded with electric playmakers. Watch this SportsCenter Top 10 play from their win over Colgate earlier this week.

Syracuse has to lead the NCAA in behind-the-back passes and shots so far this season, and their man-up offense is like watching someone play pinball. The Orange are also more physical than you might expect, as evidenced by the all-out brutality we witnessed in the Colgate game.

If you haven’t caught a Syracuse game yet, they host Manhattan today at 4 p.m. ET on ACCNX (available on ESPN Watch).

🧠 Hopkins Has Short Memory

In order to be successful in sports, you need to have a short memory. That appears to be the case for Johns Hopkins, who bounced back from a season-opening meltdown against Denver to beat Towson 13-5 on Tuesday.

After the game, senior defenseman Scott Smith said this Hopkins team has the potential to beat anyone in the country.

As a team, it took the Blue Jays a couple games to find their stride. One individual who hit the ground running, however, was star freshman Hunter Chauvette. With a pair of hat tricks already on the season, Chauvette is turning heads and drawing lofty comparisons with his incredible shooting stroke.

Catch Chauvette and the rest of the Jays on Saturday at 12 p.m. ET, as they visit Georgetown for what projects to be one of the best matchups of the weekend.

📺 NCAA TV & Streaming Info

All times Eastern (streaking links via Inside Lacrosse):

Friday, Feb. 9:
3 p.m. — Lindenwood at Marquette (FloSports)
4 p.m. — Manhattan at Syracuse (ACCNX)

Saturday, Feb. 10:
11 a.m. — Holy Cross at UMass Lowell (AmericaEast.com)
12 p.m. — Jacksonville at Binghamton (No streaming info)
12 p.m. — Vermont at Boston U (ESPN+)
12 p.m. — Bryant at Providence (FloSports)
12 p.m. — Bucknell at Marist (ESPN+)
12 p.m. — Cleveland State at Ohio State (B1G+)
12 p.m. — Lafayette at Delaware (FloSports)
12 p.m. — Lehigh at Fairfield (LacrosseTV)
12 p.m. — Johns Hopkins at Georgetown (FloSports)
12 p.m. — Hofstra at Navy (ESPN+)
12 p.m. — LIU at Monmouth (FloSports)
12 p.m. — Loyola at Maryland (B1G+)
12 p.m. — Sacred Heart at Merrimack (AmericaEast.com)
12 p.m. — Michigan at Virginia (ACCN)
12 p.m. — Villanova at Penn State (B1G+)
12 p.m. — Queens at VMI (No streaming info)
12 p.m. — Richmond at Robert Morris (No streaming info)
12 p.m. — Rutgers at Stony Brook (FloSports)
12:30 p.m. — Army at UMass (ESPN+)
1 p.m. — Siena at NJIT (AmericaEast.com)
1 p.m. — Quinnipiac at St. John’s (ESPN+)
2 p.m. — Air Force at Denver (DenverPioneers.com)
2 p.m. — Duke at High Point (ESPN+)
3:30 p.m. — North Carolina at Mercer (No streaming info)
4 p.m. — Mount St. Mary’s at Towson (FloSports)

Sunday, Feb. 4:
12 p.m. — Bellarmine at St. Bonaventure (No streaming info)
12 p.m. — Colgate at Hobart (Hobart All-Access)