📈 TOP CFB RIVALRY LEVELS UP IN LACROSSE

In football, it’s known simply as “The Game.”

When it comes to College Lacrosse, the rivalry between Ohio State and Michigan is about to reach a new level. Both teams are 3-1 in Big Ten play and set to meet each other in Ann Arbor on Saturday with a conference regular-season title on the line.

Although Michigan has run the table to win the Big Ten Tournament each of the past two seasons, neither the Wolverines nor the Buckeyes have ever won even a share of the conference’s regular-season title since the Big Ten added Men’s Lacrosse in 2015. This conference has typically been dominated by Maryland (6 titles), with Johns Hopkins (3 titles) and Penn State (2 titles) nabbing a handful of first-place finishes.

Last year, Michigan owned this rivalry with Ohio State. The Wolverines beat the Buckeyes, 13-12, in the regular-season finale in Columbus. That game secured home-field advantage for the first-round of the Big Ten Tournament, where Michigan handed Ohio State a 15-9 loss one week later.

Michigan then returned to Columbus and took down Johns Hopkins and Penn State to secure a second consecutive Big Ten Tournament Championship — this time on Ohio State’s home field.

A couple weeks ago, we interviewed Ohio State goalie Caleb Fyock on the Mitchell Pehlke Lacrosse Show, and he assured us that the Buckeyes have had the Michigan game circled on their calendar for quite some time.

“We have a clock in our locker room counting down to the day we play the team up north,” Fyock said. “It’s something everyone looks forward to every year, just knowing that’s like the best rivalry in college sports.”

Ohio State has a good shot at exacting revenge this year. The Buckeyes are 11-2 and peaked at No. 2 in the country before falling to Maryland last weekend. Michigan is 7-5 overall and has bounced in and out of the Top 20.

While Ohio State has a chance to claim the No. 1 seed this weekend, Michigan will host the Big Ten Tournament this year. The Buckeyes could have an opportunity to return the favor from last year and capture their first Big Ten Tournament Championship on their biggest rival’s home turf.

Who will end up winning the Big Ten this year? Let us know by replying to this email!

👋 New Teams in The People’s Top 20

We dropped a fresh Top 20 on Tuesday, and three previously unranked teams cracked the rankings: Denver, Towson and Lafayette. Here’s a look at the full rankings, followed by a little bit on each of the three newcomers this week.

Denver (7-5): The Pioneers were a Final Four team last year, but they were sitting at .500 a month ago. Since then, they’ve won three of their past four games, with the only loss coming in overtime against Villanova. They just shut down the reigning Big East champions Georgetown, 7-3, making them the potential favorite in this conference.

Towson (7-5): The Tigers started the season 1-5. Now, they’re tied with Cornell for the longest winning streak in Division I Men’s Lacrosse (6 games). They are the only team that is still undefeated (5-0) in CAA play. If they can take down Fairfield at home this weekend, they’ll be in great position to win the conference.

Lafayette (8-4): Don’t look past the Leopards in the Patriot League race this year. They’re 5-1 over the past six games and are coming off a big win against Boston U. They travel to Virginia this weekend and have a chance to turn some heads against an ACC team that’s struggling to get it together this season.

😬 Hopkins’ Last Gasp at Maryland?

After starting the season 4-0 with hopes of reaching Championship Weekend, Johns Hopkins is in the midst of a devastating collapse. They are 2-6 since mid-February, including four straight losses against Big Ten opponents.

The Blue Jays have one last opportunity to pick up a regular-season conference win, but they’ll have to capture it on the road at Maryland in the latest edition of “The Rivalry.”

The bad news for Hopkins is Maryland already had their hiccups against Michigan and Rutgers. The Terrapins were running like a well-oiled machine in their 13-8 win over Ohio State last weekend. They may be rounding into playoff form.

Hopkins went 5-0 in regular-season conference play last year and claimed the No. 1 seed in the Big Ten Tournament. Now, the Jays are in danger of falling to 0-5. All six teams qualify for the conference tournament, but it’s hard to see them flipping the script and running the table from here.

👀 CJ Kirst Record Watch

The CJ Kirst tour will be at Harvard this weekend. The Cornell star is coming off a five-goal, eight-point performance against Syracuse at a neutral site on Long Island. He is now five goals away from tying the all-time D1 goals record held by Payton Cormier (224) and six goals away from breaking it.

Kirst leads all of D1 lacrosse in both goals (54) and points (74) so far this season. As a result, Cornell is 10-1 and ranked No. 1 in the country in every poll. If Kirst doesn’t break the record against Harvard this weekend, he’ll have another chance at home against Dartmouth the following week. Then playoffs start…

At this rate, can anyone catch up to Kirst in the Tewaaraton Award race?

📺 College Lacrosse on TV!

Here’s the men’s D1 slate and watch links for this week, via Inside Lacrosse (all times Eastern):

Tuesday, April 15:
7 p.m. — Hofstra at Yale (ESPN+)

Wednesday, April 16:
*No D1 men’s games

Thursday, April 17:
*No D1 men’s games

Check your email inbox on Friday for the full weekend slate!