The NCAA has said it doesn't want more than half of its postseason berths to go to AQs, so this could mean it would have to expand the men's lacrosse tournament beyond 16 teams.
By 2015, when Monmouth, Furman and Boston University are all varsity, Division I likely will have 66 teams sponsoring men's lacrosse. That's up from 57 in 2007 — a growth of 16 percent in eight years.
NCAA women's lacrosse recently went from 16 to 26 teams for its 2013 tournament after going to 13 AQs.
Con — NCAA tournament bottleneck
Problem is, even at 66 D-I men's teams that means 24 percent are making a 16-team postseason, which is in line with sports such as men's ice hockey (16/58, 28 percent) and men's soccer (48/202, 24 percent). With 100 teams sponsoring D-I women's lacrosse next year, 26 percent will make the postseason, which is among the highest for similar women's sports.
If expansion of the tournament isn't feasible, that could mean a play-in game so the field isn't more than half AQs. If that happens, that's a tough blow to conferences that have worked toward getting an automatic bid and the benefits that come with that guaranteed road to the postseason.
