Kessenich

With six Saturday's remaining in the regular season, it's time to hand out our mid-term grades. Syracuse and Notre Dame have aced their tests, while Maryland and Princeton need some extra help. Rob Pannell and Nicky Galasso headline the Dean's List, while Loyola hopes to shed the dunce cap. Study up, the final exam is scheduled for Memorial Day. They get an A+ Rob Pannell: Cornell's junior attackman leads the nation with 5.5 points per game and has 116 career assists to lead all active players.

In 31 days, two teams will meet in Philadelphia for the men's lacrosse national championship. Who that will be is anyone's guess. With unparalleled parity in the sport, the race is wide-open. This weekend, the best slate of the season, will go a long way toward winnowing the field. Some teams, such as Johns Hopkins and Colgate, need a win to keep their NCAA tournament hopes alive. Others, like defending national champion Loyola and Syracuse, want to burnish their resume. These seven games will go a long way toward deciding who will have a shot at Championship Weekend.

ESPN analyst Quint Kessenich provided commentary for No. 7 Syracuse's 13-12 upset of No. 5 Cornell on Wednesday night and No. 2 Duke's 19-16 victory over No. 16 Virginia on Friday night. The former Johns Hopkins All-American goalkeeper, who can be followed on Twitter via @QKessenich, will be on hand for Saturday's tilt between Navy and No. 15 Johns Hopkins. Kessenich offered his perspective on the No. 1 team in the country, the 10 programs that could advance to the Final Four at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia on Memorial Day weekend, and the issues plaguing No. 15 Virginia.

With conference play heating up, and April - a month that's all about improvement - on the doorstep, I solicited questions on Twitter (@QKessenich) to see what's on people's minds.   National College Lacrosse League @NCLLax: If QK can change just one rule for 2013, what would he add or delete from the NCAA rulebook? QK: The No. 1 rule change on everybody's mind is the shot clock. Shot-clock advocates are growing, but change is a touchy subject. The rules committee works in a two-year cycle, and this offseason offers it the opportunity to enact reform.

Cornell's Rob Pannell was the 2011 National Player of the Year, scoring more than five points per game. This season was supposed to be his coronation as he led Cornell to its first NCAA title since 1977. But a broken foot suffered March 3 has put the attackman's season on hold and his future in question. "You ask yourself, 'Why me?' You put in hard work for three years - it was supposed to be my time to share with teammates and classmates," he told me Tuesday. Coming into this season, Pannell and Virginia attackman Steele Stanwick (Loyola)