2010 Big City Classic Preview: Bright Lights, Big Middies

The New Meadowlands will not open with a Giants game or a Jets game or any football game for that matter. The first athletic event to be played inside those soon-to-be-hallowed walls will be the Konica Minolta Big City Classic, an event featuring three lacrosse matches between some of the top programs in the nation. Two of the three games will be broadcast on ESPNU so you might even run across them while flicking through the channels to see how Tiger Woods is doing. Just in case you decide to stop and check things out, here’s some information that will help you answer questions such as “What the hell is going on???”

First, some primers.

What the hell is lacrosse? Lacrosse is a game created by Native Americans whose name loosely translates to “Little Brother of War,” which sounds awesome. It was originally used to resolve conflicts between tribes. These days it is commonly used to create conflict between the snooty kids who play it and those who perceive those kids to be as snooty as they probably are.

What’s going on? It’s hockey meet soccer with a dash of basketball. I swear that makes sense once you start watching. The dash of basketball is mainly to point out that the offense will regularly run designed plays, set picks, call one-on-ones, etc.

So is this the playoffs or something? Do they have playoffs? No, it’s still the regular season. A little over halfway through, actually. You know how college basketball does in-season tournaments? Well this is like that, only everyone only plays once. And yes, college lacrosse has a playoff tournament...what kind of dumb sport doesn’t have a playoff system? (Don’t answer that...)

How good are these teams? Since NCAA Lacrosse began in 1971, Virginia, North Carolina, Syracuse and Princeton own 25 of the 39 National Championships awarded, including every title between 1988 and 2004. So...pretty good.

Now let’s take a look at who’s who, what’s what and how it’s all gonna shake out. (All times Eastern)

Hofstra is trying to advance to their third-straight NCAA Tournament and they’ll need to win to keep pace with No. 8 Drexel. They’re probably an even better team than their record, which is peppered with losses to Princeton, UMass and Drexel, all top ten teams. They are led by Jamie Lincoln who is currently the NCAA Points Per Game leader with 28 goals and 19 assists.

It feels like eons since Delaware shocked the lacrosse world in 2007 and advanced to the Final Four. They haven’t been back to the tournament since and this season isn’t shaping up much better. After a 4-1 start the Hens have fallen off a cliff. If they want any chance of making the tournament, this is a must-win. They’ll look to senior attackman Curtis Dickson (38 goals, 11 assists) to lead the way.

A re-match from last season’s Big City Classic (Hofstra won 10-8), this one should whet the appetite for what’s to come.

Prediction: Hofstra 14 - Delaware 9

Virginia lacrosse is now what North Carolina lacrosse used to be. Back in the 80’s and early 90’s, UNC was a dominant player in the game, winning four National Titles. They haven’t won one since ‘91 and haven’t been back to the Final Four since ‘93. ‘94 marked a very literal changing of the guard as Virginia went to the first of five NCAA Finals (winning three Titles). Virginia is now listed among the very elite programs in college lacrosse while North Carolina has been watching them from below, waiting for their chance to take back what was once there spot. This season might be their chance.

Being No. 1 has become quite the ho-hum experience for Virginia. Like most recent seasons, they came into the year as one of the preseason No. 1 teams. They solidified that spot by beating the other one, Syracuse, early on. They’ve already beaten four teams currently ranked in the top ten and could make it five with a win here. Chris Bocklet leads the team with 30 goals but they’re as solid a group at every position as there is. Their midfielders are easily the quickest and most dangerous in the nation.

The Tar Heels are also a balanced squad, their defense is especially smothering with a 6.3 goals against average. The Heels are no paper tigers, they’ve got wins against Duke, Princeton, Maryland and Johns Hopkins. Look for Billy Bitter (31 points) and Sean DeLaney (27 points) to lead the UNC attack.

It’s the sixth showdown between a No. 1 and No. 2 since 2005 (every single one of those has featured at least one ACC team). Expect this one to be a great clinic, likely decided by Virginia’s offense and how it matches up with North Carolina’s defense. Virginia is the safe pick but they’ve looked susceptible against talented teams even in victory (see Syracuse).

Prediction: North Carolina 12, Virginia 11

It’s not often you see a No. 1 vs. No. 2 act as the middle game in a three-game set. Though I suppose if there is any match-up that can hold up under the pressure to follow up a game of that magnitude, it’s Syracuse vs. Princeton.

It wasn’t that long ago that there was Syracuse-Princeton and then there was everything else. Between 1988 and 2002, one of these two teams won the National Title every year except three. They played one another for the title four times, including three years in a row (‘00 - ‘02). With five titles to Syracuse’s three, Princeton was the Team of the 90’s. However the Aughts belonged to the Orange, who won five titles in that decade to Princeton’s one.

Princeton hasn’t won a title since 2001 and that’s a borderline tragedy for the Tigers. Their longtime coach Bill Tierney left the program in the off-season, leaving the program in the capable hands of Greg Bates. Bates has the Tigers on track so far, their only loss coming at the hands of No. 2 North Carolina (by one point). The Tigers are strong defensively and feature one of the best attack sets in the nation, led by Jack McBride (24 points).

The Orange are coming off their second-straight National Title and remain in good position to make it three in a row so far. After losing to No. 1 Virginia, they’ve rattled off five in a row, including wins over Georgetown and Hopkins. The Orange feature a more-balanced offensive attack than year past, led by Chris Daniello (29 points), Stephen Keogh (24 points) and Cody Jamieson (20 points). It’s their defense, however, that has been buckling down when needed.

In a season with many highlights, SU’s 12-8 loss to Princeton in last year’s Big City Classic remained a sore spot in the rear-view mirror. They’ll want to erase that from their memory this time around.

Prediction: Syracuse 14, Princeton 12