Princeton dominated the men’s lacrosse landscape in the 1990s, winning five national championships, including three-straight from 1996-1998. Then in the 2000s, Syracuse was the top school, also securing five titles.
While the 2010s and 2020s have featured seven different teams raising the national championship trophy, Maryland men’s lacrosse has set itself apart as one the most successful programs as of late.
Maryland has been the standard over the past decade-and-a-half, winning two national championships while making another five, navigating into a new conference in the process. Since the Terps reached the national championship in 2011 for the first time in 13 years, they have compiled a 167-43 record, a winning percentage of .795.
Lacrosse did not come to the Big Ten until Maryland and Rutgers joined the conference in July 2014 bringing together other Big Ten schools like Michigan, Ohio State and Penn State. The conference also brought in Johns Hopkins as an honorary member.
“We were just creating [a conference],” coach John Tillman said. “It was a very unique situation to be in. All the five other teams are having really good seasons … everybody’s ranked in the top-20 right now. Obviously the coaches have recruited well; they’re good coaches. And it seems like all the schools have really put a high value on supporting men’s lacrosse which is pretty cool.”
Johns Hopkins was formerly an independent but commonly played schools like Maryland, Virginia and Princeton to boost its postseason resume. Ohio State and Michigan used to play in the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC), while Penn State played in the ECAC until joining the CAA prior to its entrance into the Big Ten.
Maryland formerly was in the ACC, playing against high-caliber schools like Virginia, Duke and North Carolina.
Maryland has steamrolled through its Big Ten opponents since joining the conference, amassing a 37-6 record while losing twice in a season to a Big Ten foe just once. The Terps have finished the regular season with at least a share of the conference regular season title in every full season since their entrance.
But Maryland’s conference dominance has come to a stop this season.
The Terps suffered their first Big Ten loss since 2019 when they fell to then-unranked Michigan, 16-11. The Wolverines’ first victory in program history over the Terps brought them into the following week’s Inside Inside Lacrosse Media Poll, putting all six conference schools in it.
“This year I would say the ACC and the Big 10 are probably having the better years … and are probably the two best conferences so far,” Tillman said. “They are slugfests, you know each other pretty darn well. You’re familiar with schemes and personnel.”
Maryland still is the highest ranked team in the conference in the latest poll at No. 4 but the rest of the schools are hot on its heels. Penn State comes in at No. 6, followed by Johns Hopkins in a tie for No. 7 with Army. No. 9 Rutgers, No. 15 Michigan and No. 18 Ohio State close out the Big Ten rankings.
Through three weeks of 2023 conference play, Maryland, Penn State and Johns Hopkins each stand atop the conference with 2-1 records. But those schools only hold a one-game lead on the other three, as Michigan, Ohio State and Rutgers all own 1-2 conference records.
The parody in the Big Ten is at its best since all six schools became members.
“[With] all three games that are going to be played between the six [Big 10] teams you’ll probably see a lot of different results just because everybody is so good,” Tillman said.
Last week’s conference slate featured all three games going to overtime. Maryland and Penn State both overcame five-goal first-half deficits against Ohio State and Johns Hopkins, respectively. Michigan fought from a five-goal third-quarter deficit against Rutgers to force the extra period, but the Scarlet Knights struck in overtime to avoid the collapse.
All six teams in the conference have offensive firepower, averaging at least 11.45 goals a game, putting all the schools in the top-40 among Division I teams in scoring offense. Penn State is in the lead among the Big Ten pack with 13.8 goals a game, tied for 16th-most in the nation.
The schedule hasn’t been easy for any of the Big Ten schools — all six rank in the top-16 in RPI — potentially leaving the door open for several to earn an at-large bid for the NCAA Tournament next month.
