Proving to be another sign that the sport of lacrosse is continuing to grow in the U.S., the NCAA has announced that their Division II tournament will double in size in 2013.
Adding on an additional four teams for 2013, the DII tournament doubles from the original four team style we saw prior to the change. Teams qualifying for the tournament will now be split into two bracket regions, north and south. The two teams winning their respective regions will then take part in the national championship game.
Team selections will also be influenced by a rating percentage index, which is new for the 2013 season. This will give the selection process a style more like that used in Division I lacrosse.
The increase in teams reaching the tournament is easily justified. In the 2007-08 season, NCAA Division II lacrosse only had 34 participating teams. For the 2013 season, however, 50 teams will take the field. You can imagine we’ll be seeing another increase in the not so distant future, as more and more universities begin fielding teams for Division II lacrosse.