South Florida is the highest-ranked women’s college lacrosse team to ever be left out of the NCAA Tournament. The Bulls were robbed of a postseason appearance.
Their lack of inclusion stems from the NCAA’s desire to feature a big-name brand over a mid-major.
It is a historic snub for women’s college lacrosse for all of the wrong reasons. The governing body of collegiate athletics went with the big-name brand over the (not-so) underdog, again.
USF did not make the women’s college lacrosse tournament.
The NCAA Division I Women’s Lacrosse Championship Subcommittee has selected the 29 teams to compete in the 2026 NCAA Division I Women’s Lacrosse Championship. It announced the field on Sunday evening after the conclusion of the conference championships.
Teams that won their respective conferences earned an automatic bid to the postseason. That includes:
- American — James Madison
- America East — Albany
- Atlantic 10 — Davidson
- ACC — UNC
- ASUN — Jacksonville
- Big 12 — Colorado
- Big East — Denver
- Big South — Mercer
- Big Ten — Northwestern
- CAA — Stony Brook
- Ivy League — Princeton
- MAAC — Fairfield
- MAC — UMass
- Northeast — Stonehill
- Patriot League — Navy
The remaining 14 slots were filled with at-large selections to complete the bracket. Those teams are:
- Army West Point
- Boston College
- Clemson
- Florida
- Johns Hopkins
- Loyola Maryland
- Maryland
- Michigan
- Notre Dame
- Penn State
- Rutgers
- Stanford
- Syracuse
- Yale
There is one glaring omission from this bracket. Where is USF?
The Bulls finished the regular season with an overall record of 12-5 but they bungled their shot at an automatic bid with a loss to the Dukes during the American Conference championship. It was a blowout.
JMU, the No. 1 seed, defeated USF, the No. 2 seed, by a final score of 17-7. Kaitlyn Carney and Brianna Mennella combined for 11 goals in victory. South Florida did not have an answer defensively.
The Bulls were left out of the NCAA Tournament as a result of their loss. They blew it.
However, their resume was still strong enough to deserve an at-large bid. Or so we thought…
South Florida was robbed!
USF proved its worth during the regular season. First and foremost, the Bulls ranked among the nation’s most elite programs across 10 major statistical categories:
- 3rd in NCAA in Shots Per Game
- 8th in NCAA in Shots on Goal Per Game
- 11th in NCAA in Ground Balls Per Game
- 18th in NCAA in Win Percentage
- 19th in NCAA in Scoring Margin
- 19th in NCAA in Scoring Offense
- 21st in NCAA in Draw Controls Per Game
- 22nd in NCAA in Points Per Game
- 25th in NCAA in Draw Control Percentage
- 28th in NCAA in Caused Turnovers Per Game
Their strength of record (per LacrosseReference.com) is also worth noting. They ranked ahead of Penn State, Georgetown, Loyola and Rutgers in strength of record. Those four teams made the postseason.
More importantly, South Florida faced three top-10 RPI opponents this season in Michigan, Florida and Navy, and six top-25 RPI opponents in James Madison (twice) and Richmond. It had the No. 14-ranked RPI in the country.
No team ranked this high in RPI had ever been left out of the bracket since the NCAA Tournament expanded to 29 teams. Every team ranked inside the top 21 by RPI has received a postseason bid.
USF is the first and only exception. And some of its “worst losses” were due to illness.
“This USF team is my most complete team from top to bottom that I’ve ever coached,” said head coach Mindy Mccord. “The improvement we have made this season alone, along with our overall growth in just two years, is incredible. Despite health impacts to the majority of the team over two weeks this season — including a two-game, three-day trip at ODU and Richmond — we fought super hard. With the team 100% healthy now, this is a team that can compete with anyone in the top 10 and push them to their limit. This group is more than deserving of an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament.”
On the other side of the conversation is Notre Dame. The Irish also finished the regular season at 12-5, like the Bulls, but ranked No. 30 in RPI. The NCAA Tournament selection committee decided to go with the big-name power conference program over the mid-major. Bummer.