Seeded teams

1. Duke -- Getting to two NCAA tournament finals in the past three years without winning it all isn't very satisfying.

2. Johns Hopkins -- Four of its first five games in Baltimore is a good start.

3. Virginia -- Duke transfer Peter Lamade makes a potent offense even better.

4. Georgetown* -- Has lost in the NCAA quarterfinals six years in a row.

5. Princeton* -- Goalie Alex Hewit helped the Tigers lead the country in fewest goals allowed (6.2 a game).

6. North Carolina -- Last year's trip to the NCAA quarterfinals was a welcome change from 4-10 in 2006.

7. Maryland -- Ranked in the top 15 in man-up offense, scoring offense and man-down defense in 2007.

8. Notre Dame* -- Took Johns Hopkins to overtime before losing, 11-10, in the NCAA first round.

Unseeded teams (in alphabetical order)

Albany* -- Great Danes averaged 13.8 goals a game, second to Cornell last season.

Cornell -- The Big Red won games by an average of seven goals last season.

Delaware -- Replacing the nation's best faceoff specialist, Alex Smith, is a hurdle.

Loyola -- Should be able to take advantage of a depleted Massachusetts team and a young Penn State team to make the playoffs.

Navy* -- Another 8-0 start would be good, but avoiding a 3-4 finish is critical if the Midshipmen have championship hopes.

Siena* -- Junior attackman Matt Girsh finished fourth in the nation with 2.94 goals a game last season.

Syracuse -- Opponents converted 71.7 percent of their man-up opportunities against the Orange.

Towson* -- Will end a two-year CAA title drought. *-Automatic qualifier