It's always great to see new teams emerge in lacrosse.
Over the years, Notre Dame and Denver have become powers and Ohio State and Albany are on the verge of becoming something special, as well. Keep an eye on Michigan now, because a school that has a large football following has the potential to become special in lacrosse.
Those fall afternoons when stadiums are packed full of football fans can be very attractive to recruits, especially lacrosse players, because a lot of them played football in high school.
If those schools can sign a big name coach and get commitment from the athletic department, the groundwork has been put in place.
"I think it was inevitable," Maryland coach John Tillman said of Denver and Notre Dame becoming dominant teams. "You just have all these great institutions that are attractive to young people and you have great coaches and they are getting a lot of support.
"I think you look at the schools that have been going to the final four, you are always going to have the traditional teams, yet when you go out and hire great coaches like Bill Tierney and Kevin Corrigan and you have great brands, and then you support them, it's inevitable that you are going to have these schools in the conversation. It forces everybody to work harder and step up their commitment, so I think it's a great thing for lacrosse in general."
Tillman, though, loves Maryland's long standing rivalry with Johns Hopkins.
"We're excited about the growth of the game – more programs starting is great for the future of lacrosse," he said. "Hopkins-Maryland is something that is based on tradition, great teams and really talented players. It's part of the fabric of college lacrosse and it always will be. Yet, when there is growth there is opportunity for new rivalries to be built. And I think that's the case in all sports – you'll see new rivalries develop, but the old rivalries will always be there. Anybody that has played in this rivalry will get excited about it."