The 2026 NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Championship is upon us. One conference in particular is well represented in the Final Four. Notre Dame, Syracuse, and Duke are all in the final weekend of the tournament. ACC fans are rejoicing about those three teams. Princeton, from the Ivy League, is the fourth team in the tournament.
Syracuse already leads the pack with 10 NCAA lacrosse championships. They lead the entire country in titles but haven’t won since 2009. Not far behind them is Princeton. The Tigers have won six championships but haven’t claimed one since 2001.
Duke and Notre Dame are hoping to get their numbers up as well. Duke last won in 2014 and was runner-up in 2024. Notre Dame has been on a tear, winning in 2023 and 2024.
Princeton vs Duke
It’s fitting that Princeton is in the Final Four because their 2001 team will be honored at halftime in the National Championship game. So, this year’s team would like to punch their ticket and try to show up at a title game in another 25 years. Princeton is the top seed in the tournament and took down Penn State in the quarterfinals, 14-10.
Duke cruised against Georgetown in their last game. They built a large lead by half and went on to win 16-6. Duke actually missed the ACC Tournament after struggling against legit competition throughout the season. They’ve gotten hot as of late.
Syracuse vs Notre Dame
These two as you might expect faced off earlier this season. It was Notre Dame who took the most recent game back in April, winning 16-11. Interestingly enough, that win tied the all-time series between the two schools so the tiebreaker will be a pretty important game.
Notre Dame has been the better team throughout the season. They are the second-ranked team in the country and have a legit attack. Meanwhile, Syracuse, the sixth-ranked team, barely made it to this game. They beat Yale by a score of 16-15 two rounds ago and in the quarterfinal, they went to the brink against UNC, winning 13-11.
Prediction:
I have Princeton and Notre Dame heading for the National Championship. Notre Dame has the recent pedigree and experience to pull it off. Two titles in the last three years have the Fighting Irish feeling confident entering this game.
But fate has a funny way of working. 25 years ago, it was a Princeton team that claimed the trophy and brought home the title. As that team is celebrated at halftime, it will be another Tigers team that is celebrated after the game for breaking the slump.