2023 Week 1 College Lacrosse Predictions:
As the weather starts to get warmer and more Division 1 lacrosse teams begin their seasons, we are in for an exciting weekend, starting Friday night with the always fun Albany/Syracuse rivalry. Week 0’s Best Bets went 2-1, with our Dog of the Weekend failing to cover, which starts puts our season total at 50% after 1 week. The highly anticipated return of the Ivy league is not upon us just yet, but a few more teams kick off their seasons like St. Joes, UNC and Georgetown. All three teams will look to kick off their seasons in style with big wins.
Best Bets:
Georgetown/Johns Hopkins Over 23.5:
Georgetown brings in a dangerous offense loaded with transfers and grad students. These two schools are just a short drive from each other and I anticipate this one to have an electric atmosphere. If Georgetown stays healthy, they should not have any problem making the Final Four in May. This game will be the first time the public sees how loaded this Hoya offense is and I would not be surprised to see this game turn into a high scoring shootout.
Boston University ML (-165) or -1.5 (-125) vs Vermont:
Boston University had a very strong year in 2022 and will look to build upon that success. Vermont has the advantage of playing last weekend, but I was not impressed with anyone on that team besides their Goalie and LSM. BU is a much different team than Syracuse, but Vermont’s dominance at the Face-Off X was neutralized last week, and if Boston can do the same, I think they will win this game easily. Look for the Terriers to start slow, as this is their first game of 2023, but once the offense gets going, I like BU to win and cover the spread.
Duke/Jacksonville Over 25.5:
This might be a double overreaction to last week’s results, but I am fully on the Duke Bandwagon after that High Point game. The attack is the best in the nation with 2 elite dodgers and the best shooter in the country (Dyson Williams). Jacksonville has weapons on offense, but they did not put up much of a fight against Johns Hopkins’ offense. I think Duke will be around the 20 goal mark every game until ACC play and in that case, we would only need 6 goals from Jacksonville. If you agree and have not put a future in for this season yet, Duke +900 is great value, and will continue to drop as the offense puts on a show in February and March.
Dog of the Weekend:
Marquette ML (+130) vs Utah:
I was all over Utah last weekend and even thought they could upset Denver, but I was very wrong. Denver played well with theextra motivation of it being Bill Tierney’s last opening game of his career. But I still do not think Utah looked very good in that matchup. Marquette was not tested against D1 newcomer Queens in their first game, but they took care of business as they should have last weekend. I have been a fan of the progression Marquette has made in their initial years moving up to Division 1, and this year’s squad is one of the best in the team’s short history. I see this game being tight throughout, possibly even going into Overtime, where I will always side with the Dog in that matchup.