INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. --- Just one ODAC school will play in what will eventually be the 108th NCAA trophy handed out in the City of Salem. Washington and Lee University, fresh off claiming its 15th straight conference crown, will carry the league colors in the Division III Women's Lacrosse Championship bracket, as announced by the NCAA on Monday afternoon.
Championships in Division III feature a few changes in 2024-25 starting with a bracket increase for several sports. Women's lacrosse increased from 46 squads last season to 47 this year. There are 30 automatic qualifiers from conferences -- like WLU for the ODAC -- and 17 at-large entries from all other remaining schools.
The method in which at-large selections were determined also changed this season. New for all Division III team sports is the NCAA Power Index (NPI). All teams in a given sport -- 283 in D-III women's lacrosse -- feature a NPI rating. Those NPI ratings are ranked sequentially and form a transparent method of selecting teams at-large to Division III brackets, replacing the former process of the sport championship committees selecting teams at-large based on predetermined selection criteria. Once the 30 automatic qualifiers were known, the next 17 best NPI-rated teams formed the list of at-large selected programs to fill out the bracket.
Washington and Lee (16-4) will travel to Sewanee for early round play. The Generals will meet Transylvania University (8-9) in the first round, winners of the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) championship. The winner will meet host Colonels (17-0) in round two, who received a first-round bye.
Play in the first two rounds begins on Saturday and Sunday, May 10-11, in all but one pod. That set of three teams opens competition on Friday, May 9. The sectional and quarterfinal rounds are slated for Saturday and Sunday, May 17-18. The four remaining teams will travel to Virginia's Championship City for a combined final-four event with the qualifiers from Division II at Roanoke College. The joint venture, which includes partnerships with Salem, the ODAC, and the Mountain East Conference (MEC), will be competed over four days. The Division II semifinals and championship will be played on Thursday and Saturday, May 22 and 24, while the Division III semifinals and title game will feature on Friday and Sunday, May 23 and 25.