Every conference is starting league play and spring is finally in the air. It’s time to take bumps, bruises and lessons learned in the non-conference season and begin the quest for that conference Automatic Qualifier.

This week’s schedule is highlighted by eight magnificent games, including an ACC game in South Bend featuring maybe the nation’s two most talented teams. Besides that monumental game we’ve all been waiting, this week also ushers in Big Ten play. We’ll welcome back “Sunday Nights on BTN” with a Top 20 matchup between a hungry No. 19 Ohio State squad and No. 6 Rutgers, comfortably settled into a familiar situation locked in the nation’s Top 10.

Rutgers head coach Brian Brecht is our guest this week, and we cover a range of topics including what the school’s first Championship Weekend appearance meant to the Scarlet Knights program, building a challenging schedule, home field advantage on the banks of the Raritan, Kyle Mullin continuing the Rutgers tradition of strong goalie play, the Big Ten commitment to lacrosse and much, much more.

Eight games to breakdown this weekend, including a huge one in South Bend.

No. 9 Loyola (5-2, 2-0 Patriot) at No. 13 Army (6-1, 3-0), noon, ESPN+

No. 15 Penn (3-3, 1-0 Ivy) at No. 5 Cornell (5-1, 1-0), noon, ESPN+

No. 4 Duke (7-1) at Saint Joseph’s (4-3), noon, ESPN+

No. 3 Virginia (6-1) at No. 1 Notre Dame (6-0), noon

No. 12 Yale (3-2, 0-1) at No. 20 Princeton (2-4, 0-1), 1 p.m.

No. 10 Penn State (5-2) at No. 2 Maryland (5-2), 5 p.m., BTN

No. 8 Johns Hopkins (7-3) at Michigan (4-3), 7 p.m., BTN

 

No. 6 Rutgers (7-1) at No. 19 Ohio State (4-4), 7 p.m.

In a tailgate-inspired Give & Go, Dix and D-Fly discuss critical issues surrounding America’s true pastime.