SCOREBOARD

Playoff race heightens 'The NLL March to May' in regular season's final weeks

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With its regular season bounding past the midway mark, the National Lacrosse League and its teams prepare for “The NLL March to May,” the annual push towards the eight-team NLL Playoffs under the League’s new unified, single-table format.

Every game down the stretch will have a playoff atmosphere and implications as teams vie for the NLL Championship. The unified standings now guarantees that the best eight teams at the end of the regular season have an opportunity to win the NLL Cup, regardless of geography. The playoffs begin the weekend of April 26-28.

“The NLL March to May” begins with a supersized nine-game schedule on March 1-3, with every team competing and three teams playing twice over three days of coast-to-coast action across the U.S. and Canada. TSN kicks it off with a Friday doubleheader when the Swarm visit the Thunderbirds at 7p.m. ET followed by the defending champion Bandits taking on the Warriors at 10 p.m. ET. In the U.S., ESPNU has the Rock at the Desert Dogs at 10 p.m. ET. With 12 teams currently within three games of the top spot, all eight playoff berths and first-round home dates are all in play.

The league implemented “The NLL March to May” playoff push branding in 2022-23 to wide acclaim from fans, partners, and teams.

“The success of ‘The NLL March to May’ last year was just the start as this time frame is synonymous with the run up to the NLL Playoffs,” said Kurt Hunzeker, NLL Executive Vice President, Commercial Operations. “The new unified standings and playoff formats have only enhanced how every game will have so much impact on which teams qualify and which amazing matchups we’ll see in the postseason.”

The revamped NLL playoff format will feature the regular season #1 seed vs. #8; #2 vs. #7; #3 vs. #6; and #4 vs. #5 in the quarterfinals, with a “bracket” style advance through to the NLL Finals. The quarterfinal round will be single elimination. The semi-finals and NLL Finals will continue to be best-of-three series.