"We’re really excited about the lineup for 2011 because Virginia and Syracuse come back to the event after participating in the first two years in ’07 and ’08," said Andy Bilello, the director of business development for Inside Lacrosse. "If you look at it, Syracuse, Virginia and Cornell should all start the year ranked very highly in the preseason. Georgetown’s a team in the Big East that has that rivalry with Syracuse that fans are familiar with, and they’re a team that is usually on the cusp for a NCAA spot. And then we have a good local rivalry. Johns Hopkins is going to look to redeem itself after going through – by their standards – what may have been a disappointing year, and we expect them to be a top team in the country like they always are. And UMBC has gone to the NCAAs four out of the last five years. When it comes to the potential quality of the overall group of schools, it would be hard to be stronger."

The Big City Classic at The New Meadowlands Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., is slated for Sunday, April 3. The tripleheader begins at 1 p.m. with a showdown between Rutgers and St. John’s.

Then Johns Hopkins will meet North Carolina at 4 p.m., and the event will conclude with a meeting between Syracuse and 2010 national champion Duke. The Big City Classic will mark the first time Syracuse and Duke will meet in the regular season since 1992.

"Rutgers and St. John’s, again, we were looking for another way to connect with the grassroots of the lacrosse audience in the tri-state area," Bilello said. "So it just happened to be a nice fit for that weekend. The other two games, again, we were looking for great match-ups with teams that are likely to be at the top of the polls. We know Hopkins is always going to be good or fighting for a spot at the top. We expect North Carolina to be one of the most talented teams. They’re going to be near the top of the rankings in the preseason, they’ve been to the NCAAs several years in a row and knocking on the door to get to Memorial Day weekend. They had the top-rated recruiting class in the country this past season. And Syracuse and Duke, those are the last two national championship winners."

However, the Day of Rivals doubleheader involving Johns Hopkins-Maryland and Navy-Army will not return next year, Bilello confirmed. All four teams expressed an interest in returning the games to their respective campuses – a sentiment that persuaded officials at Syracuse and Virginia to pull their annual meeting from the Face-Off Classic after the 2008 version.

"We always knew from the outset that these games had such great importance and tradition to those schools that it would be very hard for them to continue playing at a neutral site forever," Bilello said. "I think it’s very similar to what had been mentioned previously by the coaches at Virginia and Syracuse, that, ‘We like the idea, and it was a good experience. We just think it’s important to have our athletes and our fans and these games on campus.’ Certainly, we’re open, and I think the schools are open to looking at the possibility of doing this again down the road. At least that’s our position on it. We love these games, and that’s something we’ll always be thinking about."