It's spreading.
No, not the "bracket virus" from the popular March Madness ads but rather a strategy that seems to be catching among NCAA coaches.
Simply put, you must play a tough regular season if you plan on making any noise in the postseason.
Duke basketball coaches Mike Krzyzewski and Gail Goestenkors have successfully piloted their respective teams to this weekend's Final Fours and have done so largely by scheduling quality opponents during the regular season.
Both teams have gained valuable experience banging up against some of the nation's best throughout the year, and it has paid off in the postseason.
Now Kerstin Kimel, coach of the women's lacrosse team, seems to be taking the same approach.
"Looking at our schedule and how tough it is, I think that it is good preparation for us," she said. "This next stretch of five games is really important for us."
Starting tomorrow, the second-ranked Blue Devils (4-1) travel north for successive games against Georgetown (4-1) and Johns Hopkins. Besides the obvious importance of simply winning these games, Kimel believes the contests will give her squad necessary experience for similar situations later in the year.
"At the start of the season, we decided to do some back-to-back games so that we would be prepared for the ACCs and the NCAA tournament," she said. "This is good practice for us-having to be physically and mentally prepared to play two days in a row."
Today's matchup with the Hoyas should prove to be the tougher of the two contests. Georgetown is currently ranked 10th and has an established program with a strong winning tradition.
Johns Hopkins, on the other hand, is in its first year as a Division I program and isn't quite as developed as either the Blue Devils or the Hoyas.
"Georgetown will be a tougher matchup," Kimel said. "In a lot of ways they are very similar to us. It's going to be a tough game. It's a big rivalry for both teams. Both teams definitely get up to play each other."
After a tough defeat against top-ranked Maryland in their opener, the Blue Devils have rebounded to win four straight to claim the No. 2 ranking in the polls. While rankings and records are important for an eventual NCAA bid, the team's success has come from not worrying too much about such external factors.
"We are doing a really good job of worrying about ourselves and not worrying about ranking and polls and other teams," Kimel said. "We are really focused on trying to become a better team with every practice and with every game we play."
Part of Duke's success this year has also come from a more potent offensive attack. Last year, the Blue Devils relied mainly on Tricia Martin to do most of the team's scoring. While Martin's scoring was effective at times, opponents could concentrate on her and shut Duke down. This year, the Blue Devils have a more balanced attack and are thus harder to defend.
"[For other teams], it's hard to key in on one player," said Kimel. "That's really huge. [Opponents] can't just key in on one or two people, they have to key in on everybody."
Kimel points to increased scoring by younger players such as sophomores Kate Soulier and Courtney Rodgers and freshmen Kelly Dirks and Kate Kaiser.
Rodgers is tied with Martin for the team lead in goals scored with 13, while Soulier, Kaiser and Dirks have all contributed at least seven goals.
Trying to find just the right combination of team chemistry has been a challenge for Kimel and her assistants from the start of the season.
The coach brought in a prized recruiting class with a lot of talented players and it has been a chore to find just the right mix.
"Initially it was a struggle," said Kimel. "We were definitely looking for chemistry. We think we have found a pretty good group that is working well together now."
This weekend's games will be yet another measuring stick for this young but talented squad.
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