By Todd McElwee

Four teams, each of which has circumvented the perils of both the regular season and the opening two rounds of the NCAA tournament, remain.

What separates Duke, Loyola, Maryland and Notre Dame? Who's best at what? To find out, we rank the field.

Offense
1. Loyola -- nobody can stop attackmen Eric Lusby and Mike Sawyer.
2. Duke
3. Maryland
4. Notre Dame

Defense
1. ND -- brick walls envy goalkeeper John Kemp's stopping power.
2. Loyola
3. MD
4. Duke

Faceoffs
1. Loyola -- J.P. Dalton is the best draw specialist remaining.
2. MD
3. ND
4. Duke

Special Teams
1. MD -- the Terps are consistent on both ends.
2. Loyola
3. Duke
4. ND

Experience
1. Duke -- the Blue Devils won the title two years ago.
2. MD
3. ND
4. Loyola

Uniforms
1. ND -- the gold helmets give the Fighting Irish an edge.
2. MD
3. Loyola
4. Duke

Pressure
1. MD -- the Terps' last national championship came in 1975.
2. ND
3. Duke
4. Loyola

Coach
1. Duke -- John Danowski has raised the trophy.
2-4. Tie

Posted May 24, 2012