This will be the fifth straight postseason appearance for Navy (9-5), which will play at No. 4 North Carolina (8-5) on Saturday night (7:30 p.m.).

"Obviously, I'm happy for the team, happy for the players. I'm happy they get an opportunity to get back on the field and have another chance to compete," Navy head coach Richie Meade said.

Navy lost three straight games to close the season and found itself on-the-bubble with a handful of teams. Meade knew the Mids' chances would be enhanced if certain things happened over the weekend and darned if the dominoes didn't all fall in the right direction.

Princeton, which could have secured an automatic berth as Ivy League champion, was upset by Brown on Saturday and knocked out of the tournament. Cornell, which was already a lock to make the tourney, wound up being the only Ivy League team selected.

Georgetown, which was in a similar situation to Navy, was upset by Penn State on Saturday. That proved to be the final nail in the coffin for the Hoyas (9-4), who saw a string of 11 straight NCAA Tournament appearances snapped.

Army, which was in contention with Navy to be the second pick from the Patriot League, was upset by Pennsylvania on Saturday. The Black Knights (9-6), who beat the Midshipmen head-to-head, still has not reached the playoffs since 2005.

Perhaps the most important result on Saturday came when Patriot League champion Colgate upset second-ranked Syracuse. That dramatically improved both the strength of schedule and ratings percentage index for Navy, which beat Colgate during the regular season.

Ultimately, Navy owned victories over three teams that were selected for the tournament, having beaten seventh-seeded Maryland (9-5) and at-large entry Ohio State (10-5) in addition to Colgate.

"What happened on Saturday certainly helped, but I also believe we helped our own cause by winning some big games during the regular season," Meade said. "Our league is getting stronger with each passing season so some of those wins mean more now. We've always played a very tough non-league schedule and that also proved important."

This marks the second straight year that Navy has traveled to Chapel Hill to face North Carolina in the playoffs. The Tar Heels won last year's meeting at Fetzer Field 12-8 after the contest was postponed 24 hours by a severe thunderstorm.

"I've seen North Carolina on tape numerous times and that is a very talented team. They have a great faceoff man, a very deep midfield, some outstanding finishers on attack and an extremely hot goaltender," Meade said. "It will take a big-time effort to beat the Tar Heels on their home field. This is a new season now and we need to make some corrections and play a lot better than we have the past three games."

Maryland made the NCAA Tournament for the sixth straight season and will host Denver (10-6) for the second time in three years. The Pioneers lost to the Terps in 2006 in the only other playoff appearance in program history.

Maryland, meanwhile, will be making its 31st trip to the NCAA Tournament, which is tied for second all-time. Head coach Dave Cottle, an Edgewater resident, served on the tournament selection committee.

"We're pleased to be seeded and happy to be playing at home. I don't know a whole lot about Denver at this point so we'll have to get to work on developing a scouting report," Cottle said. "Over the years, Denver has been the type of team that likes to put pressure on you both offensively and defensively. They are one of the few 10-man riding teams in the country and have a lot of Canadian players on offense who are very slick."

Johns Hopkins earned its 37th consecutive bid to the NCAA Tournament and will begin defense of its national championship against Hofstra (9-5). The fifth-seeded Blue Jays were upset by the Pride during an unprecedented five-game losing streak that dropped their record to 3-5 at one point in the season.

However, head coach Dave Pietramala righted the ship and Hopkins closed the season with a five-game winning streak to avoid becoming only the third school to miss the NCAA Tournament the year after winning the title.

Perhaps the biggest surprise, other than Georgetown's omission, involved the selection of three Great Western Lacrosse League schools. Notre Dame won the GWLL to earn an automatic bid, but the committee awarded at-large berths to both Denver and Ohio State. That required a waiver from the NCAA, which previously mandated that only two teams can take airline flights for the first round.

In Division III, seven-time national champion Salisbury (18-0) earned the top seed and a first-round bye. The top-ranked Sea Gulls, under the direction of veteran head coach Jim Berkman, and will meet the winner of Ohio Wesleyan (9-6) and Kenyon (10-3) on Saturday.

Fifth-seeded Washington College (13-3) also earned a bye and will host No. 4 Lynchburg (16-2) on Saturday.