Welcome to the Gameday Guide.

Every weekend during the college lacrosse season, US Lacrosse Magazine staff will riff here on the juiciest matchups, trendiest topics, biggest storylines and hottest takes.

A sizable chunk of the Tewaaraton Award Watch List will be on the field Saturday when No. 2 Maryland hosts No. 5 Rutgers in the clear marquee men’s lacrosse matchup of the weekend.

The game (3 p.m. EST, Big Ten Network) features five attackmen — Maryland’s Jared Bernhardt and Logan Wisnauskas and Rutgers’ unit of Adam Charalambides, Connor Kirst and Kieran Mullins — who were among the players named by the Tewaaraton Foundation on Thursday as frontrunners for the award given to the nation’s top player.

As ESPN’s Anish Shroff wrote earlier this week, the winner becomes the Big Ten’s bellwether.

Check out our TV Listings page for all games being broadcast or streamed.

GAMES TO WATCH
All times Eastern

GAME OF THE WEEK
No. 5 Rutgers at No. 2 Maryland

These two teams have scorched everyone in their path of late.

Maryland has obliterated Michigan 20-9, Penn State 13-7 and Johns Hopkins 18-10.

After more narrowly defeating Penn State 11-9 in its opener, Rutgers has blown out Ohio State and Michigan by identical 22-12 scores.

Something’s got to give. While both offenses are capable of putting up monster numbers, neither team is particularly strong on faceoffs or scary on defense, so which ever can scrape together additional possessions between the restraining lines and in unsettled situations could emerge the victor in a nationally televised shootout.

UPSET WATCH
No. 11 Lehigh at Bucknell

The Bison were picked to finish sixth — in front of just Holy Cross, Colgate and Lafayette — in the Patriot League preseason poll. Those coaches might wind up eating their votes.

The Bison were 5-1 last year before the season ended prematurely. Sure, they lost Will Yorke. But when have you known Bucknell ever to be dependent on one explosive scorer?

Dig deeper and you’ll find that the Bison brought back their next four leading scorers — including Tommy Sopko, who had seven goals and two assists in their season-opening win over Cleveland State, and Harry Welford, who can be a difference maker in the midfield.

But Bucknell’s bread and butter has always been its buttoned-up defense, a group that includes preseason All-American Travis Talarico.

Lehigh will have its hands full.

BEST GAME NO ONE’S TALKING ABOUT
Michigan at No. 15 Ohio State

No one’s talking about it because Michigan is winless and Ohio State has lost two straight games after an impressive season debut against Johns Hopkins. But the Michigan-Ohio State rivalry bears watching in any sport, which is probably why it’s on ESPNU. The Buckeyes’ next win will be the 500th in program history.

UNDER-THE-RADAR STARS

Sean Donnelly, Drexel

The Syracuse transfer sparkled in his Drexel debut, netting four goals and three assists in a 12-10 win over Towson last week.

Elijah Gash, Albany

Please take this opportunity to read Nelson Rice’s excellent feature on a one-time NAIA player who is now a starting defenseman for a nationally ranked Division I team. (Also, Albany should not be taking Vermont lightly after seeing how the Catamounts held their own last week in the Carrier Dome.)

Daniel Maltz, Maryland

Somewhat lost in the Bernhardt-Wisnauskas hoopla is the Terps’ top goal scorer. Maltz, a sophomore, is shooting a ridiculous 63.2 percent (12 goals on 19 shots).