You know we’re close when the preseason rankings start rolling in!
Two weeks into the new year, and it’s already starting to smell like lacrosse season.
It became a little more official late last week when the first batch of preseason rankings were released by USA Lacrosse Magazine, with the men on Thursday followed by the women on Friday.
The picture of expectations, at least from this group of voters, is painted differently for the two Syracuse Orange teams as preseason practice gets underway.
The men come in with the No. 2 ranking in the country for a team with Final Four aspirations and expectations. Meanwhile, the women are slotted at the No. 11 ranking, an unfamiliar spot for a team hit hard by graduation with lots of new faces in the fold.
Is this the year @CuseMLAX makes its first championship weekend appearance since 2013?
Syracuse is No. 2 in the USA Lacrosse Division I Men’s Preseason Top 20, trailing only two-time defending champ Notre Dame.
— USA Lacrosse Magazine (@USALacrosseMag) January 9, 2025
Let’s take a look at the Top 10 (or so) in both polls:
USA Lacrosse Division I Men’s preseason Top 10
- Notre Dame
- Syracuse
- Princeton
- Cornell
- Virginia
- Maryland
- Duke
- Yale
- Johns Hopkins
- Denver
As usual, the top of the rankings are littered with Orange opponents. ‘Cuse is set to play three of the top five and six of the top 10. In total, nine of their opponents find themselves in the preseason Top 20: Notre Dame (1), Cornell (4), Virginia (5), Maryland (6), Duke (7), Johns Hopkins (9), Towson (11), North Carolina (17) and Harvard (18).
Throw in Colgate in the “also considered” category, and that makes 10 of 14 teams on the Orange schedule that begin the year in the USA Lacrosse rankings conversation.
USA Lacrosse Division I Women’s preseason Top 10
- Boston College
- Northwestern
- Michigan
- North Carolina
- Virginia
- Yale
- Johns Hopkins
- Loyola
- Florida
- Maryland
- Syracuse
The top of these rankings are even more intense for the Orange women, who are set to face seven of the top eight teams in the country and eight of the top 10.
In total, they’re facing nine teams in this preseason poll: Boston College (1), Northwestern (2), North Carolina (4), Virginia (5), Yale (6), Johns Hopkins (7), Loyola (8), Maryland (10) and Notre Dame (13).
The USA Lacrosse Magazine preseason rankings are voted on by members of their staff and contributors with consultation from college coaches.