Syracuse men’s lacrosse: Orange ranked No. 2 in Inside Lacrosse preseason media poll

‘Cuse has been co-piloting the top of the rankings alongside Notre Dame so far this preseason.

College lacrosse season starts in 11 days, meaning we’re deep in the thick of previews.

That continued on Tuesday, when Inside Lacrosse unveiled their preseason media poll for 2025, with the Syracuse Orange in a familiar spot for this January.

A couple weeks after being placed in the same spot by USA Lacrosse Magazine, the Orange came in ranked No. 2 by Inside Lacrosse. The pollsters clearly respect the depth of returning talent that’s back in CNY this spring, and it underscores the lofty expectations this year’s ‘Cuse team will have on their shoulders.

IL’s poll is led by the defending national champions with Notre Dame garnering 22 of 23 first-place votes to grab the top spot. The remaining first-place vote went to No. 3 Cornell, who are followed by league mates Princeton at No. 4 and Maryland closing out the top five.

As always, ‘Cuse is going to be very familiar with the national rankings as they have nine opponents in IL’s Top 20, including six of the top eight.

Notre Dame (1), Cornell (3), Maryland (5), Virginia (6), Duke (7), Johns Hopkins (8), North Carolina (16), Towson (17) and Harvard (18) are the Orange’s ranked opposition, with Colgate and Utah finding themselves in ‘receiving votes’ for a grand total of 11 of 14 opponents in the rankings conversation heading into the season.

Stay tuned with us as we continue to preview the 2025 season after we took a look at the attack and offensive midfield earlier this week.