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The week that was in Syracuse Orange lacrosse was quite a week indeed. After avenging an earlier loss with a thrilling last-second victory over the then-No. 2 Duke Blue Devils and a tough loss in the ACC Championship game to the then No. 9 Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Syracuse is right back where it started in the polls. Fourth in the nation.
Loyola is still No. 1 in the Media Poll after winning the Patriot League over the weekend. They're followed by No. 2 Denver, No. 3 Duke, No. 4 Syracuse and No. 5 Notre Dame. Other ACC squads are No. 7 Maryland, No. 8 Virginia and No. 9 North Carolina.
Of course, more important than polls is NCAA seeding. When it comes to that, the Orange are in extremely good position. They have the No. 1 RPI in the country as well as the No. 1 SOS (though to be fair, the top four are all ACC squads). They may drop slightly in both after their regular-season-ending game against Colgate (9-6), but not too much. The fact that all four of Syracuse's losses came to teams currently in the top eight and that they own four wins over top-ten squads bodes well.
Patrick Stevens says that, assuming both teams take care of business, Duke and Syracuse will be the top two seeds in the NCAA Tournament. Despite the recent victory, Syracuse's resume doesn't quite hold up to Duke's, so they're likely to get the edge.
Syracuse hosts Colgate at 4:00 p.m. in the Dome on Saturday.