NCAA Tournament committee says Syracuse men’s lacrosse is top 10

Early on Saturday afternoon, the NCAA men’s lacrosse selection committee released its latest top 10 rankings -- a recent development across most college sports to try and build some hype leading up to the postseason.

The Syracuse Orange were No. 4 in the previous rankings, but dropped to No. 7 this time around. Of course, this was also created before SU’s heart-breaking 13-12 loss to Navy at the Carrier Dome later on Saturday afternoon.

As much as the one-goal loss won’t do Syracuse too many favors in the eyes of the committee, it’s also unlikely to hurt them much either losing to a top-20 club like the Midshipmen. According to the NCAA, here were the top 10 teams, plus five more under consideration:

1. Albany Great Danes
2. Maryland Terrapins
3. Duke Blue Devils
4. Yale Bulldogs
5. Loyola Greyhounds
6. Johns Hopkins Blue Jays
7. Syracuse Orange
8. Cornell Big Red
9. Denver Pioneers
10. Penn State Nittany Lions

Five more receiving consideration: Notre Dame, Rutgers, Bucknell, Virginia, Villanova

The 7-5 (4-0) Orange probably dip another spot or two after the weekend, though it’s notable that other top squads lost as well -- including Maryland, Albany and Penn State. Looking at the results from the weekend, Cornell (19-5 win over Brown and head-to=head advantage over SU) leaps up over Syracuse. Denver may too after a 13-6 victory over Providence. But the Orange should stay in the top-10, which bodes well for their NCAA Tournament at-large hopes.

Syracuse also has more opportunities remaining to add to the resume. The ACC Tournament begins this week, when Syracuse plays Virginia on Friday night. If the top-seed Orange win there, they’ll face either Notre Dame or Duke for the conference championship on Sunday (full bracket here).