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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:
- Albany Great Danes
- Maryland Terrapins
- Duke Blue Devils
- Yale Bulldogs
- Loyola Greyhounds
- Johns Hopkins Blue Jays
- Syracuse Orange
- Cornell Big Red
- Denver Pioneers
- 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).