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Inside Lacrosse released its preseason rankings on Monday. The magazine put the Orange in the number eight spot, a fairly significant placement if we consider that the team is ranked behind the other four ACC programs. IL ranks Notre Dame as the number one team in the country, and I have to agree that the Fighting Irish are the heavy favorites to win the National Championship this year.
The strength of the Orange begins at the face-off x with the return of Ben Williams, a player set to break every face-off record in the Syracuse record books by his senior year. Warren Hill is coming off of a fantastic fallball season, and looks to fill the hole in net left by Bobby Wardwell. At close defense, the Orange will return shut down defender Brandon Mullins, and the hope is that newcomer Nick Mellen will rise to the occasion and become the number two long-pole. There is some flux at the midfield and attack positions, and the ‘Cuse could see a rotation of attackmen alongside Dylan Donahue.
Overall, I do not think that the Orange have been slighted by their placement in the preseason ranking. There are certainly several questions that have to be answered.
6. Johns Hopkins Blue Jays
9. Brown Bears
10. Yale Bulldogs
12. Loyola Greyhounds
14. Harvard Crimson
15. Cornell Big Red
18. Georgetown Hoyas
19. Towson Tigers
20. Colgate Raiders
Notable Absences: Princeton Tigers, Penn Quakers, Bryant Bulldogs, Fairfield Stags, Hofstra Pride, Drexel Dragons, Navy Midshipmen
Ranked Teams by Conference: ACC (5/5), Big East (4/6), Ivy (4/7), Big Ten (3/6), Patriot (2/9), America East (1/7), Colonial (1/6), Metro Atlantic (0/7), SoCon (0/8), Independent (0/2), Northeast (0/7)