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The 2016 college lacrosse season is upon us, and in preparation Syracuse's first game I will be previewing each ACC team. First up, however, let's take a look at the ACC as whole.
ACC Overview
While the ACC is the traditional power conference in college lacrosse, other conferences are rising. In six of the last eight years, a current ACC team has won the National Championship, and last season was just the second year since 1998 in which the ACC was not represented by a current conference program in the National Title game. The ACC will look to regain its grip on the national landscape, and there are two frontrunners which are potential National Championship teams.
In my opinion, Notre Dame and Duke are locks to make it to the final four. My pick to win the National Championship is Notre Dame as I think this group may be the best all around team in the country. The biggest game in the ACC could also end up being the best game of the year. I think that the Notre Dame defense versus the Duke offense is easily the most compelling matchup in the country.
Jim's End of Season ACC Awards Predictions
ACC Offensive Player of the Year: Myles Jones (Duke)
ACC Defensive Player of the Year: Matt Landis (Notre Dame)
ACC Freshman of the Year: My three contenders for this are: Nick Melen (Syracuse), Ryan Conrad (Virginia), and Nate Marano (Denver)
ACC Coach of the Year: Dom Starsia (Virginia) (Starsia is a dark hoarse in this race but I picked him because I think this could be a big bounce back year for Virginia)
Jim's ACC Preseason Rankings
Notre Dame, I believe, is far and away the best team in the ACC. Duke is a solid second. The bottom three, however, you could make a good case for putting in any different order. I think that we could end with a three-way, head-to-head tie for third.
2015 Statistics ACC Statistics
The first number is the national ranking and the second number is the value for each statistic
|
Duke |
UNC |
UND |
SU |
UVA |
National Leader |
|
|
Assists/Game |
7 (8.11) |
3 (8.88) |
21 (6.53) |
4 (8.75) |
12 (7.13) |
Albany (10.68) |
|
CTs/Game |
38 (6.61) |
11 (7.82) |
12 (7.8) |
46 (6.19) |
19 (7.4) |
Albany (9.89) |
|
Clearing % |
14 (.876) |
6 (.891) |
38 (.852) |
3 (.905) |
4 (.903) |
Richmond (.920) |
|
F/O Winning % |
13 (.562) |
35 (.492) |
33 (.500) |
3 (.662) |
44 (.462) |
Bryant (.670) |
|
GBs/Game |
4 (37) |
3 (37.59) |
9 (33.07) |
7 (34.56) |
12 (32.13) |
Brown (38.65) |
|
Man-Down Defense |
57 (.569) |
27 (.652) |
59 (.553) |
16 (.688) |
42 (.620) |
Saint Joseph's (.800) |
|
Man-Up Offense |
26 (.375) |
17 (.421) |
4 (.524) |
5 (.508) |
55 (.276) |
Denver (.603) |
|
Points/Game |
5 (22.39) |
3 (23.24) |
9 (19.8) |
2 (23.63) |
12 (19.20) |
Albany (27.79) |
|
Saves/Game |
32 (11) |
29 (11.12) |
35 (10.87) |
45 (10.38) |
8 (13) |
Detroit (15.14) |
|
Scoring Defense |
54 (11.56) |
33 (10.18) |
19 (9.33) |
22 (9.63) |
49 (11) |
Maryland (7.05) |
|
Scoring Margin |
14 (2.72) |
5 (4.18) |
6 (3.93) |
3 (5.25) |
22 (1.07) |
Albany (7.11) |
|
Scoring Offense |
4 (14.28) |
3 (14.35) |
8 (13.27) |
2 (14.88) |
12 (12.07) |
Albany (17.11) |
|
Shot Percentage |
12 (.322) |
10 (.325) |
7 (.333) |
6 (.343) |
9 (.328) |
Stony Brook (.402) |
|
Turnovers/Game |
50 (14.78) |
17 (12.53) |
32 (13.6) |
13 (12.38) |
22 (12.93) |
Towson (10.61) |