Syracuse Men's Lacrosse: Stumbling Down the Polls

Well, it's been a tough two weeks for SU lacrosse fans. The Syracuse Orange fell to Hopkins in OT and then to Duke in OT. It's not just that the program has lost two games in a row but more so that it gave up significant leads in the later portion of those two games. The Orange now sit at #7 in the Cascade/Maverik Media Poll and the USILA/Nike Coaches' Poll while they fall to #9 in the Nike/LaxMagazine poll. There is no question that this is a top ten team still, but the Orange could fall again next week if it loses to Notre Dame this weekend.

UVA picked up a much needed win against Hopkins this weekend. The Lacrosse Magazine poll rewarded them by posting the Cavaliers back into the poll at the #16, but with a 4-5 record the Cavs still sit outside of the other two polls. The Tar Heels continue to slide after a loss to Maryland. Duke and UNC will faceoff this weekend and the Dukies gained a spot or two in two of the three polls. Notre Dame again rides in second position expect in the Lacrosse Magazine rankings where the Irish grabed the top spot.

The top dog in the IL poll and the Coaches' Poll is Yale. I understand that Yale is undefeated, but the signature wins for both Notre Dame and Yale comes against Maryland, and I believe Notre Dame is much better than Yale. I also believe Denver is better than Yale. Harvard fell out of all three polls this week after a loss to BU and a win over a bad Dartmouth team. Leading into the Dartmouth win, the Crimson went on a four game losing streak. Meanwhile, the undefeated Brown Bears are third in each ranking. Brown has a dates with Villanova on Tuesday and Princeton on Saturday; I doubt this team comes out of the week still undefeated.

The Denver Pioneers fell to Penn State last weekend. The Pios took a hit for the loss, moving to fourth in each poll. I don't think there's much of an argument against Denver being the best team in the nation, and I disagree strongly with placing them fourth. DU has wins over Duke, UNC, and Notre Dame.

USILA/NIKE Coaches' Poll

Ranked Teams by Conference: ACC (4/5), Ivy (3/7), Patriot (3/9), Big Ten (3/6), Colonial (2/6), Big East (2/6), America East (2/7), SoCon (1/8), Metro Atlantic (0/7), Independent (0/2), Northeast (0/7)

Biggest Movers:

Air Force, Navy +3

Denver, Johns Hopkins -3

Exiting the Poll:

Harvard, Hofstra

Syracuse Opponents in the Poll:

Albany (9), Army (16), Johns Hopkins (11), Duke (8), Notre Dame (2), UNC (15)

Rank	School	Last Week
1	Yale Bulldogs	3
2	Notre Dame Fighting Irish	2
3	Brown Bears	4
4	Denver Pioneers	1
5	Villanova Wildcats	6
6	Maryland Terrapins	7
7	Syracuse Orange	5
8	Duke Blue Devils	9
9	Albany Great Danes	10
10	Towson Tigers	11
11	Johns Hopkins Blue Jays	8
12	Stony Brook Seawolves	12
13	Navy Midshipmen	16
14	Loyola Greyhounds	15
15	North Carolina Tar Heels	13
16	Army Black Knights	18
17	Air Force Falcons	20
18	Penn State Nittany Lions	N/R
19	UMass Minutemen	17
20	Penn Quakers	N/R

Also Receiving Votes: Harvard Crimson, Hofstra Pride, Boston University Terriers, Marquette Golden Eagles,  Richmond Spiders, Rutgers Scarlet Knights, Virginia Cavaliers

Cascade/Maverik Media Poll

Ranked Teams by Conference: Patriot (4/9), ACC (4/5), Big Ten (3/6), Ivy (2/7), Colonial (2/6), Big East (2/6), America East (2/7), SoCon (1/8), Metro Atlantic (0/7), Independent (0/2), Northeast (0/7)

Biggest Movers:

North Carolina -5

Air Force +6

Exiting the Poll:

Hofstra, Harvard

Syracuse Opponents in the Poll:

Albany (10), Army (15), Johns Hopkins (9), Duke (11), Notre Dame (2), UNC (17)

Rank	School	Last Week
1	Yale Bulldogs	3
2	Notre Dame Fighting Irish	2
3	Brown Bears	4
4	Denver Pioneers	1
5	Maryland Terrapins	6
6	Villanova Wildcats	8
7	Syracuse Orange	5
8	Towson Tigers	8
9	Johns Hopkins Blue Jays	7
10	Albany Great Danes	10
11	Duke Blue Devils	11
12	Stony Brook Seawolves	13
13	Navy Midshipmen	14
14	Air Force Falcons	20
15	Army Black Knights	16
16	Loyola Greyhounds	17
17	North Carolina Tar Heels	12
18	Penn State Nittany Lions	N/R
19	UMass Minutemen	18
20	Boston University Terriers	N/R

Also Receiving Votes: Hofstra Pride, Virginia Cavaliers, Richmond Spiders, Penn Quakers, Harvard Crimson, Marquette Golden Eagles, Rutgers Scarlett Knights

Nike/Lacrosse Magazine Poll

Ranked Teams by Conference: ACC (5/5), Patriot (3/9), Big Ten (3/6), Ivy (2/7), Big East (2/6), Colonial (2/6), America East (2/7), SoCon (1/8), Metro Atlantic (0/7), Independent (0/2), Northeast (0/7)

Biggest Movers:

Denver, Johns Hopkins, Syracuse, UNC, -3

Virginia enters at #16, Penn State enters at #14, Maryland, Villanova, Duke +2

Exiting the Poll:

Bucknell, Harvard, Richmond

Syracuse Opponents in the Poll:

Albany (11), Virginia (16), Johns Hopkins (8), Duke (7), Notre Dame (1), UNC (15)

Rank	School	Last Week
1	Notre Dame Fighting Irish	2
2	Yale Bull Dogs	3
3	Brown Bears	4
4	Denver Pioneers	1
5	Maryland Terrapins	7
6	Villanova Wildcats	8
7	Duke Blue Devils	9
8	Johns Hopkins Blue Jays	5
9	Syracuse Orange	6
10	Towson Tigers	10
11	Albany Great Danes	11
12	Navy Midshipmen	13
13	Loyola Greyhounds	14
14	Penn State Nittany Lions	N/R
15	North Carolina Tar Heels	12
16	Virginia Cavaliers	N/R
17	Stony Brook Seawolves	15
18	UMass Minutemen	18
19	Air Force Falcons	N/R
20	Boston University Terriers	20

Also Considered (listed alphabetically): Army Black Knights, Harvard Crimson, Hofstra Pride, Lehigh Mountain Hawks, Marquette Golden Eagles, Penn Quakers, Providence Friars, Richmond Spiders