Syracuse Men's Lacrosse: Orange Rising in the Polls

After an up and down week featuring an overtime loss at Cornell and a win over UNC at home, the Syracuse Orange are listed at #8 in all three major polls. The win over Carolina was basically a must-win and helps keep SU's post-season hopes alive. Additionally, the Orange secured an ACC Tournament birth with the win against the Tar Heels. UNC took a tumble down the polls for its loss at Syracuse but is still hanging on in the top ten of the Lacrosse Magazine Poll.

Virginia finds itself on the outside of all three polls but receiving votes in the Lacrosse Magazine and USILA Coaches' Polls. The Cavaliers have a date with the Georgetown Hoyas this week and will miss the ACC Tournament leaving them to face Brown in the Brown-ACC Classic. Both games are must-wins if UVA wants to even have a chance at making the NCAA Tournament.

The Irish are the top team in the nation according to all three rankings after sneaking past Marquette in an overtime win. Meanwhile, Duke took down Virginia on Sunday but the only movement the Blue Devils saw was being knocked down one spot in the Lacrosse Magazine Poll. Obviously the voters in each of these rankings don't think much of UVA.

Hopkins got a big, conference win against Penn State in overtime on Sunday. The Jays are tied with Rutgers for the second spot in the Big Ten but the Scarlett Knights own the tiebreaker. Michigan is up next for Hopkins before taking on Maryland at home on April 30.

Stony Brook was once the darling of the pollsters, but after losing to Marist in overtime and beating UMass Lowell last week, Stony Brook took a beating in this week's polls.

Navy and Army faced off in a wild one on Saturday that went to overtime with the Midshipmen getting the 11-10 overtime win. The Naval Academy sits atop the Patriot League and now has seven straight wins heading into its Tuesday bout with Maryland. I would expect Navy to make it into the NCAA Tournament.

USILA/NIKE Coaches' Poll

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

Biggest Movers:

Johns Hopkins +6

Stony Brook -6

Exiting the Poll:

None

Syracuse Opponents in the Poll:

Albany (6), Army (20), Johns Hopkins (11), Duke (13), Notre Dame (1), UNC (16)

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

Also Receiving Votes: Saint Joseph's Hawks, Bucknell Bison, Cornell Big Red, Penn Quakers, Bryant Bulldogs, High Point Panthers, Richmond Spiders, Virginia Cavaliers, Fairfield Stags

Cascade/Maverik Media Poll

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

Biggest Movers:

Stony Brook, Towson -6

Johns Hopkins +4

Exiting the Poll:

None

Syracuse Opponents in the Poll:

Albany (6), Army (20), Johns Hopkins (10), Duke (16) Notre Dame (1), UNC (13)

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

Also Receiving Votes: Saint Joseph's Hawks, Cornell Big Red, Richmond Spiders, Bucknell Bison, Penn Quakers, Delaware Fighting Blue Hens, Bryant Bulldogs, Hofstra Pride

Nike/Lacrosse Magazine Poll

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

Biggest Movers:

Towson -5

Air Force +5

Exiting the Poll:

Virginia, Stony Brook

Syracuse Opponents in the Poll:

Albany (6), Johns Hopkins (13), Duke (10), Notre Dame (1), Cornell (20), UNC (9)

Rank	School	Last Week
1	Notre Dame Fighting Irish	1
2	Brown Bears	5
3	Denver Pioneers	3
4	Yale Bull Dogs	2
5	Maryland Terrapins	4
6	Albany Great Danes	7
7	Navy Midshipmen	11
8	Syracuse Orange	10
9	North Carolina Tar Heels	8
10	Duke Blue Devils	9
11	Towson Tigers	6
12	Loyola Greyhounds	12
13	Johns Hopkins Blue Jays	14
14	Penn State Nittany Lions	13
15	Air Force Falcons	20
16	Marquette Golden Eagles	16
17	Villanova Wildcats	19
18	Rutgers Scarlet Knights	17
19	Saint Joseph's Hawks	NR
20	Cornell Big Red	NR

Also Considered (listed alphabetically): Army Black Knights, Bryant Bulldogs, Bucknell Bison, Delaware Fighting Blue Hens, Fairfield Stags, Hartford Hawks, Lehigh Mountain Hawks, Penn Quakers, Richmond Spiders, Stony Brook Seawolves, Virginia Cavaliers

Syracuse will host the Binghamton Bearcats on Wednesday at 7 PM. The game can seen on ESPN3 and TWCS and can be heard on TK99.