Syracuse Men's Lacrosse: Barely Hanging On in the Polls

With Virginia beating VMI and blanking Richmond last week, the ACC finally has all five teams back in each poll. Meanwhile UNC beat Duke in OT to raise its stock while the Blue Devils fell in each of the three major polls. After demolishing Syracuse for its first ever win in the Carrier Dome, Notre Dame finds itself in the number one slot in the Lax Magazine and Media polls and number two in the Coaches' Poll. Following three straight losses, Syracuse is now clawing to stay in the top ten in each poll.

The Villanova Wildcats find themselves as the biggest tumbler in each ranking after two significant losses against Brown and at Marquette in which the Wildcats were outscored by a combined 17 goals. Villanova's best win is an early season takedown of Penn State, after that there isn't much to marvel at.

Rutgers re-enters all of the polls following a 16-9 beat down of Johns Hopkins. The Scarlett Knights sit at 8-2 but the win over the Blue Jays is a great signature win come selection Sunday. Hopkins still has post season potential but will need to make some noise in conference play.

USILA/NIKE Coaches' Poll

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

Biggest Movers:

Penn Sate, Stony Brook, UNC, Navy +4

Villanova -11

Exiting the Poll:

Penn, UMass, Army

Syracuse Opponents in the Poll:

Albany (6), Virginia (20), Johns Hopkins (17), Duke (12), Notre Dame (2), UNC (11)

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

Also Receiving Votes: Penn Quakers, Army Black Knights, Bucknell Bison, Boston University Terriers, High Point Panthers, Cornell Big Red, Fairfield Stags, Harvard Crimson

Cascade/Maverik Media Poll

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

Biggest Movers:

Villanova -12

UNC +6

Exiting the Poll:

UMass, Army, Boston University

Syracuse Opponents in the Poll:

Albany (7), Virginia (20), Johns Hopkins (16), Duke (13), Notre Dame (1), UNC (11)

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

Also Receiving Votes: Army Black Knights, Saint Joseph's Hawks, Boston University Terriers, UMass Minutemen, Providence Friars, Bucknell Bison

Nike/Lacrosse Magazine Poll

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

Biggest Movers:

Villanova -12

UNC +7

Exiting the Poll:

Boston University, UMass

Syracuse Opponents in the Poll:

Albany (7), Virginia (14), Johns Hopkins (16), Duke (9), Notre Dame (1), UNC (8)

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

Also Considered (listed alphabetically): Army Black Knights, Boston University Terriers, Bucknell Bison, Lehigh Mountain Hawks, Penn Quakers, Providence Friars, Richmond Spiders, UMass Minutemen

Syracuse will visit the Hobart Statesmen on Wednesday at 7 PM. The game will be broadcasted on TWCS and can be heard on TK99.