2024 Preseason Top 20 Lookahead

[Zack80]

2023 Men's Top 30: How Syracuse Fared vs. Projections

Before USA Lacrosse Magazine looks ahead, we take one last look at 2023.

www.usalaxmagazine.com

 

[Powellfan]

25 (t). UMass
25 (t). Marquette
25 (t). Harvard
24. Villanova
23. Ohio State
22. Loyola
21. Utah

 

[nyclax]

seems right so far. i trust loyola/toomey to bounce back more than i trust osu/myers to

something rotten in columbus. i've heard some things. proof that team culture is absolutely vital. no way that team should have gone 5-9 and trucked by every good opponent with the guys they had. revolving door of assistants. dipping into the MAAC and every corner of d3 for transfers. a coach who is desperate and out of ideas hoping an influx of new faces is the fix. it would hard for them to be worse in 2024 but i wouldnt be all that surprised if they are

my guess for the remainder of their top 20 (not necessarily what i think). we'll see how well i do:
20 - richmond
19 - jacksonville
18 - UNC
17 - delaware
16 - penn
15 - denver
14 - princeton
13 - rutgers
12 - syracuse
11 - yale
10 - georgetown
9 - cornell
8 - army
7 - michigan
6 - hopkins
5 - maryland
4 - penn state
3 - virginia
2 - notre dame
1 - duke

 

[Sasquatch]

seems right so far. i trust loyola/toomey to bounce back more than i trust osu/myers to

something rotten in columbus. i've heard some things. proof that team culture is absolutely vital. no way that team should have gone 5-9 and trucked by every good opponent with the guys they had. revolving door of assistants. dipping into the MAAC and every corner of d3 for transfers. a coach who is desperate and out of ideas hoping an influx of new faces is the fix. it would hard for them to be worse in 2024 but i wouldnt be all that surprised if they are

Not really that surprising, from what little I've gathered, just in passing. I don't even follow them that closely. What was surprising was that he came looking better of the two coaches in the OSU-MD glovegate game.

 

[Zack80]

25 (t). UMass
25 (t). Marquette
25 (t). Harvard
24. Villanova
23. Ohio State
22. Loyola
21. Utah

It seems wise to wait till most of the transfers have signed on, before doing the early rankings.

I wonder where OSU is going to find enough offense to compete in the Big 10.

 

[Powellfan]

seems right so far. i trust loyola/toomey to bounce back more than i trust osu/myers to

something rotten in columbus. i've heard some things. proof that team culture is absolutely vital. no way that team should have gone 5-9 and trucked by every good opponent with the guys they had. revolving door of assistants. dipping into the MAAC and every corner of d3 for transfers. a coach who is desperate and out of ideas hoping an influx of new faces is the fix. it would hard for them to be worse in 2024 but i wouldnt be all that surprised if they are

my guess for the remainder of their top 20 (not necessarily what i think). we'll see how well i do:
20 - richmond
19 - jacksonville
18 - UNC
17 - delaware
16 - penn
15 - denver
14 - princeton
13 - rutgers
12 - syracuse
11 - yale
10 - georgetown
9 - cornell
8 - army
7 - michigan
6 - hopkins
5 - maryland
4 - penn state
3 - virginia
2 - notre dame
1 - duke

Georgetown at 10 seems to stick out. What’s the reasoning there? They lost a ton on offense, their fogo, their best defender, their goalie, etc … to me they are barely top 20. Bundy and Vardaro make a good midfield, but top 10 seems like a stretch.

Rumors that Degnon is getting a sixth year at Hopkins. Insert “lots of people go to school for six years … yeah they’re called doctors” joke. But that means Hopkins returns everyone from last year minus Mazzone and their top fogo, and get an upgrade in goal with Ierlan. That 4-6 Big 10 grouping is really tight.

 

[nyclax]

Georgetown at 10 seems to stick out. What’s the reasoning there? They lost a ton on offense, their fogo, their best defender, their goalie, etc … to me they are barely top 20. Bundy and Vardaro make a good midfield, but top 10 seems like a stretch.

Rumors that Degnon is getting a sixth year at Hopkins. Insert “lots of people go to school for six years … yeah they’re called doctors” joke. But that means Hopkins returns everyone from last year minus Mazzone and their top fogo, and get an upgrade in goal with Ierlan. That 4-6 Big 10 grouping is really tight.

id personally have gtown 11-12-13. but i think stevens heavily will heavily weigh the fact that they were a quarterfinalist last season and have been top 10 for several years in a row now. methinks he defers to that rather than look into things too deeply. plus bundy-godine-donaldson-leary-hess-vardaro-tominovich-halpert-crogan is still fringe top 10 talent and they add a good freshman class with 4 new balance AAs

didnt hear that about degnon. might bump them up a spot but not a huge change. they were going to be top 4-6 either way. not breaking into that top 3 but dont really see them falling below 6 either

 

[OrangeXtreme]

20. Richmond
19. Boston
18. UNC
17. Penn
16. Princeton

 

[Powellfan]

15. Rutgers
14. Delaware
13. Georgetown
12. Michigan
11. Denver

Looks like Stevens will have SU in his top 10. Guessing ND, UVA, Duke, Hopkins, Maryland, Penn State, Army, Cornell, Yale and Syracuse will be his top 10 in some order. I had Michigan in my top 10 instead of Cornell but perhaps the loss of Zawada dropped them out.

 

[Zack80]

I think losing Zawada probably drops Michigan out of the top 10. I believe their top scoring midfield Peter Thompson is done also.
Further, Michigan just hasn't consistently been in the top 10. It's hard to know how they will handle such losses.

I was pretty sure Stevens would have Syracuse in his top 10 with the transfers Syracuse picked up.

 

[JeremyCuse]

15. Rutgers
14. Delaware
13. Georgetown
12. Michigan
11. Denver

Looks like Stevens will have SU in his top 10. Guessing ND, UVA, Duke, Hopkins, Maryland, Penn State, Army, Cornell, Yale and Syracuse will be his top 10 in some order. I had Michigan in my top 10 instead of Cornell but perhaps the loss of Zawada dropped them out.

Ya if Mich had kept Zawada I think they were clearly a top 10 squad but his loss plus some others to graduation are a lot for a team like Michigan to overcome as they don't have a history of reloading ala UVA, Duke, Maryland, SU and Hop previously etc.

Hard to argue against any top 10 containing ND UVA Duke Hop Maryland PSU Army SU Cornell and Yale. I am not as high on Yale as some but every other team clearly is a top 10 squad in my eyes at least. Interesting that if the schedule leaks are accurate SU could be playing 7 of the top 10 next year.

 

[DoctahLexus]

15. Rutgers
14. Delaware
13. Georgetown
12. Michigan
11. Denver

Looks like Stevens will have SU in his top 10. Guessing ND, UVA, Duke, Hopkins, Maryland, Penn State, Army, Cornell, Yale and Syracuse will be his top 10 in some order. I had Michigan in my top 10 instead of Cornell but perhaps the loss of Zawada dropped them out.

Not sure how to feel about the Michigan spot. 10-7 with some losses and close ones to bad teams last year, but they did get hot at the right time. Lose Zawada but Christian Ronda and Beau Pederson from princeton are very nice portal grabs. Also got Justin Tiernan from Lehigh, who is a large quality off ball type. Believe they also have to replace a lot of their middie depth. Wins like their ones against MD look less impressive in hindsight since MD really started to struggle towards the end of the season.

Tough to predict who will sustain the success out of the big 10 next season. Tried to find my top 10 predictions from last season and I certainly valued the Ivys who made runs in the tourney far too much. But they are not able to do the same grad transfer reload that others can. Think I would find a spot for Michigan in my top 10 and put a team like yale out. Brandau and Bragg are big losses and they made no big moves on their disastrous defensive end in the offseason (at least that I know of). Hard to see what would turn it around for them on that end of the field in one year.

This may be not a huge factor for Mich, but they had a killer middie dodger Justin Brown who must have been hurt last season. Not a bunch of points but could draw slides with ease. If he is back that could be a nice boost too.

 

[nyclax]

brandu is back for another season at yale. he has been taking fall semesters off the last two years to preserve eligiblity. loophole that the school allows

denver at 11 is bad. they don't lose anyone...so what? they were underwhelming last year. bringing everyone back from an underwhelming team isn't a convincing argument to me. they should WANT to have more roster turnover. they got no one in the portal and their recruiting class looks iffy so i'm just not seeing where the optimism comes from. was Big Bill holding them back?

mich loses zawada yes but they crushed the portal and bring a lot of talent back including boehm, cohen, their top goalie and fogo. they are much more talented than denver. watching them in the second half of the 23 season...that was a team that turned a corner. they understand how to win now. doubt at your own peril

 

[Powellfan]

10. Yale
9. Syracuse
8. Army
7. Cornell
6. Johns Hopkins

Big expectations for the Orange. I think that's a fair starting spot for Syracuse. I think Cornell is way too high at seven. I might bump Army and Syracuse above them, and have Michigan at nine. Cornell and Yale would be 10 and 11 for me. I also think I like Hopkins over Penn State but it seems to be splitting hairs at that point.

 

[DoctahLexus]

10. Yale
9. Syracuse
8. Army
7. Cornell
6. Johns Hopkins

Big expectations for the Orange. I think that's a fair starting spot for Syracuse. I think Cornell is way too high at seven. I might bump Army and Syracuse above them, and have Michigan at nine. Cornell and Yale would be 10 and 11 for me. I also think I like Hopkins over Penn State but it seems to be splitting hairs at that point.

Feel about the same. I also wonder if Maryland belongs in the top 5 after how they finished the season last year. No massive moves in the transfer portal on offense, their area of most need. I am not in the know entirely, but don’t believe they landed a high level offensive stud who is projected to play immediately, but they may strike gold like they did with Erksa. Think they would need at minimum a 100% recovery from Malaver to start turning things around there. That or some kind of Owen Murphy revenge tour. Still think he has a lot of talent.

Makar and Trader are big losses on defense. Think they will be able to reload on D, offense remains to be seen. Would maybe put both Hop and Penn State above them in my top 10.

 

[Zack80]

Feel about the same. I also wonder if Maryland belongs in the top 5 after how they finished the season last year. No massive moves in the transfer portal on offense, their area of most need. I am not in the know entirely, but don’t believe they landed a high level offensive stud who is projected to play immediately, but they may strike gold like they did with Erksa. Think they would need at minimum a 100% recovery from Malaver to start turning things around there. That or some kind of Owen Murphy revenge tour. Still think he has a lot of talent.

Makar and Trader are big losses on defense. Think they will be able to reload on D, offense remains to be seen. Would maybe put both Hop and Penn State above them in my top 10.

Maryland was without Zappitello, and Geppert was hobbled with an injury ar the end of last season.
Getting McNaney and Malever back will be akin to adding 2 top transfers with respect to last year's team, except that they know UMd's system.
The defensive transfers from Vermont seem fairly good, and should add some nice experienced depth.
Maryland will also have a number of red-shirt freshmen stepping in like AJ Larkin, Aiden Aitken, Trace Davidson and George Stamos.

So overall I think the +- for the Terps from last year is a +. This would be especially true when compared with the Terps at the end of the year with Zappitello out.

 

[nyclax]

Maryland was without Zappitello, and Geppert was hobbled with an injury ar the end of last season.
Getting McNaney and Malever back will be akin to adding 2 top transfers with respect to last year's team, except that they know UMd's system.
The defensive transfers from Vermont seem fairly good, and should add some nice experienced depth.
Maryland will also have a number of red-shirt freshmen stepping in like AJ Larkin, Aiden Aitken, Trace Davidson and George Stamos.

So overall I think the +- for the Terps from last year is a +. This would be especially true when compared with the Terps at the end of the year with Zappitello out.

malever tore two ligaments and broke his leg. it was a catastrophic injury. it is far far far from a guarantee he's the same player he was. you can't count on that being akin to adding a top transfer

mcnaney will help. ruppel had his moments for sure but it was clear as the season went on that he was not mcnaney.

makar could be a bigger loss in the locker room than on the field. zaps was the better cover guy. he steps up to be the No. 1 and they may not miss a beat with larkin or schaller moving in

 

[CuseAlum87]

Maryland was without Zappitello, and Geppert was hobbled with an injury ar the end of last season.
Getting McNaney and Malever back will be akin to adding 2 top transfers with respect to last year's team, except that they know UMd's system.
The defensive transfers from Vermont seem fairly good, and should add some nice experienced depth.
Maryland will also have a number of red-shirt freshmen stepping in like AJ Larkin, Aiden Aitken, Trace Davidson and George Stamos.

So overall I think the +- for the Terps from last year is a +. This would be especially true when compared with the Terps at the end of the year with Zappitello out.

I know it's not as simple as this, but I think the return of McNaney will be huge and the most important piece. 36% and 24% was Ruppel's save percentage against Michigan and Army respectively. Ruppel struggled so much against Army early that I felt Tillman should have pulled him and given Dolan a shot. The Terps offense will be fine regardless of where Malever's progress is.

 

[CuseAlum87]

I'm not sure how I feel about the Orange at 9 to start the season. I think they will be in top 10 at season's end and in the tourney. Just not sure they belong there right now. That said, I do believe the defense will be considerably better under Odierna--very impressed with what he did at Manhattan and with his videos on how his teams approach defense. I expect better numbers from Will Mark because of the stronger defense. Also think the offense will be better, I like Pat March and think he works well with coach Gait. Loved the ball movement on EMO and think it will be even better this year. My point is that I feel the Orange have to win the games to start the season in order to earn the top ten ranking. I am very excited to see this version the Orange in fall ball and the start of the season.

 

[Zack80]

The reports that I have heard on Malever sound good.

 

[CuseAlum87]

The reports that I have heard on Malever sound good.

That is good news. I hate it when the kids get injured.

 

[nyclax]

The reports that I have heard on Malever sound good.

training in a gym isnt playing in a real lacrosse game. will he regain his explosiveness? will he trust his knee to make cuts at game speed? is he at risk of reinjury? will he overcompensate and injure his other leg? (happens a lot.) will it hold up to the wear and tear of a full season?

those exercises hes doing in that video are to regain strength and range of movement because his knee was obliterated. i have no doubt he is progressing nicely and on schedule but you simply never know until the whistle blows

 

[Zack80]

When!

The team I would leave out of the top 5 would probably be UVa.
They lost 3 of their top 6 scorers: Dickson, McConvey, and Conner. LaSalla at FO, Zinn and Salade at ssdm, and their top cover d-man in Sausted.
They look a little weak in the middle of the field, and much of their offensive potential is in attackmen - how can they utilize them all. It seems like a challenging year for Tiffany. If he can get them back to the final four, I think it would be a nice accomplishment - and not just something automatic.

 

[cuselaxss26]

training in a gym isnt playing in a real lacrosse game. will he regain his explosiveness? will he trust his knee to make cuts at game speed? is he at risk of reinjury? will he overcompensate and injure his other leg? (happens a lot.) will it hold up to the wear and tear of a full season?

those exercises hes doing in that video are to regain strength and range of movement because his knee was obliterated. i have no doubt he is progressing nicely and on schedule but you simply never know until the whistle blows

I was a very explosive and shifty player when played. Plant n go opposite way or spin or deke like was nothing. Then after two acls and mcl tares all in same knee I was able to regain strength and most of my range(grant didn’t have the training or stuff kids at these top schools have now no doubt) but never really got my shiftyness fully back. Also even to this day when i go to plant where use to be no hesitation now i slow down way to much before doing it and think bout it everytime. Almost like everything else is fine but the mental part. So not same injury but it is very hard to get back to old self even if body is there people forget the mental part of it which hard to overcome. After injuries i kinda adjusted to diff style of play getting away from what made me special will say and instead leaned more on my stick protection simple dodging and iq rather then speed quickness n explosiveness if get what trying to say. Give anybody credit if they have big injury n make it back to their old selfs as it is not easy.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

5. Maryland
4. Penn St
3. Virginia
2. Notre Dame
1. Duke