OrangeXtreme
The Mayor of Dewitt
- Joined
- Aug 15, 2011
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Notre Dame starts where they finished: No. 1.
The Fighting Irish are the top team in the preseason Men’s Division I Media Poll.
It’s commonplace — but not always the case — that the defending national champion starts the next year on top. In Notre Dame’s situation, it’s a flex of their depth that they return to No. 1 despite losing Tewaaraton winner Pat Kavanagh and the reigning Goalie of the Year Liam Entenmann.
The theme of the offseason was change, with a remarkable class that became larger with the extra COVID year saying farewell. Syracuse, though, came out of the upheaval mostly unscathed, returning more than any other contender led by Joey Spallina and a junior class that has put the Orange back into the elite conversation — but not yet back to Championship Weekend.
Cornell follows as part of an electric Ivy League featuring premier offensive talents. The Big Red have the best with CJ Kirst, IL’s No. 1 player in the country, flanked by an explosive attack. Princeton is right behind, also leaning heavily on offensive consistency.
Maryland rounds out the Top 5 as part of a run of blue-blood programs (the Terps, No. 6 Virginia, No. 7 Duke and No. 8 Johns Hopkins) that will look different due to graduations but reload year over year through incoming freshmen and the Transfer Portal.
| Rank | Team | Points | Prev |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Notre Dame (0 - 0) | 459 (22) | -- |
| 2 | Syracuse (0 - 0) | 423 | -- |
| 3 | Cornell (0 - 0) | 396 (1) | -- |
| 4 | Princeton (0 - 0) | 385 | -- |
| 5 | Maryland (0 - 0) | 343 | -- |
