2026 Division I Preseason Top 20 Rankings | Page 2 | Syracusefan.com

2026 Division I Preseason Top 20 Rankings

Zack80 said:
Tiffany has added his blurbs to the UVa roster. They seem a little shorter this year.

Terenzi
2026 – "seek-and-destroy playing style as he treats his body like a crash-test dummy … elite communicator binds us all tightly together … healthy."

Brendan Millon
2026 – "always probing in the quest for an open teammate … sophisticated stickwork and dodger … highly developed IQ and skills."

Hopper
2026 – "defies norms with his elaborate stickwork … quick to prove his prowess with scheme comprehension … carries a competitively advantageous edge."

Crann
2026 – "vigorous dodger and playmaker … sparkplug on offense … tenacious competitor that does not have an off switch."

Sean Browne
2026 – "exploding in front of our eyes this fall … confidence and production are definitely up … powerful dodger with multiple shot release options."
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A little shorter is an easy achievement...

Those things have been a bit over-the-top in the past few years. Is Lars coaching them or their PR rep/agent?
 
Lax Mouse said:
I agree with this and with DL on UNC.

I still think Georgetown will be very good. Definitely top 10. And I wouldn't bump them much. They've got a tough schedule and I imagine will play their opponents tough, but do they have the depth to make it work across a whole season?

DL is on the money (imo) with UNC. Could be a top 4 team. Could be 10-15. Could dominate the regular season and lose first round. Could struggle to put it together and squeak into the playoffs to make a run. Can they stay healthy? Can Breschi coach? How will the personalities and expectations translate to performance, whether there's success or adversity?
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Really seems like Breschi would have been run out of town by the fans/alums by now if he was at another traditional powerhouse. Aside from the hot streak that took them to their NC a few years back, their record and their post season success have not been great. Not when you have that kind of athletic department money at a great university with an insane sports program.
 
36'sq. said:
Really seems like Breschi would have been run out of town by the fans/alums by now if he was at another traditional powerhouse. Aside from the hot streak that took them to their NC a few years back, their record and their post season success have not been great. Not when you have that kind of athletic department money at a great university with an insane sports program.
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Seems like they care more about recruiting and commitment announcements. It's not like them getting a bunch of 5 starts only started this year, last year the roster was filled with 5 star upperclassmen. All they had to show for it was a first round loss to Richmond.

There is a lot of talent in college lacrosse rotting on the vine as a result of factors ancillary to the actual lacrosse.
 
Hawknate144 said:
What more must army do? Either win the PL or play a better non-con schedule.
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Army's inability to make the tourney consistently boils down to three major issues

1. Their schedule is usually mediocre. They do suffer because some of their in-conference foes are bad but they usually compound it by then scheduling Mercer and a similar type school that kills their RPI. They also usually only scheduled 2 real power OOC games which was usually Rutgers and up until a few years ago Syracuse. Obviously we had a few down years when Gait first came in and Rutgers has been pretty much a mess since since their 2022 tourney run. They have opened it up a bit with UNC and Yale and this year added Michigan so that should help a bit (though it didn't last year especially with how bad Yale was). The other problem is they seem to add schools when they are looking at down years ie Yale last year and now Michigan. They also keep playing Umass which isn't doing them any favors either.

2. They keep losing games they can't afford to. If your Army you don't need to be undefeated to make the tourney but when your conference is mostly a mess you can't lose in the semi-finals in back to back years when you get a 1st round bye. 2 years ago they lost to BU and last year to Gate. Not even making the finals of the Patriot is gonna cost them 9 times out of 10.

3. This comes back to #1 a bit but the Patriot has been mostly a dumpster fire. BU and Gate have both been solid the last few years but beyond them and Army obviously it's been a mess. Loyola has been horrific, Bucknell is losing to Holy Cross, Navy is in a death fight to get to .500 and has canceled games with tougher opponents, Lehigh has been way up and down and Lafayette while improved just had it's first winning season last year since 2010. With how bad their conference is they need more power OOC games and need to jettison Mercer and Umass.
 
nocohalo said:
Seems like they care more about recruiting and commitment announcements. It's not like them getting a bunch of 5 starts only started this year, last year the roster was filled with 5 star upperclassmen. All they had to show for it was a first round loss to Richmond.

There is a lot of talent in college lacrosse rotting on the vine as a result of factors ancillary to the actual lacrosse.
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Well the fact that they come to UNC for factors ancillary to Lacrosse doesn't help, they are too busy enjoying the weather and hot girls to focus on the game, Duke has a similar issue IMO, but a little less so. If you are picking Cuse it's because you love lacrosse, because our ancillary factors are not great.


This is not entirely serious, but their is probably some truth to it
 
Hawknate144 said:
Well the fact that they come to UNC for factors ancillary to Lacrosse doesn't help, they are too busy enjoying the weather and hot girls to focus on the game, Duke has a similar issue IMO, but a little less so. If you are picking Cuse it's because you love lacrosse, because our ancillary factors are not great.


This is not entirely serious, but their is probably some truth to it
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That's what I meant. Obviously it doesn't mean every single player is committing because of those things, but at some point it's hard to argue that it doesn't hurt sometimes. USC has the same problems with football and basketball. By any objective measure they should be powerhouses, but they get recruits because of things unrelated to their sport which makes you question the commitment. Again, their roster was full of 5 star upperclassmen last year. No reason why they should have lost in the first round. Coaching can be lacking sometimes, but if a player views lacrosse as secondary those little things can add up quick. There are several programs where day 1 starters are rotting on the vine since they don't view lacrosse as important compared to everything else their school offers.
 
OrangeXtreme said:
www.usalacrosse.com

NCAA 2026 Countdown: No. 13 Virginia Changes its Formula

Few saw Virginia's 6-8 season coming last spring. Lars Tiffany took it as a sign to change the formula.
www.usalacrosse.com www.usalacrosse.com
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From the sounds of this article, a couple of interesting tidbits - McCabe Millon sounds like he's moved to midfield to make way for his brother Brendan on attack. Sounds like he might be joined on the midfield by Ryan Duenkle. That's exicting for UVA if he is healthy, but obviously he hasn't played for almost two full years. Curious what the rest of the midfield looks like. Obviously Hackett and Balsalmo struggled mightily last year. Will the rest of the lines be filled out by natural attackmen?

Also the leading contender for the goalie spot is a transfer from Air Force, who Tiffany did not recruit to the team (Jake Marek).
 
Sounds like Richmond had a nice scrimmage against UNC. Just a scrimmage obviously, but why I will not take UNC seriously until they prove otherwise.
 
lax mag's preview on duke today says the dookies might move benn johnston to attack. feels desperate...like when they made dyson williams play midfield, except the reverse...now theyre moving a classic downhill dodging middie to attack? good luck

also why does he spell his name with two n's. who does that
 
nyclax said:
lax mag's preview on duke today says the dookies might move benn johnston to attack. feels desperate...like when they made dyson williams play midfield, except the reverse...now theyre moving a classic downhill dodging middie to attack? good luck

also why does he spell his name with two n's. who does that
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Brandon Benn? (shout out to Hopkins fans)
 
Big lEast Preseason
www.bigeast.com

Georgetown Unanimous Favorite In #BIGEASTmlax Coaches’ Poll

Fresh off winning its seventh consecutive BIG EAST Championship title, Georgetown was picked first in the 2026 BIG EAST Men’s Lacrosse Preseason Coaches’ Poll. Providence’s senior attacker Richie Joseph was named BIG EAST Preseason Offensive Player of the Year, while Georgetown’s junior defender...
www.bigeast.com www.bigeast.com
 

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