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It's starting to feel like lacrosse, pals and gal pals.
Inside Lacrosse released the initial media poll today and Denver, a national semifinalist in 2014 and the preseason favorite in the USILA coaches poll, led the way with 14 of 26 first-place votes. Notre Dame, the national runner-up last season, tucked in behind the Pioneers with four first-place votes while Duke rounded out the top three with eight first-place tallies. Here's the full poll:
RANK | TEAM | POINTS | 1ST-PLACE VOTES |
1. | Denver | 506 | 14 |
2. | Notre Dame | 485 | 4 |
3. | Duke | 467 | 8 |
4. | Syracuse | 436 | |
5. | North Carolina | 404 | |
6. | Johns Hopkins | 398 | |
7. | Loyola | 348 | |
8. | Cornell | 325 | |
9. | Virginia | 313 | |
10. | Maryland | 312 | |
11. | Albany | 230 | |
12. | Harvard | 216 | |
13. | Pennsylvania | 174 | |
14. | Bryant | 138 | |
15. | Yale | 126 | |
16. | Lehigh | 120 | |
17. | Penn State | 91 | |
18. | Drexel | 90 | |
19. | Hofstra | 81 | |
20. | Army | 68 |
Also receiving votes: Princeton, Ohio State, Towson, Fairfield, Massachusetts, Colgate, Brown, Villanova, Navy, UMBC, Air Force.
The conference breakdown was as follows: ACC (five); Ivy League (four); Patriot League, Big Ten (three); CAA (two); and Big East, America East, and Northeast (one). The ACC -- the most dominant conference in college lacrosse -- put all five of its members in the top nine of this poll. The average ranking position of an ACC team is just a shade under fifth.