Lacrosse Magazine Ranks Denver Pioneers No.1 In Preseason Poll, Plus Full Preseason Polls Aggregation!

Lacrosse Magazine’s preseason poll is out and the Denver Pios are ranked number 1 in the Nike-US Lacrosse Preseason Top 20. (Ed. Note: I love Lacrosse Magazine’s SNAZZY new website design. Here’s their post on the new web layout.)

There is not much difference between Lacrosse Magazine’s top teams and the other preseason polls which came out a little while ago. Below is the full aggregation of the major polls. I have some thoughts on the polls below the graph.

• Denver at Number 1: Lacrosse Magazine noted the news of Zach Miller’s departure in their post calling it “a significant but not insurmountable hurdle for the Pioneers” and yet they still put Denver at number 1. That’s a lot of confidence in the Pioneers bench. I put the Pios at 4 on my preseason poll before the news about Miller; I still feel comfortable with Denver in the top 4-6 since the news.
• Big conferences: Four Big Ten and five ACC teams appear on all three of the major preseason polls; Ohio State is on the Coaches poll & the Lacrosse Magazine poll but it does not appear on the Inside Lacrosse preseason top 20. Michigan is the only team from either the ACC or Big Ten to not appear on any of the major preseason polls.

I was a bit surprised to see UVA so high in the major polls so early on. I didn’t have UVA in my top 20 but I can definitely see them having a solid season and maybe even making a run in the ACC in 2017. I just thought they needed to show something first before I put them in my top 20.

• The Ivy League & the Big East: Brown and Yale are the only teams from the Ivy League on any of the preseason major polls. Harvard should be a player this year but the rest of the conference is not so clear. Last year the Ivy League had four teams in the major preseason polls. This might be the first sign that the Big Ten has eclipsed the Ivy as the clear #2 conference in college lacrosse.

I thought Villanova would get some love in the preseason polls but they didn’t appear on any of the major polls. Denver & Marquette should strongly represent the Big East this year. I’d also watch Providence as the Friars had a solid year in 2016 and might be ready to make a run in 2017.

• Mid-Majors: Nice to see the mid-majors get multiple teams in the preseason polls. Loyola & Navy represent the Patriot League, Towson & Fairfield for the CAA, and Air Force & Richmond from the SoCon.