College Crosse’s 2018 Preseason Power Rankings

The power rankings are back for another season!

As I did with most of last season, I’ll try to rank all 71 teams in order from first to worst. Nobody else does it (yet), so why not do it yourself?

Check out last year’s rankings here, or you can check them out at the table below.

To the rankings!

1. Duke - They’re the most complete team entering 2018, but need to find a replacement for Kyle Rowe at the face-off X.
2. Albany - This could be the best Great Dane team in program history, and it doesn’t even include the Thompsons.
3. Denver - They’re gonna get a bunch of extra possessions, thanks to Trevor Baptiste, and should convert on many of them.
4. Maryland - The “attacking” national champions lose their entire starting attack and a Tewaaraton winner, but have plenty of young players ready to fill their spots.
5. Yale - The Elis have a stud in Ben Reeves, but need to find a consistent goalie with Phil Huffard gone, and it might be Brody Wilson.
6. Notre Dame - At least Ryder Garnsey didn’t leave, but the Irish have some shoes to fill, including in goal.
7. Penn State - The Nittany Lions have the pieces, they just have to find a way through the Big Ten and win an NCAA Tournament game.
8. Ohio State - Last year’s runner-up needs to find replacements at midfield and in goal.
9. Syracuse - The mumps hurt the team, but they got most of their practice time in, but there’s plenty of questions on offense and in the face-off department.
10. Rutgers - The injury of Adam Charalambides hurts the team, again, but they have hopes of finally reaching the NCAA Tournament.
11. Johns Hopkins - Another year of high expectations, but can the Blue Jays come through when the calendar turns to May?
12. Loyola - Not a ton of hype surrounding the Greyhounds, but they have Pat Spencer, who’s a really talented player.
13. North Carolina - College lacrosse’s greatest .500 team a year ago returns Chris Cloutier and Timmy Kelly on offense, and Jack Pezzulla should be a solid goalie, but who will take over primary face-off duties?
14. Towson - Shawn Nadelen’s defense will be fine, but who will contribute on offense?
15. Army West Point - The Black Knights were the first team out a year ago, and have a very good chance of finally beating Loyola and winning the Patriot League championship.
16. Virginia - One year under Lars Tiffany’s system should make the Cavaliers a better team, and like three other ACC teams, will probably have a new starting goalie.
17. Boston University - Despite the Terriers graduating their first recruiting class, they still have plenty of undergrads that will play a role on the team, including freshman attackman Chris Gray.
18. Villanova - The Wildcats lose two of their top offensive performers from a year ago, but return plenty of contributors and bring in a new goalie in Matt Barrett.
19. Providence - Tate Boyce is a really good goalie, and the Friars could give some teams trouble on defense in 2018.
20. Penn - With 212 out of 220 points returning from a year ago, the Quakers have a very talented offense returning, and ready to take the next step forward for Mike Murphy.
21. Brown - Life without Dylan Molloy and Larken Kemp begins, so who will step up with both of them gone?
22. Princeton - Michael Sowers is a stud player, but can Austin Sims stay healthy for the entire season?
23. Navy - Casey Rees will give the Mids a nice boost at midfield, and they’ll hope for Ryan Kern to have a better sophomore campaign.
24. Richmond - After being known for their defense, the Spiders are known for their offense, thanks to Teddy Hatfield and Mitch Goldberg.
25. Hofstra - Another year, another time to ask if the Pride can avoid a late-season collapse.
26. Bryant - The Bulldogs are going to have more competition in the NEC, especially with the loss of Tucker James at attack.
27. Air Force - We still don’t know who won’t be back, including head coach Eric Seremet, so their outlook is unknown.
28. Marquette - The loss of Tanner Thomson for the season will hurt the Golden Eagles, but should expect to compete in the Big East once again.
29. Marist - Their offense is a question mark, but there’s not question about Brian Corrigan, one of the top goaltenders in the nation.
30. Hobart - Despite the graduation of Frank Brown and goaltender Jackson Brown, the Statesmen still have a ton of scoring depth, especially with Chris Aslanian.
31. Monmouth - The defending MAAC champions lose a very talented starting goalie, but should compete for the conference crown once again.
32. Cornell - Despite having an interim head coach in Peter Milliman, the Big Red boast one of the top sophomores in the nation in Jeff Teat, as well as Connor Fletcher with him at attack.
33. Robert Morris - Nearly all of their starters from a year ago return, including many of their top scorers, and look to surprise many in the NEC.
34. Harvard - Fifteen seniors return to a revamped coaching staff with Chris Wojcik still at the helm, spearheaded by Morgan Cheek.
35. Stony Brook - The Seawolves are capable of scoring a ton of goals
36. Michigan - With a new coaching staff, can the Big Ten’s last place team continue to improve?
37. Lehigh - The Mountain Hawks have a very talented junior class, spearheaded by Craig Chick at the LSM position.
38. UMass - They’ve always started out slow for the past few years, yet somehow reach the CAA Tournament, and sometimes championship game.
39. Bucknell - After a disappointing 2017 season, Will Sands and company have high expectations for 2018.
40. Fairfield - Similar to Bucknell, Collin Burke is one of the best juniors in the nation, but who will replace Tyler Behring in oal?
41. Binghamton - Without Tom Moore or Garrett Waldron, will the Bearcats’ have similar success this season?
42. Drexel - If Brian Voelker can get a solid replacement for Jimmy Joe Granito in goal, don’t be surprised if the Dragons make a run in the CAA.
43. UMBC - Not a lot of people talked about the Retrievers, even though they had top 20 defense a year ago.
44. Delaware - Ben DeLuca will have a roster filled with young talent in his first season back as a head coach.
45. Vermont - The return of Ian MacKay to the Catamounts should bolster the team’s offense.
46. Saint Joseph’s - Speaking of returns, Mike Rastivo should give the Hawks the lift it needs to return to the NEC Tournament.
47. Furman - The Paladins surprised many in the SoCon during the regular season, but they’ll try to extend that success into the conference tournament.
48. High Point - Jon Torpey’s team went 4-10, but need Connor Robinson and Jason Ashwood to step up on offense if they want to compete in the SoCon.
49. Georgetown - The offense shouldn’t be a problem, especially with Daniel Bucaro and Mercer transfer Lucas Wittenberg, but the defense needs to be tweaked outside of Finn Dunne.
50. Hartford - The attack unit is pretty good, and if Dylan Protesto can continue being a force at the face-off X, they can try and avoid their weakness on defense.
51. Colgate - The Raiders boast two Patriot League Rookie of the Year winners, but lose Brandon Burke in goal.
52. Sacred Heart - Brooks Dutton was an underrated freshman netminder last year, and their offense returns plenty of weapons, including Joe Saggese.
53. Canisius - The Golden Griffins look to make Mark Miyashita’s first year as head coach a memorable one, especially with Connor Kearnan on offense.
54. Jacksonville - The Dolphins ended the season on a hot streak, so can they start 2018 in similar fashion?
55. Holy Cross - All of their top five scorers are gone, which doesn’t help the Crusaders in the always tough Patriot League, but Jonathan Tesoro remains in goal as a sophomore.
56. Detroit Mercy - The Titans have scorers, but who will replace Jason Weber in goal?
57. UMass Lowell - Will the River Hawks benefit from the Year Four boost that we saw with Monmouth last year?
58. Bellarmine - There’s 22 freshmen for the Knights this year, so expect growing pains in Kentucky.
59. Mount St. Mary’s - The Mountaineers lost many of their top players to transfers, but will look toward younger players to help fill those spots.
60. Cleveland State - Dylan Sheridan’s squad showed positive signs in Year 1, but now will look to build the program in Year 2.
61. Wagner - Andrew Streilein put up 43 points last year, more than double the second-highest scorer, but the scoring help will need to be better,
62. Mercer - The loss of Wittenberg and Jake Nelson hurts a Bears team that lost four of their top five scorers from a year ago.
63. Siena - They almost made it to the MAAC Tournament, but will look to not start 0-10 this time around. this time around.
64. St. John’s - It was a freshman-heavy team, but can Joe and Mike Madsen improve from a year ago?
65. Quinnipiac - Brian Feldman scored 30 goals last year, but nobody scored more than 30 points, and the Bobcats will need to find a new starting goalie.
66. Manhattan - Junior Parker Giarratana leads a young Jasper team looking for a MAAC Tournament birth in 2018.
67. Lafayette - The Leopards have a new head coach, but need to surround themselves with talent along with Conor Walters on offense and Chris Adamo on defense.
68. Dartmouth - After winning one game in 2016 and two in 2017, will the Big Green win three games?
69. NJIT - With Aaron Forster, can the Highlanders also convert on the Year Four boost?
70. VMI - They have depth at the face-off X, but they need to find similar depth at every other position as well.
71. Hampton - In their third year, the Pirates will look to continue to grow with an expanded combined Division I/non-D1 schedule.

Here’s the table version.