Three BIG EAST Men’s Lacrosse Teams Ranked In USILA Preseason Poll
NEW YORK – Reigning national champion Denver was voted as the No. 1 team in the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA)/NIKE 2016 Preseason Coaches Poll. Half of the BIG EAST’s six men’s lacrosse teams were voted into the national top 20 according to the poll, which came out on Monday, Jan. 11. Georgetown was voted No. 13, while Villanova was No. 19.
Marquette was also receiving votes.
Denver had 14 first place votes. The other first place votes went to No. 2 Notre Dame (six), No. 3 Duke (one) and No. 4 Maryland (one).
In the final poll of 2015, Denver was ranked No. 3, while Georgetown was No. 16. Marquette was receiving votes.
In the final RPIrankings, four BIG EAST teams were in the top 30 with Denver leading the way at No. 5, Georgetown 12th, Marquette 17th and Villanova 30th. There are 67 teams who competed in Division 1 Men’s Lacrosse in 2015.
BIG EAST men’s lacrosse action officially starts Feb. 6 as Providence kicks off the season with a game on the road at Boston University. The first big weekend of lacrosse will be Feb. 18 – 21 as all six teams will compete. League play will start Saturday, April 2 with Denver at Georgetown; St. John’s at Providence and Villanova at Marquette. The 2016 BIG EAST Championship will be hosted by Denver, May 5 and May 7.
USILA Presason Coaches Poll
Rank Institution Score 1st Place Votes
1 University of Denver 431 14
2 University of Notre Dame 416 6
3 Duke University 393 1
4 University of Maryland 365 1
5 Johns Hopkins University 340
6 University of North Carolina 317
7 Syracuse University 311
8 University of Virginia 302
9 Yale University 271
10 Brown University 202
11 The Ohio State University 174
12 University at Albany 162
13 Georgetown University 158
14 Loyola University 153
15 Harvard University 105
16 Towson University 97
17 Cornell University 94
18 U.S. Naval Academy 56
19 Villanova University 54
20 Stony Brook University 50
Also receiving votes: Marquette, Colgate, Princeton, Penn State, Army, Penn, Fairfield, High Point, Hofstra, Bucknell, Boston U, Richmond, UMass, Marist