Syracuse’s stay at the top of the rankings after a near six-year absence lasted only a week thanks to their 13-12 loss to Harvard over the weekend.
The loss dropped the Orange back down to No. 6 in this week’s Inside Lacrosse media poll, snapping them back to reality after the euphoria of the Maryland win.
The reality being that, while they broke through a significant barrier by finally getting their win over the Terps, they are a part of a wide open year of college lacrosse where all things are possible
and more teams than usual can lay claim to being included in the ‘contender’ conversation.
Speaking to that point, the early-season polls have already been eventful. Three different teams have already been No. 1 (Maryland, ‘Cuse, UNC) and we’re still in February. This week especially, chaos reigns after a weekend in which Harvard won, Princeton beat Maryland the week after they got smoked by Penn State, and the Nittany Lions got upset by Navy. Six different teams, including SU, got first-place votes this week, and only 22 people vote in the IL poll.
The other reality is the schedule, which is a gauntlet and now turns to its busiest weekend with the second and third of six straight road games taking place two days apart on Friday and Sunday. The Orange will take on Princeton and Penn to make it three straight Ivy opponents in just nine days time.
Whatever the number in front of their name, this will surely accomplish exactly what Gary Gait hoped for: to test what his veteran team is made of against the most difficult circumstances he could find while simultaneously preparing them for the biggest rigors of May lacrosse.
In the immediate aftermath of their win over Maryland, Joey Spallina commented that receiving the No. 1 ranking would ‘mean absolutely nothing’ given the time of year and what they hope to accomplish.
In many ways, he’s spot on about that. Nobody cares of remembers who’s ranked No. 1 in February, unless a team goes wire-to-wire atop the country. For that matter, the national rankings don’t actually mean anything at any time during the season, since they have no bearing on tournament selection or seeding. They’re just representative of how the season moves along from February to May without any actual weight to them.
But ‘Cuse’s No. 1 ranking was symbolically important for a team that’s been on the rise the past four seasons and a program looking to return to its former glory. After years of chasing, that ranking was empirical evidence that SU has what it takes to make it happen. The win over Maryland felt like a huge moment at the time because they were the last team the Orange hadn’t beaten recently and finally doing it felt like clearing a massive hurdle on the way back to the top.
It certainly could still prove to be exactly that, but for now their momentum was halted just as quickly as it got going.
That’s the positive to ‘Cuse’s schedule, though. It’s exceedingly difficult, to be sure, but it also provides consistent opportunities against tough competition to get that momentum right back.
And that’s exactly what they need. The Orange are going big-game hunting in 2026, and now that they’ve had a little taste of the top, they’re ready to resume their pursuit of the ultimate trophy.
