Red-Hot Utah Joins Nike/USA Lacrosse Division I Men's Top 20

There’s a bloc of three ACC teams.

Then a group of three Big Ten teams.

And then there’s six more programs that will be part of this month’s NCAA tournament.

That’s where the rankings stand heading into the postseason, which (as usual) will do as good a job as any at sorting things out.

NIKE/USA LACROSSE
DIVISION I MEN’S TOP 20

Also considered (alphabetical order): Air Force (11-6), Bryant (12-4), Lehigh (10-5), Loyola (9-8), North Carolina (7-7), Richmond (11-4), Saint Joseph’s (10-5)

UPCOMING GAMES

No. 1 Duke 5/14 vs. No. 18 Delaware/Marist winner
No. 2 Virginia 5/13 vs. Richmond
No. 3 Notre Dame 5/13 vs. No. 20 Utah
No. 4 Penn State 5/14 vs. No. 11 Princeton
No. 5 Maryland 5/13 vs. No. 12 Army

No. 6 Johns Hopkins 5/14 vs. Bryant
No. 7 Georgetown 5/13 vs. No. 9 Yale
No. 8 Cornell 5/14 vs. No. 10 Michigan
No. 9 Yale 5/13 at No. 7 Georgetown
No. 10 Michigan 5/14 at No. 8 Cornell

No. 11 Princeton 5/14 at No. 4 Penn State
No. 12 Army 5/13 at No. 5 Maryland
No. 13 Penn Season complete
No. 14 Denver Season complete
No. 15 Syracuse Season complete

No. 16 Rutgers Season complete
No. 17 Villanova Season complete
No. 18 Delaware 5/10 vs. Marist
No. 19 Boston U Season complete
No. 20 Utah 5/13 at No. 3 Notre Dame

HOT

Michigan (+10)

It isn’t just that the veteran Wolverines won the Big Ten tournament. That alone would be justification for a nifty jump. But they dominated the middle third of the field against Penn State in the semifinals, which was necessary since the Nittany Lions didn’t have an off day on offense. Then Michigan administered a 14-5 woodshedding to Maryland, the Terrapins’ most lopsided loss since 2006.

Kevin Conry’s team has won four in a row, rising from sub-.500 afterthought to a scorching hot team. Can that quality play — the dynamite faceoff tandem, a slick group of attackmen who are playing exceptionally well off each other, the freshman goalie (Hunter Taylor) who took over at halftime of the semifinals and settled the Michigan defense — continue into another weekend? This much is for sure: No one wants to see the Wolverines if they play like they did in Baltimore last week.

Princeton (+5)

Give the Tigers this much: They sure like to find unconventional ways to head into the postseason.

Last year, Princeton missed the Ivy League tournament, went into what coach Matt Madalon called “upgrade season” to make the most of an unexpected week off and then reached the program’s first NCAA semifinal since 2004. This year, the Tigers would have finished under .500 if they lost to Penn in the Ivy semifinals. Instead they squeaked out a win, then throttled Yale 19-10. Those two victories earned the Tigers a jump to just outside the top 10.

NOT

Boston U (-6)

The Terriers couldn’t capitalize on home-field advantage (and a seven-goal lead) in the Patriot League tournament, dropping a 12-11 decision to Loyola on Friday in the semifinals.

Credit half of Boston U’s drop to a setback at home, and the other half of it to teams elsewhere enjoying strong conference tournament runs (Delaware, Michigan and Princeton).

Denver (-5)

In retrospect, losing by nine goals in the Big East final rather than by one or two didn’t make a difference. The Pioneers were squeezed out of the field by Michigan and Princeton, and only a Big East tournament title would have gotten them into the NCAA tournament.

Georgetown halted Denver’s six-game winning streak with a 14-5 blowout, a rare lopsided loss on coach Bill Tierney’s ledger. That wraps up the Hall of Famer’s college coaching career, and newly elevated coach Matt Brown shouldn’t have trouble finding incentive for the Pioneers who return next season.

Villanova (-5)

The last month of the season wasn’t how the Wildcats envisioned things. They were ambushed on Bill Tierney Day in Denver, bounced back to clobber Providence, survived overtime against Marquette like the other top-tier Big East teams and then lost by four at Georgetown and by seven to Denver in Milwaukee to close things out.

Still, it’s a 10-win season on the Main Line with victories over a pair of NCAA tournament teams (Delaware and Penn State) and Philly bragging rights thanks to defeats of Drexel and Penn. That’s a good year, but surging teams elsewhere bumped Villanova out of the top 15.

IN

Utah (No. 20)

The Utes nudge themselves into the Top 20 after winning 11 in a row against Atlantic Sun competition, the latest an 11-9 defeat of Air Force on Sunday to earn the program’s first NCAA tournament berth.

Offense isn’t a problem for Utah; the only two teams to keep it to less than 10 goals this season are Denver and Johns Hopkins. The Utes scored 14 in a loss at Rutgers, 18 in a defeat of Marquette and topped the 20-goal mark four times in Atlantic Sun play. A much stingier test awaits in the first round of the NCAA tournament against Notre Dame.

OUT

North Carolina (was No. 18)

The Tar Heels closed out the season on a four-game slide, going from a team that owned a solid early season triumph at Johns Hopkins to … well, a team that owned a solid early season triumph at Johns Hopkins. North Carolina’s resume remained the same from Valentine’s Day onward.

Opponents averaged 17 goals during the season-ending skid, as North Carolina missed the NCAA tournament for the second consecutive season.

PREVIOUS RANKINGS

• Preseason

• Week 0: February 6

• Week 1: February 13

• Week 2: February 20

• Week 3: February 27

• Week 4: March 6

• Week 5: March 13

• Week 6: March 20

• Week 7: March 27

• Week 8: April 3

• Week 9: April 10

• Week 10: April 17

• Week 11: April 24

• Week 12: May 1