Way Early 2024 Rankings: Nos. 15-11 (Division I Men)

With much of the transfer market settled and the coaching carousel slowing down, it’s time to take a look ahead to what the 2024 college lacrosse season has in store.

Next up: Five teams that will be knocking on the door of the top 10 — and could end up being mainstays there all season.

EARLY 2024 RANKINGS

Division I Men
No. 25 - No. 21
No. 20 - No. 16
No. 15 - No. 11
No. 10 - No. 6
No. 5 - No. 1

Division I Women
No. 25 - No. 21
No. 20 - No. 16
No. 15 - No. 11
No. 10 - No. 6
No. 5 - No. 1

15. RUTGERS

2023 record: 8-6 (1-4 Big Ten)

Last seen: Dropping a 14-11 decision to Maryland in the first round of the Big Ten tournament, the Scarlet Knights’ fifth loss by at least three goals in their last six games.

Initial forecast: Pointing out that Rutgers is all-in on the transfer portal, particularly for grad students, isn’t critical. It isn’t judgmental. It’s just a fact, and it’s been a big part of how Brian Brecht and his staff have constructed the roster over the last few years. When a lot of those one- or two-year additions are instant hits, it can lead to runs deep into May like in 2021 and 2022. And if there aren’t so many impact guys? Seasons like last year, when Rutgers was respectable enough to beat some good teams but not dynamic enough to be a consistent threat, can happen. Inside Lacrosse’s portal tracker lists 12 in-bound Scarlet Knights, which even in the COVID era of larger rosters accounts for about a quarter of the roster. Next spring has a lot of wild cards, but few are wilder and have a greater range of possibilities than what Rutgers does.

14. DELAWARE

2023 record: 13-5 (6-1 CAA)

Last seen: Making things very uncomfortable for NCAA tournament top seed Duke in the first round before falling 12-11 to the eventual national finalist on its home field.

Starts lost: 74 of 140 (41.1 percent)
Scoring departing: 135 of 413 points (32.7 percent)

Initial forecast: Delaware might not have the benefit of having the best player on the field quite as often now that defenseman Owen Grant has graduated, and the Blue Hens surely wish they had another year of Tye Kurtz (58 G, 30 A). Yet even without Kurtz, Delaware still has four 20-goal scorers back, including JP Ward (42 G, 43 A) and Mike Robinson (32 G, 16 A) to lead an attack that is still going to cause plenty of problems. Some less-established names on the defensive end are going to need to emerge, but given the tough, no-nonsense ethos that now permeates that program under Ben DeLuca, it seems reasonably likely to happen. There’s also the elephant in the room: The strength (or lack thereof) of the rest of the CAA, which is a big part of why Delaware found itself in the play-in game in May. None of the other CAA teams were in the top 40 of the RPI, and while some of the programs will be improved, the Blue Hens should remain the clear favorite to win the league for the third year in a row.

13. GEORGETOWN

2023 record: 13-4 (5-0 Big East)

Last seen: Wishing it hadn’t run into Connor Shellenberger in the NCAA quarterfinals for the second time in three seasons, since the Virginia junior had 10 points as the Cavaliers bounced the Hoyas 17-14 in Albany.

Starts lost: 108 of 170 (63.5 percent)
Scoring departing: 266 of 396 points (67.2 percent)

Initial forecast: Did the Hoyas’ window for reaching the last weekend in May just slam shut? It’s a reasonable question to float considering how much Georgetown leaned on graduate transfers and fifth-year guys last season. The top four scorers, including Tewaaraton finalist Tucker Dordevic? Gone. The 58-percent faceoff guy (James Reilly) who took more than 400 draws? Gone. An All-American defenseman and a starting goalie? Gone and gone. There are still some known quantities (midfielder Graham Bundy Jr. among them), but the Hoyas are going to need some time to find themselves and sort out their many lineup openings. There’s an argument for starting Georgetown outside the Top 20 based on all of this, but this is still a program with five consecutive Big East tournament titles and 22 victories in a row against league opponents. A complete collapse feels unlikely, and there should be some winning residue housed within the roster. It just might take some time to harness it in 2024.

12. MICHIGAN

2023 record: 10-7 (2-3 Big Ten)

Last seen: Having a magical month come to a close with a 15-8 loss to Duke in the NCAA quarterfinals. It hardly spoiled a five-game winning streak that featured victories over both of the 2022 national finalists, a 2023 semifinalist and the Wolverines’ biggest rival (twice) and resulted in the program’s first Big Ten tournament title and first NCAA berth.

Initial forecast: Was it lightning in a bottle for a month, or have the Wolverines well and truly arrived as a program to be reckoned with on an annual basis? A little skepticism is reasonable; in a perfect world, there would be a full season of those sorts of results, not just one exceptionally timed month. A lot of skepticism is largely unnecessary, since Michigan had been getting measurably better since the second half of the pandemic season in 2021. The Wolverines will miss Duke-bound grad student Josh Zawada (36 G, 29 A), but there are some impressive players still in the mix. Attackman Michael Boehm (45 G, 28 A) and faceoff man Justin Wietfeldt (.645) are the most proven of those stars, but Michigan’s run was a fine display of depth — and adding players like Beau Pederson (second-team all-Ivy defensive midfielder at Princeton), Christian Ronda (21 G, 11 A at Princeton) and Justin Tiernan (46 G, 9 A at Lehigh) are only going to add to it.

11. DENVER

2023 record: 10-5 (4-1 Big East)

Last seen: Absorbing a 14-5 loss to Georgetown in the Big East final, a game that (coupled with Princeton’s victory in the Ivy League championship game the next day) brought an end to retiring coach Bill Tierney’s career.

Starts lost: 4 of 150 (2.7 percent)
Scoring departing: 0 of 274 points (0 percent)

Initial forecast: Tierney might not be back, but darn-near everyone else is for Matt Brown’s first season in charge in the Mile High City. Denver announced this week the return of seven players for a fifth season, including attackmen JJ Sillstrop (36 G, 5 A) and Richie Connell (16 G, 18 A), faceoff specialist Alec Stathakis (.604) and defensive stalwarts Jake Edinger, Adam Hangland, AJ Mercurio and Jack DiBenedetto. The Pioneers should be the preseason favorites in a Big East where both Georgetown and Villanova absorbed notable (and in the Hoyas’ case, wide-ranging) graduation losses. The obvious question as Brown takes over — far beyond what tweaks he might make to the program — is whether this core group can progress beyond knocking on the door of the top 10. The Pioneers were 2-6 against eventual NCAA tournament teams the last two years, beating Ohio State in 2022 and Utah to open 2023. That’s the justification for this placement, but it isn’t difficult to envision an even older, more cohesive group putting together Denver’s best season in a while — maybe even a final four trip for the first time since 2017.