Wide-Open Feel to Patrick Stevens' Division I Men's Top 20

There won’t be an undefeated national champion like Maryland in 2022 this season.

And the options for a one-loss champ like Notre Dame a year ago are continuing to narrow.

Only five Division I teams head into April with one loss: Army, Cornell, Fairfield, Maryland and Ohio State. That group will get pruned again at least once prior to conference tournaments, since Maryland visits Ohio State on April 12.

The absence of a juggernaut like Maryland in 2022 or Notre Dame last season, or a clear-cut top tier like Duke, Notre Dame and Virginia in 2023, means this season has a more wide-open feel to it even as its second month comes to an end. That could mean a better NCAA tournament in May. 

It definitely means a more muddled picture now.

Patrick Stevens is a contributor to the USA Lacrosse Top 20.

PATRICK STEVENS' TOP 20

1. Cornell (7-1)

Penn ended the Big Red’s season last year. Cornell might have remembered. The Big Red scored the first four goals and 12 of the first 13 in a 15-5 pounding of the Quakers to improve to 3-0 in the Ivy League. (Last week: 1)

2. Maryland (8-1)

The Terrapins are now 34-8 over John Tillman’s 15 seasons while coming off a loss after quickly burying Penn State in a 13-8 victory. Maryland thrived in transition against the Nittany Lions to even its Big Ten record at 1-1. (LW: 2)

3. Ohio State (10-1)

A career-high 19 saves from Caleb Fyock helped the Buckeyes outmaneuver Rutgers 13-11. That’s 10 victories in a row for the Buckeyes, who will seek their first 3-0 start to Big Ten play since 2015 when they visit Johns Hopkins on Saturday. (LW: 3)

4. Princeton (6-2)

The Tigers didn’t put Dartmouth away until the final 71 seconds. In many recent seasons, that would be an indictment of Princeton. This year, it’s an indication of how much the Big Green have improved. Princeton steps out of Ivy League play to face Lehigh and Vermont at home this week. (LW: 5)

5. Notre Dame (5-2)

As projected a week ago, the Irish were rested but anything but rusty coming off an open weekend. A 14-7 pummeling of Duke was the program’s seventh victory in a row in the series — the longest such streak for any program against the Blue Devils since North Carolina took 11 in a row from 1988-95. (LW: 7)

6. Syracuse (8-2)

Suddenly, the Orange have won five in a row after rallying past Virginia, and their two-game slide against Maryland and Harvard (and their combined record of 15-3) is more than a month in the past. Syracuse has lost its last six against Notre Dame, which pays a visit to the Dome with first place in the ACC at stake. (LW: 8)