Fueled by an early season win over North Carolina, James Madison rose as high as No. 2 in the Nike/US Lacrosse rankings during the regular season. After beating Boston College to win their first NCAA championship, the Dukes finished the year on top.

JMU was one of four teams to finish the year with at least 20 wins and teamed with Towson to give the Colonial Athletic Association two teams in the Top 10.

The Atlantic Coast Conference finished with five teams in the Top 20 — the Big 10 was second with three — but it was not the usual domination we've come to expect from the ACC. Virginia and Syracuse each posted impressive victories out of the league to play their way into the Top 20, but each finished the season with 10 losses.

Also considered: Dartmouth, Duke, Georgetown, Johns Hopkins, Notre Dame, Richmond, USC

Nike/US Lacrosse Rankings

Division I Men | Division I Women
Division II Men | Division II Women
Division III Men | Division III Women

HOT

Denver (+5)

Denver puncuated a strong season that included wins over the top two teams in the Pac 12 — Colorado and Stanford — with a nine-goal victory over High Point in the opening round of the NCAA tournament.

Boston College (+3)

Kenzie Kent was the Most Outstanding Player at last year's NCAA championships — even though Boston College didn't win the title. That's how dominant she was in leading Boston College to the championship game. That the Eagles made it back this year with Kent choosing to redshirt and come back for a full season in 2019 was downright amazing.

The Eagles earned everything to get back to the final — beating red-hot Ivy League champion Princeton, unbeaten No. 1 ranked Stony Brook and defending national champion Maryland before falling to JMU in the title game.

Navy (+3)

Navy stunned everyone when it made to the NCAA semifinals in 2017. So, another run in 2018 shouldn't have been a surprise, but it kind of felt that way.

Navy didn't beat a ranked team until April 11, and even that was a struggling Virignia team. That victory proved to be the start of a nine-game winning streak that included a pair of road wins at Loyola and a NCAA win over Johns Hopkins. Navy then gave Maryland everything it could handle, leading 14-11 in the second half before the Terps rallied in the NCAA quarterfinals.

NOT

Stanford (-6)

A strong late-season flourish by Stanford ended with a thud. The Cardinal couldn't get anything going in a NCAA opening round game, falling to Virginia 12-3. Stanford was shut out in the opening 30 minutes.

High Point (-4)

High Point made its presence known with a first-round NCAA win over Towson last year, but this year's trip didn't measure up. The Panthers, who beat Notre Dame and Duke during the year and gave James Madison a dog fight, suffered a 19-10 loss to Denver in the first round.

IN

Virginia

Virginia's started the season 8-2, only to struggle down the stretch. But a season that ended with its second loss of the year to state rival James Madison got a boost with a 12-3 NCAA opening round victory over Stanford.

OUT

Johns Hopkins

After missing out on the NCAA bubble last year, Johns Hopkins found its way into the field this year, only to suffer a first round loss to Navy.