The Favorite, the Runner Up, and the Dark Horse for every conference in college lacrosse in 2026.

ACC

The Favorite: Syracuse

The Runner Up: North Carolina

The Totally Slept on Disrespected Dark Horse: Virginia

The ACC is almost emblematic of the entire country when it comes to lacrosse this year. There’s a lot of talent, it’s dispersed well, and definitely saying “they’re the best” about anyone is a dicey proposition at best. As we sit here in January, Syracuse is the team that most looks the part of heavyweight. They were in the Final Four a year ago, and they return the Tewaaraton favorite in Joey Spallina alongside a host of other weapons. But the Cuse has a brutally difficult schedule this year. It includes a run of six straight road games, and in that run they’ll play Harvard, Princeton, Penn, Hopkins, and Denver. The non conference slate includes Maryland, Boston U, Colgate, and Georgetown. There are quite simply no easy weeks. Syracuse was also fairly quiet in the portal; they added Dante Bowen to bolster the SSDM ranks, but otherwise the Orange are running it back. North Carolina also was quiet in the portal, adding just Charlie Pope from UVM. But like Cuse, the Heels return a deep stable of weapons. Owen Duffy is the headliner. Despite playing several games last year effectively on one leg due to injury, Duffy was one of the most effective dodgers and creators in the country. Healthy Duffy changes the way a team has to play defense, sending support to his matchup almost immediately in most cases. That level of gravity means shooters like Dom Pietramala get more space to let it rip. Ty English on the dodge against an unsettled defense is a very difficult cover. The Carolina “no name” defense of a year ago returns Cole Aasheim, Kai Prohaszka, and Chase Cellucci, along with a healthy Peter Thomann. That’s to say nothing of hyper talented freshmen like Gary Merrill and Anthony Raio joining the team. Goalie is the spot where UNC will have to prove it a bit in the early going; they lose Michael Gianforcaro who played nearly every minute for them last year. Virginia’s 2025 was a season to forget. Going 6-8 in Charlottesville is jarring. The last losing season for the Cavaliers was 2016, when they went 7-8 and Dom Starsia was out following the year. Lars Tiffany went 8-7 in his first year, 12-6 the next year, and won the title the year after that. Just because it’s been a bit of a rebuild situation doesn’t mean Tiffany can’t do it quickly. This time though, the portal is a smaller part. Last offseason UVA swung by and brought in players like Johnny Hackett and Charles Balsamo, who would combine for nine points on the SEASON. Portal misses and injuries left UVA light on weapons. This year, McCabe Millon again should be the showrunner on offense, his younger brother Brendan joins the team as a top prospect, Truitt Sunderland’s role can expand, and Ryan Colsey returns with another season of elite indoor player under his belt. The defense returns the usual UVA group of rangy defenders who look more like stretch power forwards. Healthy, with a clear identity, and if (I’m asking this question for what feels like the tenth year in a row) they can get some consistent midfield production, UVA can run with the big dogs. 

AMERICA EAST

The Favorite: Albany

The Runner Up: Bryant

The Totally Slept on Disrespected Dark Horse: Vermont

A fun thing to do in sports is to have what Rob Perez calls League Pass Rankings. It’s a ranking of teams not by how good they are, but by the team you should watch if they’re playing because of the potential to see something insane. Albany would be near the top of the lacrosse league pass rankings. Silas Richmond is a first round pick level player in both pro drafts, he’s back after 89 points last year. Every player on the team who had 20+ points last year returns. That’s 258 points back this year. Ryan Doherty, Koleton Marquis, Albany has highlight machines all over the offense. The defense returns multiple starters from a year ago as well, including America East DPOY Max Neeson. Albany will need to be better in goal (both starters were under 50% last year) and facing off (Rocco Mareno was right at 50% last year), but even minor upticks on those areas will make the Danes a force. Bryant put together a 10-5 season a year ago, falling to Albany in the conference tournament final. They are in a reload season. First team all conference midfielder John Tomsheck returns, as does 40 goal scorer Dawson Reilly. Conference Rookie of the Year Zac Amend is back, as is All Rookie Team member Luca Elmaleh. Other than Jack Lonsinger, the offense is intact. The big loss for Bryant will be Drew Lucas, an elite close defender that they lose to graduation. They bring back a very strong faceoff specialist and a solid goalie group. The gap between the Bulldogs and Danes isn’t big. Vermont may have been down a year ago, but they were playing a lot of young players in key roles. With a year of learning under their belt, the offense should improve. Cullen Deck and Luke Reiter are both quality weapons. The defense led by Jack Combs, Ryker Demarest, and Eddie Schwasnick will get a healthy count of CTs to keep the ball with the Cats. The portal hits Vermont hard, as one of the top faceoff men in the country departs for Maryland. But Walker Zhao is back and he went just under 70% with about 80 faceoffs taken. It’s not a huge sample, but it’s enough to feel confident that someone can take over the job and it won’t become an instant weakness for Vermont.

ASUN

The Favorite: Utah

The Runner Up: Jacksonville

The Totally Slept on Disrespected Dark Horse: Bellarmine

The Utes have, for my money, the best player in the conference in Ryan Stines. A starter since his freshman year, he piled up goals in the past but transitioned to a distributor last spring and put up 40 assists. Freshman Luke McNamara registered 33 goals. Cade Faulkner also returns following a 35 point season. The top faceoff man in the ASUN, Tyler Kloeckl, returns. ASUN DPOY Nikko DiPonio is back for a senior season. Up and down the lineup, Utah puts together one of the most solid (and geographically diverse) lineups anywhere in college lacrosse. They run deep at both ends, and have high level specialists. Tough to find the weakness. The Jacksonville breakthrough is coming. Make no mistake, there are big losses. The graduation of a leader like Jackson Intrieri is massive, and replacing him will be a challenge. But Jacksonville returns Jack Taylor off a 61 point season. They return Daylin John-Hill, the ASUN freshman of the year who had 50 points in his first year with the Phins. The defense has Aaron Toguri back, a future pro defender. Michael Meredith was on the conference all freshman team as a defender, but is now at UVA. Lucas Fraser is a potential two league pro at LSM and returns. They’ll need to find a consistent answer in goal, but with John Galloway at the helm that should be manageable. They have quality back facing off, they’re good all over.  On top of that, they’ll be battle tested early as always. They scrimmage Denver in January, then open with Rutgers before they play the likes of UNC, Duke, and High Point in the month of February. Bellarmine could make some waves just by posting gaudy offensive numbers. The Alie boys, John and Joe, will be at the center of it all. John posted 77 points a year ago, including 52 goals, while brother Joe had 35 points and 29 goals of his own. Ezra Moore is back after a 50 point freshman season. Nolan Hudnut saw a mountain of shots his freshman year and went 50%, a step up would help the Knights breathe a little easier. Bellarmine will also need to faceoff better. If they can improve on the defensive end to try to make for a better margin of error and be more consistent, they’ll markedly improve on last year’s 8-9 record. 

ATLANTIC 10

The Favorite: Richmond

The Runner Up: High Point

The Totally Slept on Disrespected Dark Horse: Saint Joseph’s

It just has to be Richmond. A year ago, the Spiders were the team that took Cornell to the brink; they were afraid of nobody. They return a ton of players that were core to that identity. Lucas Littlejohn is one of the nation’s top goal scorers, he posted 40 a year ago. Aidan O’Neill and Joe Sheridan, who had their share of big moments a year ago, both return. Gavin Creo plays with an edge and fearlessness that not many others have. Hunter Smith sets the same tone on the defensive end, and is a likely PLL draft pick. As is top SSDM Jack Pilling. The big loss for Richmond is in net, with Zach Vigue graduating and pursuing PLL lacrosse. The Spiders have to hit the ground running, as they open with Maryland and play both UVA and Cornell in February. I think High Point can really threaten in the A10 this year. It’s year two with John Crawley at the helm. High Point has not just the best faceoff man in the conference, but one of the best in the country in Luca Accardo. The top five scorers are all back, including Owen Bunten who put up 39 goals as a freshman. LSM James Westbrooks was tied for the team lead in CTs as a freshman. High Point put three players (Bunten, Westbrooks, and Carson Robins) on the A10 All Freshmen team a year ago. The biggest loss will be Zack Brenfleck as a leader on the defensive end, although returning Zack Overend in net should help smooth the transition. A lot of returning talent, in year two of the Crawley system and culture, could translate to a big leap for the Panthers. Saint Joseph’s will have a lot of questions, mostly driven by the change at the helm. Taylor Wray took the head coaching job across town at Penn, and Scott Meehan has taken over for the Hawks. Meehan has been at St Joe’s since 2019. The Hawks return a 47 goal scorer in Ben Dutton, who was a freshman last year, but have some serious losses on offense. Richie LaCalandra is gone, as is Mark Watters who transferred to Penn State. Levi Verch went pro in two leagues and is gone from the defensive end. Liam Quinn can steady the ship on the defensive end, joined by Ryan Bradley at LSM and Tommy Gross in goal. The offense may be a bit of a work in progress in the early going though. 

BIG EAST

The Favorite: Georgetown

The Runner Up: Villanova

The Totally Slept on Disrespected Dark Horse: Denver

Aidan Carroll went pro to the tune of a ROTY finalist season in the PLL. Replacing 77 points, including 50 goals, isn’t easy. Fulton Bayman and his 63 points graduated. That’s the Hoyas top two scorers from last year. How do you replace that? Easy, you just go get someone else’s. Liam and Rory Connor combined for 172 points at Colgate last year, and both transferred to Georgetown. Jack Ransom returns from a freshman year with 31 goals, Kevin Miller returns after a 28 point freshman campaign, and that all but takes care of the offensive side of things. On the defensive end, Big East DPOY Ty Banks is back, as is GOTY Anderson Moore. Robert Plath led the team in CTs as a freshman a year ago and returns down low. Ross Prince was the Big East specialist of the year, posting a 63% season facing off as a freshman, and returns. Georgetown securing a dynamic duo in the portal positions them well to be kings of the conference. Villanova did not have a great 2025, going 8-7. They did, however, find their groove late a bit and notch wins against Denver and Providence. Jake Melchionni had a star turn at LSM and was the conference co-specialist of the year. Jack Shoemaker was a unanimous first team all conference defender. Both are back, as is Beau Kemler, and joined by a healthy David Evanchick, the Cats could have a very solid close defense. Colin Michener and Eddie Jones both return off 40 point seasons. The rest of the conference was hit hard by the portal and graduation, Villanova has an opening. Denver deals with a litany of difficult losses. Noah Manning and Mic Kelly are both now pros. Cody Malawsky returns and is one of the smarter and more dynamic offensive weapons in the country; he’s a two league pro. The Pioneers used the portal to offset some offensive losses, although not with the same splash Georgetown made. Chase Bruno joins from RIT and Rory Graham comes from Cornell. Jimmy Freehill went pro from the defensive end, as did Casey Wilson, leaving sizable gaps on that end. Those two plus Manning and Kelly means Denver graduated all four first team all conference players they had. One place Denver can feel good is in net. Greyson Manning stole the show at U20 World Championships for Team Canada, and should be playing with confidence that’s off the charts. Denver will lean on Malawsky and Manning for leadership and production. If they can find some depth, they can be dangerous. 

BIG TEN

The Favorite: Maryland

The Runner Up: Ohio State 

The Totally Slept on Disrespected Dark Horse: Penn State

Never pick against Maryland. If it’s one of these wide open years, go with Maryland. That’s a safe rule of thumb even in years where the Terps don’t have the roster they do. They have their own returning weapons, led by Eric Spanos and Braden Erksa. They go into the portal to bolster the offense with Leo Johnson and Chris Lyons coming from Yale. They return Will Schaller, Eric Kolar, and AJ Larkin on defense. They go into the portal and grab Mikey Alexander from Yale. Sean Creter is back at the faceoff spot, and then they go get top faceoff man Henry Dodge in the portal. Logan McNaney graduates, but Brian Ruppel has looked ready for the big job. And of course, Coach Tillman will find the way to put it all together into a winning formula. The Terps being back in the mix Memorial Day Weekend will surprise nobody. Ohio State is the reigning Big Ten champ, and like Maryland, has key pieces back. The defense that was a force a year ago should be again. Bobby Van Buren, Cullen Brown, Caleb Fyock, Blake Eiland, all back. On the offense Alex Marinier is back after a 50 goal season, and second leading scorer Garrett Haas returns. Like Maryland, Ohio State loaded up in the portal, grabbing midfielders Brad Sharp and Logan Soelberg from Yale, along with sharpshooter Jackson Birtwhistle from Syracuse. They also added Russell Melendez to the offense, a late addition after he was granted extra eligibility. Ohio State won last year with a deep run of weapons on a team offense, rather than with pure star power, and a physically stifling defense. They look ready to do it all again. Penn State’s being as good as it is makes it seem a little crazy that I don’t even rate them top two in the Big Ten, but that’s just the nature of this conference this year. Hunter Aquino was an All American in the midfield as a freshman, and he carried an injury for half the year. He has a legitimate shot to be a multiple time McLaughlin winner. They return Kyle Lehman, a shifty head up attackman in the vein of Grant Ament. They return Liam Matthews, a Canadian goal scoring machine with scary good hands. They add ANOTHER one of those in Mark Watters, a transfer from Saint Joseph’s who put up 25 goals last year. Alex Ross is a pro prospect on defense, Will Costin returns as well. They also return a two headed faceoff attack with Colby Baldwin and Reid Gills. The big question, Jack Fracyon graduates which leaves a giant hole in net. That little hint of weakness is enough to consider the Lions a step behind Maryland and Ohio State out of the gate. 

CAA

The Favorite: Towson

The Runner Up: Fairfield

The Totally Slept on Disrespected Dark Horse: Drexel

The Tigers are led by the best player in the conference, and one of the top weapons in America, Mikey Weisshaar. He posted 72 points a year ago having moved from midfield to attack. But drill down to how he performs in conference, and you’ll see he really feasts on the CAA.  Seven points against Delaware (now an A10 team), six against Stony Brook, seven against Drexel, six against FAirfield, 13 combined against Hofstra and Drexel in the CAA tournament. Weisshaar is the lead weapon, but Towson returns some serious firepower. Ronan Fitzpatrick posted 43 goals as a redshirt freshman last year. Chop Gallagher will be a significant loss, but Towson has young weapons ready to step in. Fairfield may have snuck up on people last year, that won’t happen this year. The Stags reload for 2026. Their top three scorers - Keegan Lynch, Devin Lampron, and Jake Gilbert - are all back. All American defender and CT machine Julian Radossich is back. He’ll be joined down low by Eli Adams, who had a quiet but very good season a year ago. Owen Hirsch is back for a grad season in net, and Fairfield brought in Landon Whitney via the portal to solidify the goalie spot. Gavin McCarthy, a high level LSM out of Fairfield Prep who spent his freshman year at Bryant, returns home to join the Stags via the portal as well. The Stags biggest loss might be on the sideline, where DC Charles Giunta departed to become Associate Head Coach at his alma mater, St Joseph’s. Fairfield came up short in the CAA tournament last year, but they looked the part of an NCAA tournament caliber team. The pieces are all back to take another run at it. Finally, while the CAA may appear top heavy, Drexel could be this year’s version of the “Nobody saw this coming!” Fairfield 2025 team. Drexel waxed Fairfield in the CAA semis a year ago, winning 14-6. They took Towson to the brink in the CAA  title game. The Dragons return weapons like leading scorer Witt Crawford, Jack  Joyner who was their top midfield weapon, and Connor Hooley who was the team’s assist leader a year ago. Pat Lyman, a candidate for a serious breakout year, returns on defense, as does Kevin O’Brien and goalie Brendan Donnelly. The consistency from year to year will pay dividends for this team. Faceoffs are the only real question mark. 

IVY LEAGUE

The Favorite: Cornell

The Runner Up: Princeton

The Totally Slept on Disrespected Dark Horse: Brown

Yes, the Big Red graduated a Tewaaraton winner and one of the sports most prolific scorers in CJ Kirst. They also lose Michael Long and Hugh Kelleher, both key offensive weapons. But they return Ryan Goldstein and his 93 points; Goldstein showed the nation that he’s already one of the top dodgers in the sport. They return Willem Firth, an All American in the midfield. AJ Nikolic returns after missing last year due to injury, Rowyn Nurry is one of the top recruits in the country. The defensive end has the same theme. Yes, top player Jayson Singer graduated. Brendan Staub and Matt Dooley are back. SSDMs  Luke Gilmartin and Charlie Box are back. Faceoff specialist Jack Cascadden is back. Cornell has the crown, it’s up to the rest of the Ivy to take it. Princeton looks like the most likely candidate to do so. The Tigers, a bit like Cornell, graduate their top player with a wealth of options to take up the alpha mantle. Coulter Mackesy graduated, but Nate Kabiri is coming off a 61 point season and can immediately become the top weapon. Chad Palumbo is one of the nation’s best midfield threats. Colin Burns returns. Peter Buonnano had a breakout performance in the Tigers postseason run last year. Tucker Wade returns. The Tigers are solid facing off, they have a pair of quality SSDMs with Jackson Greene and Cooper Mueller, they have not one but two Spiess boys on defense, along with Jack Stahl, and top tier goalie Ryan Croddick backstopping it all. There really aren’t any holes for the Tigers. If I asked you what Brown’s record was last year, I venture you would guess it was better than 3-10. And to watch them, they looked better than a 3-10 team. It was year one of Jon Torpey, a proven coach, at the helm. They lost one goal games to BU, Penn, and Harvard. They also lost a tight game to Yale. But make no mistake, Bruno has players. Charlie Cave is a legit pro prospect down low. Connor Foley is a quality netminder that returns. Marcus Wertheim is another legit pro prospect. Don’t be surprised if Sawyer English has an instant impact on this team as a freshman. The coaching quality and talent are there. The Ivy is a brutally difficult conference with zero easy games, but Brown has what it needs to win. 

MAAC

The Favorite: Sacred Heart

The Runner Up: Marist

The Totally Slept on Disrespected Dark Horse: Canisius

Sacred Heart is my favorite, though I sense I may get some push back. They won the conference in 2024, and fell to Siena in the title game in 2025. The Saints graduated a TON from their 2025 team and has far to many questions for me to make them the favorite in 2026. The Pioneers lose Alex Pazienza in net which is massive, along with Jake Ward on offense. They also lose Luke Romanek facing off. However, John Murray returns in the midfield off a 37 points season. Will Moulton is back at attack. Tucker Spencer returns for a graduate season. I loved what I saw from Ryan Rooney in a smaller role on the offense and this could be a big breakout opportunity for him. Coach Jon Basti has recruited the faceoff spot well and has multiple young options there. Goalie is a big question, but Sacred Heart looks like a reload, not rebuilt, situation to me. Marist returns the top four scorers from last year, and the team’s fifth leading scorer was playing in the PLL last summer. Collin Patrick stacked up 61 points as a sophomore, which made him first team all conference. Marist also returns Michael Cassano, the MAAC LSM of the Year. Marist should have very few problems putting the ball in the goal this year. The issues might be with getting enough possessions to do it. They graduate Dylan Bedell, who went just under 60% facing off last year, and most of their close defense. Adam Wacholder went 48% in net as a freshman, starting 10 games while Noble Smith started six. Consistent goalie play, a clear solid personnel group on defense, and finding a way to win faceoffs without Bedell will be keys for the Foxes. The Griffins quietly went 6-2 in conference last year. That includes a win against Sacred Heart. Out of conference they played a two goal game with Robert Morris. Given that, it was surprising to see them drop a game against St Bonaventure at home, and to fall to Quinnipiac in the MAAC tournament. The portal, however, was not kind to Canisius. Jordan Reed and Mason Wolford, both 20+ goal scorers last year, transferred to Utah and High Point respectively. Faceoff man Micah Hanson developed into a solid weapon as the year went on and is back. They’re solid in the defensive midfield. There are some questions with their poles as they were senior heavy last year, but if they can be consistent they can push for the top spot in the conference standings. 

NEC

The Favorite: Robert Morris

The Runner Up: VMI

The Totally Slept on Disrespected Dark Horse: Le Moyne

The venn diagram of NLL fans and college lacrosse fans probably doesn’t have quite a large enough overlapping section to appreciate the pro ball factory that is Bobby Mo. The Colonials had six players drafted in the 2025 NLL draft. SIX. Will MacLeod was a first round pick. Calum Brennan is back after a 49 goal season. It’s not all good news; they graduate David Burr and Kean Moon. But the Colonials are, yet again, a factory of top end Canadian talent and future indoor stars who happen to be playing college field lacrosse together. They return goalie Nate Fechter which is massive, because faceoff stud Bo Columbus has graduated. Owen Tapper is a name that way more field fans will know after this season than before, I’d bet money on it. RMU has it everywhere you need to have it to win this conference. VMI graduated Luke Rusterucci, a lacrosse fan favorite and one of the most productive players in the country the last few years. He finishes his career with 234 points, after putting up 74 a year ago. The Keydets have a lot of quality pieces back, particularly Dayton Bagwell off a 40 goal season, but without a clear and obvious go-to weapon and party starter like Rusterucci, it’s hard to know what to expect out of the gate. The defensive end is solid, though there are questions to answer in goal. Faceoffs were not a strong suit last year, that tends to get amplified with questions on the offensive end. VMI has the tools to stay near the top of the NEC, it’ll just be about settling on an identity early and playing clean ball. Le Moyne was a hell of a story in 2025. In their second year of D1 ball they went 9-6,  notching some impressive wins against teams like VMI and Robert Morris, while losing close to teams like Bucknell and Navy. The Dolphins return Lucas Winger in net, who was well north of 60% in the cage a year ago. Part of being new to D1 means they had a lot of young talent, and a lot of it is back, led by Thomas Berry. While the offense has a lot returning, the defense loses a ton. Jack Sullivan led the team in CTs as an SSDM, he graduated. So did top close defender Maui Wilheim. Winger will cover a lot of mistakes from a young defense. If it happens at a rate that saves some gates, Le Moyne will threaten in the NEC for the second year in a row. 

PATRIOT LEAGUE

The Favorite: Army

The Runner Up: Boston U

The Totally Slept on Disrespected Dark Horse: Navy

The Black Knights are once again hyper talented, though they do have losses in key specialist spots. Will Coletti, who has tilted the field for years, graduated and that leaves a massive gap at the faceoff spot. LSM Christian Fournier and SSDM Christian Mazur were the conference players of the year at their respective positions, both have graduated. AJ Pilate, a four year starter and the top close defender, graduated. Jackson Eicher, a Tewaaraton finalist at attack, graduated. That alone might make it dubious to make Army a favorite. But the returners are enough to warrant top dog status. Sean Byrne is in the discussion for the top goalie in America. Evan and Hill Plunkett are both back, and both remain matchup nightmares who will draw a ton of slides this year. Gunnar Fellows has been a starter since his freshman year and was a very strong performer in the Patriot League tournament. John Sullivan looks ready to step into the alpha role on the close defense. Army has solid tests early, opening with UMass as they always do and then visiting Rutgers, hosting Yale, and visiting Michigan. That first month of lacrosse will reveal how right or wrong I am about this team reloading. Speaking of reloads that I’ve talked myself into, the Terriers! Coming into the season, and this is not just homerism, I consider Tim Shannehan to be the top offensive weapon in the conference. The Patriot League Rookie of the Year and first team all conference selection posted 61 points a year ago as a primary ball carrying option and weapon in Boston. He also played for Team USA at the U20 World Championships. Shannehan is the centerpiece, but there are plenty of big names back for this squad. Andrew Pape quietly had a great freshman year in the midfield. Tyler Fox turned into a major weapon over the last six games of the season. Jimmy Kohr had 40+ goals and is back. I’m expecting a breakout year from Mike Rooney. Connor Kehm and his 30 CTs return on defense. The loss of Will Barnes in net is the biggest hit this team takes. Finding a steady presence in goal will be job one for BU. Finally, don’t look past that other Patriot League service academy. Navy brings back Mac Haley, a 40 point scorer who led the team. Jack Ponzio, a 2nd team all conference pick as a freshman in the midfield, is back. AJ Marsh, one of the nation’s top defenders, is back. Zach Hayashi, the faceoff man for Team USA at U20 World Championships, is back and healthy after missing much of last season with an injury. Navy went 8-7 last year, they have the talent back to turn some of those L’s into W’s.