Way Too Early 2020 Division 1 Men's Lacrosse Rankings

2019 was an exciting year of college lacrosse capped off by the University of Virginia's national championship win over Yale. With most fall ball starting within the next couple months, it's never too early to look at our way too-early 2020 division one top ten lacrosse rankings. Let's jump into it.

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1. Penn St University

The Nittany Lions return most of their offense that produced 323 goals last season. Mac O'Keefe (78 goals in 2019) and Grant Ament (96 assists in 2019) give Penn St a two-headed monster that just about every defense will struggle to defend. Yale was able to fend off Penn St in the 2019 semifinals of the NCAA tournament, but look for Penn St to make a strong playoff run in 2020 possibly in route to their first ever national championship.

2. University of Virginia

Repeating as national champions is no easy task, but the Cavaliers are going to be in the position to do just that in 2020. Returners Matt Moore, Dox Aitken, Ian Laviano, and Michael Kraus will arguably lead one of the most talented offenses in the country. The loss of do-it-all midfielder to graduation, Ryan Conrad, will hurt, but Virginia will have a very talented group of underclassman that will keep the team balanced.

3. Duke University

No surprise here as Duke, three time national champions, are in the title conversation just about every season. Duke lost 11 seniors to graduation, but they return most of their players that earned significant playing time in 2019. Now sophomore, Joe Robertson (42 goals in 2019) returns looking to top his freshman season. Pair him with Joey Manown (26 goals in 2019) and Duke will have a solid offense. The defense last season was stout, led by now senior JT Giles-Harris. Look to see Duke get over lat year's heartbreaking loss to Virginia and make it deep into the NCAA tournament once again.

4. Yale University

Yale has been incredibly impressive the past couple years, and don't expect anything different in 2020. Their ferocious faceoff-man, TD Ierlan, won nearly 76% of his draws and broke the NCAA record with a 26-26 day against Harvard. The loss of some valuable starters will make Yale's road to a third consecutive championship game tougher, but don't underestimate head coach Andy Shay and the Bulldogs. If the underclassman can make plays and buy in to the process, expect Yale to be right back at championship weekend. Offensively speaking, Yale returns a trio of offensive weapons. Matt Gaudet (51 goals in 2019), Matt Brandau (50 goals in 2019) and Jackson Morrill (46 goals in 2019) will give opposing defenses headaches.

5. University of Maryland

Maryland cracks our top ten list at number five heading into the 2020 season after a loss to Virginia in the quarterfinals last year. Returning offensively for Maryland is stud attackman Jared Bernhardt who is coming off a fifty-one goal season in 2019. Joining him is Logan Wisnauskas who totaled an impressive seventy-nine points for the Terrapins last year. In addition, Maryland's defense in 2020 will be solid and we can expect to see them in the NCAA tournament once again.

6. Syracuse University

Syracuse can only be down so long before they come up again. Their defense heading into 2020 is solid but they will need offensive help from their underclassman to replace Bradley Voigt (35 goals in 2019) and Nate Soloman (26 goals in 2019). Look for Syracuse to push further in 2020 than their 2019 first round exit in the NCAA tournament.

7. Notre Dame

Notre Dame returns their three-headed offensive monster that consists of Bryan Costabile (42 goals in 2019), Brian Willetts (27 goals in 2019) and Connor Morin (36 points in 2019). These three paired with the Irish's defensive unit and a talented group of underclassman should produce favorable results for Irish fans in 2020 and make a push for Notre Dame's first ever national championship in lacrosse. In addition, Notre Dame's defense was among the nation's best holding opponents to 28.7% shooting in 2019.

8. University of Denver

2019 was not a typical year for the Pioneers as they missed their first NCAA tournament since 2009. Next season Denver will be hungrier than ever and should see a lot of production out of now sophomore face-off man, Brett Boos. In addition, they also return their top two offensive weapons in Ethan Walker (52 points in 2019) and Jack Hannah (34 points in 2019). Expect the University of Denver to win the Big East conference in 2020 and make some noise in the NCAA tournament.

9. The University of Pennsylvania

UPenn made some major noise throughout the 2019 season as they went neck and neck with Yale the entire year before being defeated by the Bulldogs in the NCAA tournament. The Quakes will return Adam Goldner (56 goals in 2019), Sam Handley (60 points in 2019) and Sean Lulley (36 points in 2019) which will cause major problems for opposing defenses, but they also lost some quality players such as Reed Junkin and Simon Mathias. UPenn will be a strong team in 2020 and we will see if they have what it takes to dethrone Yale as the best team in the Ivy League.

10. Johns Hopkins University

The only thing holding the Blue Jays back from making a NCAA tournament run next season is their inconsistency on defense. In 2020 Johns Hopkins will return seniors Cole Williams and Forry Smith who combined for 48 goals in 2019 and also stud attackman Joey Epstein who put up a crazy 73 points during his freshman campaign. The Blue Jays will need to come together as a defense and look for underclassman to step into leadership roles early for them to have a shot at a national championship in 2020.