Stevens' Top 20: Syracuse Brimming with Potential Come Tournament Time

Ten conference tournament champions earned an automatic NCAA tournament berth over the weekend.

The 11th, though, was one of the biggest winners of all.

Syracuse’s run through the ACC tournament didn’t land it an AQ; the ACC is one team shy of the six necessary to warrant an automatic berth. But the Orange certainly seemed glad that May had finally arrived.

And let’s face it: No one was getting judged on how it fared in May and only May this season quite like the Orange.

The moment Syracuse lost in the NCAA quarterfinals last season to Denver, it was on the clock to get back to that stage and then move on to the final weekend of the season for the first time since 2013. The Orange had done a bit more from year to year to year under Gary Gait, and the expectation was a team with an uber-experienced junior class would restore the program’s glory.

The downside of it all was there was still a regular season to navigate. And that wasn’t always smooth for Syracuse as it brought a 9-5 record into May.

While it wasn’t perfect against Notre Dame and then Duke, it still showed strength all over the field. Jimmy McCool in goal. John Mullen on faceoffs. Owen Hiltz’s five-goal day in the semifinals. A statement performance on defense in the title game.

If Syracuse wasn’t specifically built for May, the perception of its season was certainly oriented toward this month. Now that it’s here, the Orange are brimming with possibilities as they look to make a memorable run — something Syracuse fans used to enjoy every year, and might savor even more given the dozen years since it last played on Memorial Day weekend.

PATRICK STEVENS' TOP 20

1. Cornell (14-1). The Big Red won the Ivy League tournament with a flourish, dropping back-to-back 20-goal games for the first time since 2018 while blasting Yale and racing past Princeton. Cornell has the best record and the best player in the sport, and its offense couldn’t be in much better shape heading into the postseason. (Last week: 1)

2. Ohio State (14-2). The Buckeyes’ maturity was abundantly evident in Saturday’s Big Ten title game defeat of Maryland. Ohio State is old and hungry, and about the only thing to ding it for at this point is a lack of postseason experience. Will it matter in the next few weeks? (LW: 5)

3. Maryland (11-3). The Terrapins got a split against Penn State and Ohio State in the Big Ten tournament, which actually constitutes a pretty good trip competitively even if it didn’t result in a trophy. The 14 goals allowed in the to Ohio State in the final was a season high; expect a lock-down showing from Maryland in the first round. (LW: 2)

4. Princeton (12-3). Proved more than capable of running with Cornell for two and a half quarters before the Big Red’s offensive deluge denied the Tigers a third consecutive Ivy tournament title. No matter; Princeton’s only losses this season were against Cornell and Maryland, and it won’t have to see either of them prior to the NCAA semifinals. (LW: 3)

5. Syracuse (11-5). ACC champions for the first time since 2016, the Orange went into last week not entirely comfortable with its postseason prospects and left with victories over Notre Dame and Duke while securing a game at the Dome in the first round. (LW: 12)

6. Duke (12-5). The Blue Devils throttled North Carolina in the ACC semifinals to position themselves for a first-round home game in the NCAA tournament. A 9-8 stumble against Syracuse in the final doesn’t change much for Duke, which has played better the last three weeks than it had in late March and throughout April. (LW: 9)