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If someone had told me when we began the CaseyPowellLacrosse.com Division I and Division III Polls back in February that our final May poll would find the two top teams in our D-I and the top D-III team all from central New York, I would have probably scrapped the whole idea thinking such a result would hurt our credibility, considering that our pollsters are, for the most part, central New Yorkers.

That would have been a major mistake. No one can disagree that our region has seen its most successful season of lacrosse ever, what with Syracuse & Cornell, Cortland, and the OCC men and women topping their respective divisions, and Le Moyne the D-II runner-up. But it would also be a mistake to think that the success of area teams masked a partisan bent our polls might have had. Being the person tabulating the votes, I was not surprised, but still impressed by the open-minded seriousness which our Pollsters showed each week. I'd like to publicly thank them for, during what is obviously their busiest time of the year, contributing to this project.

A close look at the points awarded in our poll shows five distinct groups within the Division I Top 20. Syracuse and Cornell each brought their "A" games to Gillette this year, and are deservedly #1 and #2. Duke edged out Virginia for the #3 spot, while Princeton ended with a solid grip as the #5 program.

Hopkins, North Carolina, Notre Dame, and Maryland make up the next group at #6-#9, respectively. A cozy group of two, #10 UMBC and #11 Brown, held a niche of their own. Loyola, Hofstra, Harvard, Navy, and UMass filled in up to #16, while rounding out the Top 20 are Bucknell, Georgetown, Colgate, and Villanova.

In our Division III Poll, Cortland and Gettysburg solidly claimed the top two places. One thing that became evident throughout the season, and that will be addressed before 2010, is that we need several more Division III voters.

Our poll is voted on by a group of highly respected and knowledgeable individuals from the upstate lacrosse community. Links to our Pre-season Poll, as well as collective look at our group of voters can be found at our Poll Archives page.