Men's Lacrosse: Yep, Picked To Finish Last

Yesterday, the Big East announced the official results of the preseason coaches' polling for men's lacrosse, meaning I have no idea what that list from Inside Lacrosse was all about.

To the surprise of no one, Denver got all of the first place votes from coaches not named Bill Tierney, and thus, they're the unanimous favorite to win the league this season. This is surprising to absolutely no one because 1) That's why the Big East invited Denver to join and 2) Inside Lacrosse has the Pioneers pegged as the preseason #4 team in the country. Here's how the voting shook out:

1. Denver
2. St. John's
3. Villanova
4. Georgetown
T5. Providence
T5. Rutgers
7. Marquette

Yeah, the Golden Eagles finished 5-8 last year, but none of those wins came against teams in the Big East, so here they are making their Big East debut slotted into last place. Can't really argue with the logic.

But! There is good news. As the coaches' weren't allowed to vote for their own teams and Denver got six first place votes, DU's total of 36 points tells us some good news. It appears that the voting went on a point system with 6 for first place, 5 for second, etc., etc. Marquette finished with NINE points instead of the six points that six last place votes would get you, meaning that at least one coach had a non-Marquette team in last place on their ballot. In secondary good news, Providence and Rutgers tied with 12 points, so they're not exactly running away from MU here.

Onwards to the individual awards!

Preseason Offensive Player of the Year
Kieran McArdle, St. John's, Sr., A

Preseason Defensive Player of the Year
John LoCascio, Villanova, Sr., LSM

Both men were unanimous choices for their respective slots. McArdle was the 2013 postseason Attack Player of the Year, and LoCascio was the 2013 postseason Defensive Player of the Year, so it didn't take a lot of effort or thought to hand both men the preseason versions this season. McArdle set St. John's records in assists and points in 2013 while leading the nation in assist average, while all LoCascio did was lead the nation in caused turnovers per game.

Unsurprisingly, McArdle and LoCascio are unanimous choices for the All-Big East team as well. They're joined in that honor by Wesley Berg (A, Denver), Jeremy Noble (M, Denver), and Carson Cannon (D, Denver). Again, any surprise that Denver's picked to win the league?

Here's the full All-Big East team:

Wesley Berg, Denver, Jr., A
Reilly O'Connor, Georgetown, Jr., A
Kieran McArdle, St. John's, Sr., A
Jeremy Noble, Denver, Sr., M
Charlie McCormick, Georgetown, Jr., M
Andrew Barton, Providence, Sr., M
Carson Cannon, Denver, Jr., D
John Urbank, Georgetown, Sr., D
Chris Conroy, Villanova, Sr., D
Chris Piccirilli, Villanova, Sr., D
John LoCascio, Villanova, Sr., LSM
Joe Nardella, Rutgers, Jr., FO
Jamie Faus, Denver, Sr., GK

As you can tell, Marquette is the only team that didn't put someone on the all-conference team. I can understand this, as Marquette is a newcomer to the league. That said, Tyler Melnyk and Conor Gately put up offensive numbers for the Golden Eagles that were comparable to the 2013 top 10 amongst the schools that comprise this year's Big East. I feel safe in saying that those two gentlemen will be heard from by season's end.