Item: As the Syracuse men’s lacrosse team passed its first ACC test this past Saturday, as the football team finishes off its final nine spring practices including the spring game April 12, and as the basketball program continues its shopping in the transfer portal for new players to fill out its scholarship roster, there is one common denominator: The seeds are being planted (both literally this time of year and metaphorically) to achieve success in each sport’s postseason play.
We’ll certainly know a lot more in one month’s time where each Orange program sits heading into the lacrosse postseason, the end of spring football practice as the two-deep roster takes shape, and exactly whom the basketball coaching staff is able to lure to central New York as the Orange look to get more athletic in a bid to end a four-year NCAA Tournament drought.
Here is a look at each of the ‘Big Three’ men’s sports in season order:
Lacrosse
Following Saturday’s second half comeback to knock off ACC rival Virginia, SU sits at 8-2, with the only blemishes at Maryland and the upset loss in the Dome to Harvard, and the ‘Cuse is about to host what is arguably the most important regular season game in the four -year Gary Gait era. Two time defending national champion and recent Orange killer (seven straight wins) Notre Dame rolls into the Dome this Saturday with first place in the ACC on the line.
With the top ranked Div. I men’s teams bunched so close, consistency over 60 minutes from the face-off dot to the goalie crease on both ends of the field will be critical in games that figure to likely come down to fourth quarter possessions. The ‘Cuse has an aggregate 15-8 scoring average in its ten games, it will be interesting to see how that changes against the three ACC teams and current No. 1 ranked Cornell left on the schedule.
Wide receiver drills at #Syracuse spring practice. pic.twitter.com/62dhWYZUmY
— Syracuse Rivals | The Juice Online (@TheJuiceOnline) March 29, 2025
Football
As we have come to learn in Fran Brown’s organizational chart, the starting quarterback is “the second most important voice in his (program) behind the head coach.” So that is seemingly adding a lot of added responsibility to LSU transfer Rickie Collins’ plate as he continues to fine-tune his skills to take the offensive reins, succeeding NFL-bound Kyle McCord, over the next several weeks.
Offensive coordinator Jeff Nixon spoke in glowing terms of Collins future when we casually chatted in January at the annual AFCA football coach’s convention in Charlotte, and he is certainly not being compensated (potentially a reported $900K plus) to stand on the sideline with a headset on.
As the program continues to forge an upward recruiting path with its first 12 Class of 2026 commitments , the talent level continues to rise with a mix of Floridians (four), traditional northeast ...
