The Northwestern Wildcats, the reigning national champions, remain in the top spot as the IWLCA released its seconds weekly regular-season poll. The ‘Cats claimed 19 of the 20 first-place votes; the UNC Tar Heels garnered the other No.1 vote and remained at No. 2. Towson enters the poll at No. 19, giving the CAA two teams in the rankings. The American Lacrosse Conference and the Atlantic Coast Conference both claim five schools in the poll, giving these two leagues half of the teams in the rankings. The ALC is led by top-ranked Northwestern; all five schools are ranked in the top-12. Florida moves to No. 5 while Vanderbilt enters the top-10 at No. 7. Ohio State (No. 11) and Penn State (No. 12) start the second half of the poll. The ACC has four of the top-eight schools; UNC (No. 2), Maryland (No. 3), and Duke (No. 4) give the league three of the top-four teams; Virginia also remains in the top-10 at No. 8. Boston College rounds out the ACC’s entries into the rankings at No. 18. The Big East has four ranked teams, including two in the top-10. Syracuse moves up to No. 6 and Notre Dame closes out the top-10 at No. 10. Georgetown moves to No. 15 and Loyola stays in the poll at No. 17. The Ivy League is represented by three teams, starting with No. 9 Penn. Princeton moves to No. 14 and Dartmouth moves to No. 16. The CAA’s James Madison holds steady at No. 13 while Towson enters at No. 19. Stanford from the MPSF remains in the poll, closing out the rankings at No. 20. On Wednesday, three games feature two ranked teams. The No. 7 Commodores host No. 18 Boston College, No. 15 Georgetown welcomes No. 5 Florida, and No. 12 Penn State takes on No. 17 Loyola in Pennsylvania. Three more top-20 match-ups are scheduled for Saturday, including a pair of top-10 tilts. No. 2 UNC travels to No. 8 Virginia and No. 3 Maryland hosts No. 6 Syracuse while No. 4 Duke takes on the No. 15 Hoyas.
| Record | Votes (1st Pl) | Previous | |
| 1. Northwestern | 4-0 | 399 (19) | 1 |
| 2. North Carolina | 6-0 | 381 (1) | 2 |
| 3. Maryland | 5-1 | 356 | 3 |
| 4. Duke | 5-2 | 333 | 5 |
| 5. Florida | 4-2 | 305 | 4 |
| 6. Syracuse | 2-2 | 301 | 9 |
| 7. Vanderbilt | 2-1 | 249 | 11 |
| 8. Virginia | 3-2 | 234 | 6 |
| 9. Pennsylvania | 1-1 | 217 | 7 |
| 10. Notre Dame | 3-0 | 205 | 14 |
| 11. Ohio State | 5-1 | 180 | 10 |
| 12. Penn State | 4-1 | 177 | 19 |
| 13. James Madison | 3-1 | 138 | 13 |
| 14. Princeton | 1-2 | 122 | 8 |
| 15. Georgetown | 2-0 | 112 | 18 |
| 16. Dartmouth | 2-0 | 100 | 15 |
| 17. Loyola | 1-2 | 92 | 12 |
| 18. Boston College | 3-1 | 78 | 17 |
| 19. Towson | 3-0 | 53 | RV |
| 20. Stanford | 1-4 | 51 | 16 |
Also receiving votes: Cornell, Johns Hopkins, Massachusetts, Stony Brook, Temple.
This is the second regular-season IWLCA poll of the 2012 season; the next poll will be released on March 12.
Tag(s): 2012