New-look Lopes begin 2020 campaign against Santa Clara on road Feb. 22
By: Jim Howell/GCU Club Sports Information Director
The Grand Canyon University Men’s Lacrosse team is ranked No. 21 in the 2020 New Balance Men’s Collegiate Lacrosse Association (MCLA) Preseason Division I Coaches Poll. It’s the seventh consecutive year that the Lopes have landed in the preseason poll, and it’s only the second time during that stretch that GCU hasn’t been a part of the MCLA Top 10. The Lopes are actually ranked one notch higher than the No. 22 spot they finished the 2019 season with. GCU is one of five Southwestern Lacrosse Conference teams ranked in the MCLA Top 20 (Chapman University is ranked 3rd, Arizona State University is 7th, Concordia University Irvine is 11th and University of Arizona is 19th).
The Lopes will have plenty of chances to inch their way back towards the top 10, since five of the 12 opponents on their 2020 regular season schedule join them in the preseason rankings. Their first test against a current nationally ranked opponent happens for their season openers Feb. 22 and 23 when they travel to San Luis Obispo, California to battle with No. 17 Santa Clara University on the 22nd and No. 10 California Polytechnic State University on the 23rd.
The Lopes open up their home schedule on Saturday, Feb. 29 as they host Texas A&M University (who is just on the outskirts of a national ranking this week) at GCU’s Prescott Field. Game time is 1 pm that day, and admission is FREE. The entire New Balance MCLA Preseason Coaches’ Poll is listed below:
| Rank | School | Points | 1st-place votes | Prev Rank |
| 1 | South Carolina | 591 | 19 | 1 |
| 2 | California | 577 | 5 | 2 |
| 3 | Chapman (CA) | 549 | 3 | |
| 4 | Georgia Tech | 531 | 4 | |
| 5 | Liberty (VA) | 489 | 5 | |
| 6 | Colorado | 487 | 6 | |
| 7 | Arizona State | 424 | 8 | |
| 8 | Florida State | 418 | 9 | |
| 9 | New Hampshire | 412 | 7 | |
| 10 | Cal Poly | 388 | 10 | |
| 11 | Concordia-Irvine (CA) | 362 | 11 | |
| 12 | Michigan State | 338 | 12 | |
| 13 | Brigham Young | 281 | 15 | |
| 14 | Virginia Tech | 269 | 13 | |
| 15 | Connecticut | 266 | 14 | |
| 16 | Utah Valley | 206 | 16 | |
| 17 | Santa Clara | 190 | 18 | |
| 18 | Clemson (SC) | 163 | 19 | |
| 19 | Arizona | 151 | 17 | |
| 20 | Minnesota | 150 | 20 | |
| 21 | Grand Canyon | 113 | 22 | |
| 22 | Boston College | 86 | 23 | |
| 23 | Oregon | 76 | 25 | |
| 24 | Stanford (CA) | 59 | 21 | |
| 25 | LSU | 47 | NR |
