While some (and undoubtedly many) coaches may dismiss preseason rankings as the blatherings of know-it-all story-hungry media members, Denver head coach Bill Tierney of the men’s lacrosse team has a different take.

“We like it obviously, because preseason No. 1 is better than being preseason No. 68,” Tierney said.

Seemingly every major preseason lacrosse poll has Denver pegged as the top team in the nation.

The Nike/Lacrosse Magazine Preseason Top 20 as well as the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) Division I Coaches poll have Denver atop the preseason rankings, followed by Notre Dame University and defending-national champion, Duke University.

“I think the patented thing would be to say, ‘we don’t worry about preseason rankings, the rankings at the end of the year are the only ones that matter,’” Tierney said. “And that’s true. But I think it gave us the opportunity to show our guys how much we’ve progressed, how much the country thinks of us. It kind of raises the bar for them to live up to another expectation.”

For the first time ever, Inside Lacrosse’s 2015 Face-Off Yearbook Division I Top 20 rankings has Denver slotted at No. 1 overall, as well.

“It doesn’t mean we’ll win everything, but it does mean we have people that have recognized that we’ve put together a pretty good program,” Tierney said.

DU has a slew of players garnering individual preseason honors from Inside Lacrosse as well, with three players making the preseason first team All-American senior attackman Wesley Berg, senior midfielder Erik Adamson and sophomore close-defender Christian Burgdorf. Sophomore midfielder Zach Miller made the second team, and Jack Bobzien, a junior attacker, made preseason third team All-American. Honorable mention athletes include seniors Carson Cannon at defense and Ryan LaPlante in goal.

For Tierney, these kinds of awards are certainly not the most important.

“We tend to stay away from individual accolades because the guys know that when the team does well, more guys get recognized,” Tierney said. “It’s just the way it is.”

The Pioneers lost to Duke in the semifinals of the NCAA Tournament last year 15-12, and will get to take another crack at the Blue Devils in the season opener on Feb. 14.

Before the Pioneers meet with Duke in Georgia, the Pioneers head to Baltimore this Jan. 24 to play Johns Hopkins University in an exhibition scrimmage.