The Sunshine State Conference women’s lacrosse coaches have finalized their votes for the preseason poll, and the Florida Southern College Moccasins are projected to finish third in the eight-team league.
With 48 points and six first-place votes in the poll, the Tampa Spartans are expected to repeat as regular-season champions. Rollins College and Florida Southern College both received a first-place nod in the ranking. However, the Tars edged the Moccasins for second place, 41 to 40 points, respectively. Saint Leo University holds fourth place with 31 points, while Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University sits in fifth place following 25 points from conference coaches. Florida Tech (15 points), Lynn University (14 points), and Palm Beach Atlantic University (9 points) rank 6-7-8 in this year’s poll.
Florida Southern, Rollins, and Tampa all finished 2019 with a 5-1 league record and a share of the 2019 SSC regular-season championship. Tampa went on to win the 2019 SSC tournament, a first in program history, besting Rollins in the semifinals and FSC in the championship final. All three teams earned a bid to the NCAA tournament, where Tampa fell to Queens University, and Rollins defeated FSC in the first round.
Southern is coming off a 2019 campaign that resulted in a final record of 16-4. In December, the Mocs were picked #9 in the nation in the preseason NIKE/US Lacrosse poll. Florida Southern will face several opponents this season who are also nationally ranked in the preseason, including No. 5 Belmont Abbey (Feb. 15), No. 6 Tampa (Feb. 22, April 4), No. 8 Mount Olive (March 8), No. 16 Saint Leo (April 8), and No. 17 Rollins (April 18).
Florida Southern will open the season on February 7, hosting Molloy.
Below are the full results of the 2020 SSC preseason coaches poll. Coaches are not allowed to vote for their own team (first-place votes in parentheses).
| 2020 SSC Women’s Lacrosse Preseason Coaches Poll | ||
| Rank | School (FPV) | Total Points |
| 1 | Tampa (6) | 48 |
| 2 | Rollins (1) | 41 |
| 3 | Florida Southern (1) | 40 |
| 4 | Saint Leo | 31 |
| 5 | Embry-Riddle | 25 |
| 6 | Florida Tech | 16 |
| 7 | Lynn | 14 |
| 8 | Palm Beach Atlantic | 9 |