2025 NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Net Efficiency Ratings
Army’s +17.1% takes the top spot in regards to net efficiency thanks to their historically efficient defense. Their 16.3% adjusted defensive efficiency mark is the best since 2021 Brown finished with the exact same percentage and the Bears are the only team to finish with an adjusted defensive efficiency less than 20% since Lacrosse Reference started in 2018. While their offense is just 23rd in adjusted offensive efficiency and they struggled with faceoffs during Will Coletti’s absence for most of March, the Black Knights are good enough in those areas to not diminish the impact of their historic defense.
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Syracuse ranks second with a +16.8% net efficiency, followed by Maryland (+16%), Notre Dame (+15%), North Carolina (+14.5%), Cornell (+14.1%), Ohio State (+13.6%), Richmond (+12.8%), Princeton (+11.3%) and Duke (+11.2%).
Currently, the 2025 teams in the top 20 that don’t meet the +8.5% net efficiency threshold are Michigan (+8.2%), Georgetown (+7.1%), Boston U (+5.5%), Dartmouth (+5.2%), Rutgers (+3.6%) and Johns Hopkins (+2.6%).
Team | Adj. Off. Efficiency | Adj. Def. Efficiency | Net Efficiency | Adj. Faceoff % |
No. 1 Cornell | 40.8% | 26.7% | +14.1% | 58.0% |
No. 2 Ohio State | 35.1% | 21.5% | +13.6% | 53.8% |
No. 3 Princeton | 37.0% | 25.7% | +11.3% | 47.8% |
No. 4 Syracuse | 39.9% | 23.1% | +16.8% | 64.6% |
No. 5 Army | 33.4% | 16.3% | +17.1% | 51.9% |
No. 6 Maryland | 35.3% | 19.3% | +16.0% | 56.8% |
No. 7 North Carolina | 39.2% | 24.7% | +14.5% | 69.4% |
No. 8 Penn State | 36.4% | 26.5% | +9.9% | 60.8% |
No. 9 Notre Dame | 42.0% | 27.0% | +15.0% | 61.9% |
No. 10 Harvard | 40.1% | 29.6% | +10.5% | 39.0% |
No. 11 Richmond | 37.2% | 24.4% | +12.8% | 51.1% |
No. 12 Duke | 37.2% | 26.0% | +11.2% | 57.1% |
No. 13 Georgetown | 33.2% | 26.1% | +7.1% | 55.1% |
No. 14 Michigan | 31.3% | 23.1% | +8.2% | 47.5% |
No. 15 Boston U | 30.9% | 25.4% | +5.5% | 51.0% |
No. 16 Fairfield | 34.5% | 25.8% | +8.7% | 53.4% |
No. 17 St. Joe’s | 33.4% | 23.6% | +9.8% | 46.7% |
No. 18 Rutgers | 27.8% | 24.2% | +3.6% | 58.3% |
No. 19 Johns Hopkins | 33.3% | 30.7% | +2.6% | 64.0% |
No. 20 Dartmouth | 30.7% | 25.5% | +5.2% | 50.4% |
UR Colgate | 34.7% | 29.0% | +5.7% | 46.2% |
UR Denver | 33.7% | 25.4% | +8.3% | 44.1% |
UR Hofstra | 37.2% | 29.5% | +7.7% | 44.1% |
UR Navy | 32.9% | 27.8% | +5.1% | 47.1% |
UR UMass | 30.9% | 25.6% | +5.3% | 49.6% |
UR Virginia | 32.1% | 27.2% | +4.9% | 52.3% |
Teams that have a net efficiency close to +8.5% can still turn it around during the back half of the season and make a run (i.e. Maryland in 2024). Yet, when betting championship futures, it’s best to target: A) teams with a net efficiency above +8.5% and B) have a high probability of earning an at-large bid or winning the automatic qualifier in their conference.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at each of the Top 20 teams and whether you should bet now, wait to bet or pass completely…
[…] historically efficient as this Army defense has been, their ability to disrupt opposing offenses and cause turnovers often leads to more offense for […]
[…] on what makes a college lacrosse championship contender earlier in the year, I laid out that +8.5% net efficiency is the benchmark, and all but four teams are above this […]