Here are the questions. Now let's wait for the answers.

This season when you pick your No. 1 in college men's lacrosse, be prepared to back it up. Like no other year this decade, the top tier has become crowded with contenders and clouded with doubts as the first high-profile weekend of lacrosse begins today.

Has the decline of three-time defending national champion Princeton been exaggerated? How will the coaching changes affect Johns Hopkins and Syracuse? Is Duke ready for the spotlight? And can Loyola shut down the top attacks?

"Everybody has lost something from last year," said Princeton coach Bill Tierney, who has won three national championships and lost just twice over the past three seasons. "I don't foresee anyone going undefeated this season."

Even Princeton, the team of the '90s, finally seems vulnerable in its quest for an unprecedented fourth straight NCAA championship. The preseason's unanimous top-ranked team over the past two years, the Tigers graduated their three-year starting attack of Jesse Hubbard, Jon Hess and Chris Massey and have just two proven scorers.

The combination of little offensive experience with the return of a solid group of defenders parallels Princeton's 1995 team. That year, the Tigers went from national champion in 1994 to an NCAA quarterfinalist, losing four times -- their highest total since 1990.

"It's a similar scenario," Tierney said. "With our schedule, it's going to take time. Our goals are still the same."

First on Princeton's docket is today's opponent, Johns Hopkins, The Sun's top-ranked team. Considered by many Division I coaches as carrying the most talent, the Blue Jays are the only team to return three first-team All-Americans.

Now the top-flight players have to contour to a new philosophy.

First-year Hopkins coach John Haus seeks to instill a controlled offensive set. The Blue Jays, who have personnel more suited for a wide-open, running style, have struggled to grasp this scheme in February scrimmages against UMBC and Duke.

"I like to cut the field in half," said Haus, who coached Washington College to the Division III national title last season. "Yeah, we might have guys who can run up and down the field, and we're real talented at midfield with our first three kids. If they're talented and work within the system, they'll score goals either way."

There's also the pressure of The Drought, the 12-year span since the Blue Jays brought back a national championship to Homewood. Hopkins, winner of an NCAA-best seven championships and 29 U.S. Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association titles, has won a national championship in every decade this century except for the 1990s.

"It's been an awful long drought," Haus said. "It's hard to believe that 1987 was the last time and 1989 was the last time we ever competed in one. So we need to get back to that game to win one. Hopefully, we can."

At Syracuse, the transition between coaches should be less of an adjustment since new coach John Desko assisted Roy Simmons for the past 19 years.

The Orangemen will continue to crank up their shots, but will be without one of the game's all-time greats in Casey Powell, who ended his four-year career as the school's all-time leading scorer. They will test their firepower today against Virginia.

However, Syracuse took an unexpected hit when three of its players, including starting defenseman John Glatzel, were arrested after athletic equipment was stolen from a campus field house.

"I think at first, our family was a little hurt," Desko said. "The next day, I think we were a little bit mad, because our guys felt a little let down."

The school trying to crash this exclusive group is Duke, which has just one Final Four appearance, one Atlantic Coast Conference tournament title and zero NCAA championships. Nevertheless, the Blue Devils have had the least amount of holes to plug and proved they could beat this year's top teams in the preseason.

"Going into the season, on paper this is our deepest team, our most athletic team, our most experienced team," Duke coach Mike Pressler said. "We think this team can go as far as it wants."

The most astounding facet might be Duke's strength. The Blue Devils have two players who bench press over 400 pounds and 19 others who clear 300 pounds.

Tomorrow, Duke measures itself against Maryland, the national runner-up three of the past four seasons despite annually never receiving much preseason hype.

"I don't think any one of us will be satisfied if we come up short of the national championship," Duke goalkeeper Matt Breslin said.

Coming up short for the NCAA title has become the ultimate motivation for Loyola, last year's NCAA tournament top seed, which still has bitter images of its 19-8 loss to Maryland in the national semifinals.

The Greyhounds will put up points with an experienced, clever attack and two loaded midfield units. But Loyola has only one starting long stick back, prompting many to point at the Greyhounds' defense.

"People said the same thing last year and we allowed the sixth fewest goals in the country," Loyola coach Dave Cottle said. "Can we stop teams this year? I don't know. We'll have to wait and see."

Pub Date: 3/06/99