The Daily Orange Sports Awards: Best Team

UPDATED: May 5, 2017 at 3:02 p.m.

At the end of every sports season, there’s an award ceremony. With the Syracuse academic year coming to a close, The Daily Orange sports staff wanted to hand out its own awards, decided on by the readers.

There will be five categories to vote on: Best Transfer, Best Team, Best Moment, Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player. One poll will be sent out every day on Twitter (@DOsports) and will be open for 24 hours, giving readers a full day to vote and pick the winner. The Daily Orange sports staff considered multiple options for each category before settling on the four in each poll.

Here are the nominees, listed in alphabetical order, for Best Team.

Courtesy of the ACC

Men’s Cross Country

The defending national champions didn’t quite reach the same level in the 2016 season. But the team still finished third for the national title, highlighted by Justyn Knight’s second-place finish. The team also won the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament and head coach Chris Fox was named the coach of the year.

Leigh Ann Rodgers | Staff Photographer

*Winner* Men’s Lacrosse

The Orange’s nine-game winning streak catapulted the team into the No. 1 overall ranking late in the season. The team lost in the first round of the ACC tournament, but is poised for success in the NCAA Tournament.

Tony D. Curtis | Staff Photographer

Men’s Soccer

Syracuse got off to the best start in program history after winning its first eight games. A midseason slide derailed the team, but it still finished with 12 wins and ranked No. 11 overall.

Ally Moreo | Photo Editor

Women’s Basketball

Coming off a run to the NCAA Tournament championship game, SU could have been expected to take a major step back. That didn’t happen, as SU continued its home-winning streak up to 18 games (before losing to Notre Dame) and finished the year ranked inside the Top 25.