Lacrosse Magazine has the Penn State men's team ranked 16th in its preseason poll. The Nittany Lions return 25 letterwinners and three starters for the 2002 season.

Eight of 13 teams the Lions play this season are ranked in the pre-season Top 25. No. 6 Virginia, No. 7 Georgetown, No. 11 Massachusetts, No. 13 Notre Dame, No. 14 Navy, No. 15 Cornell, No. 18 UMBC, and No.19 Bucknell. Princeton earned the number one spot on the list.

Glenn Thiel's Nittany Lions were also ranked 16th in Face-off Yearbook's preseason poll.

Penn State opens the season on Feb. 2 when they will scrimmage the Alumni Team at Holuba Hall at 3:00 p.m. On Feb. 9 the Lions will scrimmage Gettysburg at 1:00 p.m. The regular season begins for the Lions when they travel to South Bend, Indiana to compete against Notre Dame on February 24.