Cortland was ranked No. 1 in the East division while Brockport was at the top of the West in the 2021 State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) women's lacrosse divisional preseason poll as voted on by the conference coaches.
The SUNYAC will resume women's lacrosse conference play on March 20 after the 2020 season was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Typically the SUNYAC conducts a nine-game, full round-robin regular season schedule; however, to limit travel the conference has split into East/West divisions for 2021.
In 2019 Geneseo was the regular season champion finishing undefeated, 9-0, but third-seeded Brockport beat the Knights in the championship game, 13-4, to clinch the program's first conference title. Cortland finished 8-1 during the 2019 regular season and entered the SUNYAC tournament as the No. 2 seed. Overall, Cortland leads the league with 21 women's lacrosse championship crowns while Brockport and Oneonta each hold one SUNYAC title.
East Division
- Cortland
- Oneonta
- New Paltz
- Potsdam
- Plattsburgh
West Division
- Brockport
- Geneseo
- Oswego
- Buffalo State
- Fredonia
