Home Stretch / National Rankings

[laxfan22]

Agree. Any thought as to why the ncaa won’t create some Midwest bracket? I expect they will

I’m a little curious as to if Rowan can take down tcnj. They almost did this year and it seems to me that TCNJ has gotten by in the ranking based on their brand. If this occurs, does tcnj get an at large bid?

Ithaca I still think is being slept on too. If WS can’t get close to 50% on draws, may be another lopsided game.

[laxfan8911]

Last year Kenyon only had 1 loss when there was the midwest bracket. This year there is not a similar midwest team with only 1 loss. Pomona Pritzker is similar but they are out west so it would not be reasonable to have them host a bracket. (in 2018,2019, & 2022 there was not a midwest host) If Ithaca beats WS maybe they could be a possible host. I think there will be two NESCAC sites as hosts. Middlebury and whoever wins the Tufts/Wesleyan game. 2 spots up for debate ... winner of WS/Ithaca, winner of F&M/Gettysburg, Salisbury and maybe Babson. The problem with Babson is geography it is in close proximity to Tufts and Wesleyan.

Gettysburg and F&M seems have the "regular season curse"(loser in regular season wins cc) for most recent years other than 2022.
It should be a great weekend of lacrosse.

[lovelax]

Babson schedule is too weak and yes...too close to other likely hosts.

Salisbury and Ithaca are maybes as you point out. I also agree on no mid-west team hosting this year.

[Bart]

Latest regional rankings, games are through April 28th.

https://www.ncaa.com/rankings/lacrosse- ... l-rankings

[rollwave]

Assuming no Midwest host, I agree that there will likely be two NESCAC hosts (Midd and the winner of Tufts/Wes), with the remaining two spots likely just being the winner of Ithaca/WS and F&M/Gettysburg. I would probably view a 1-loss Ithaca team above WS/F&M/Gettysburg (would also group in Salisbury and W&L in terms of caliber, I just don't see them getting to host). Ithaca's draw dominance appears to be pretty sustainable, which will make them a tough out for anyone come tourney time. WS is a good team though, and that game will almost certainly be closer the 2nd time around.

However, I could also see a scenario where the NCAA makes a team like Denison a host in the interest of geographic integrity, which would make things interesting.  

Any way there ends up being 3 NESCAC hosts? There appears to be a degree of separation between the top-3 NESCAC teams this year and the rest of the contenders. Let's say Tufts beats Wesleyan on Saturday and Midd/Tufts get to host. What remaining team would have a better resume than Wesleyan in that scenario? Maybe a 1-loss Ithaca if they beat WS again? Not sure there is anyone else. Conversely, although Tufts is a top 2/3 team, I don't think they would have as strong of an argument to host if they lose to Wes again, as their only top win would be over W&L.

[lovelax]

Good points on Wes/Tufts hosting analysis. In 2022 Salisbury was #1 going into NCAAs but share the stadium with the men and the men hosted (surprise surprise) and women were sent to TCNJ. Likely same deal this year in Salisbury as the men are #1 . Also F&M has great facilities but has not hosted regions in a long time. Even if F&M wins, I don't see them hosting.

I don't see a Denison host either. While geography unfortunately is a consideration, there is no way NCAA can justify that bracketing. Also the region hosts must have hotel capacity which sometimes is an issue.

Great games this weekend and bracket announcement Monday!

[ICGrad]

Nice to see Ithaca getting some love on the regional rankings.

For the life of me, I can't figure how #10 Ithaca @ 15-1 is three slots below #7 William Smith @ 15-2 in the national poll when Ithaca annihilated WS 16-4 less than a month ago and when both teams have similar SoS.

[RocLaxFan]

Ithaca beat WS in overtime today in Liberty League Championship. Both teams are very good and can beat anyone in the NESCAC. Well anyone but Middlebury. As far as how many Nescac teams are better than everyone else in the country has been debated on this forum for years. The answer is? it doesn't matter! It is what it is...only so many can get in without winning the Nescac league championship game. All league champions get to the dance and then they go by regional not national rankings.

[westcoastlax]

Great games this weekend. Congratulations to Middlebury, Ithaca, and F&M.

My final rankings:
Middlebury
Wesleyan
F&M
Ithaca
William Smith
Gettysburg
Tufts
Salisbury

I expect Middlebury and Wesleyan to make the final four. The other two spots are up for grabs. Depends on brackets.

NESCAC might only get three teams this year. The top three are very good, but the rest of the league seemed quite average this year.

[laxfan22]

I think you have to put W&L in that group. Prob over William Smith imo

[laxfan8911]

It will be interesting to see
how they do the brackets. How will geographic regions play into it. F & M and Gettysburg same record. Ithaca could get the region that W & S hosted last year. Middlbury will host. Where will the other two be???

Weslyan, Salisbury, F and M an outside shot for GB?

Reffing is so different during the tournament. I think the games will be called tighter. Embellishment, hits to head etc...will be called more.

We will know tomorrow. A lot if good teams in the mix.

[laxfan22]

Honestly just make the brackets even. That’s all that really matters. Don’t give one team something close to a bye to the FF.

[rollwave]

I think the hosts should be Midd, Wes, Ithaca, and F&M. Beyond that I think they are the most deserving, it's also geographically diverse enough where you can avoid having contending teams play each other a third time before MDW. While not the most important factor, I don't think it makes sense for Midd/Wes/Tufts, Ithaca/WS, and F&M/Gettysburg to play each other again before the final four. You could also replace F&M with Salisbury as a host and have the same effect.

Agreed on the NESCAC only getting 3 teams in this year. I wouldn't be surprised to see Colby get an at-large, but they need some luck. They do have the win over Wesleyan, but I think their loss to Bates ends up leaving them out.

Regarding regional rankings, I don't mind the general concept of emphasizing regional diversity in a national tournament, but the current system seems flawed / half-hearted. Defining regions by specific conferences increases the representation of less influential conferences (which may be the goal idk), but that is not the same thing as increasing the geographical diversity of a bracket. For example, in what world does it make sense for Tufts and MIT to be in different regions? Obviously, all contending teams will get in regardless, but seems like something that could be improved upon.

[westcoastlax]

I think the hosts should be Midd, Wes, Ithaca, and F&M.

I don't think it makes sense for Midd/Wes/Tufts, Ithaca/WS, and F&M/Gettysburg to play each other again before the final four.

I wouldn't be surprised to see Colby get an at-large, but they need some luck. They do have the win over Wesleyan, but I think their loss to Bates ends up leaving them out.

I agree.

[laxfan22]

I’ve been impressed w Ithaca and the draw gives them a chance against anyone but other than WS, they don’t have a top 20 win. They have a 10 point loss to Trinity and several close wins to teams that aren’t ranked (union by 2, etc).

[rollwave]

Sure, that's fair. The weak SOS and some questionable scores are definitely knocks against Ithaca. My opinion of Ithaca is more based on my high regard for WS, which I think should be favored in any game not against Midd, Wes, or Tufts (maybe that's a hot take idk). WS does have that blowout loss to Ithaca earlier in the season, but I think there were a number of WS starters out, so I think both teams are much closer than the 1st score suggests (as evident by today's game). Ithaca's 10-goal loss to Trinity is probably the worst loss amongst the top teams, and the SOS isn't great, but pretty much every contending team excluding Middlebury has a bad loss / questionable score (admittedly against a better overall SOS). Ultimately, Ithaca has two top-10 wins against a very good WS team and has only lost once, which seems like a worthy host in any year.

[laxfan22]

I think WS is good too but I’m not sure they are a favorite against fm, Gettysburg, WL or Salisbury right now. But obviously that’s an opinion and WS is very good. Ithaca just doesn’t have nearly enough data points as compared to the rest of the top 10.

[lax410]

I think the hosts should be Midd, Wes, Ithaca, and F&M. Beyond that I think they are the most deserving, it's also geographically diverse enough where you can avoid having contending teams play each other a third time before MDW. While not the most important factor, I don't think it makes sense for Midd/Wes/Tufts, Ithaca/WS, and F&M/Gettysburg to play each other again before the final four. You could also replace F&M with Salisbury as a host and have the same effect.

Agreed on the NESCAC only getting 3 teams in this year. I wouldn't be surprised to see Colby get an at-large, but they need some luck. They do have the win over Wesleyan, but I think their loss to Bates ends up leaving them out.

Regarding regional rankings, I don't mind the general concept of emphasizing regional diversity in a national tournament, but the current system seems flawed / half-hearted. Defining regions by specific conferences increases the representation of less influential conferences (which may be the goal idk), but that is not the same thing as increasing the geographical diversity of a bracket. For example, in what world does it make sense for Tufts and MIT to be in different regions? Obviously, all contending teams will get in regardless, but seems like something that could be improved upon.

I don’t understand how exactly the regional rankings came about. Maybe that would shed light on some of this.

One thing I will say is I like that Babson and MIT are in a different region than the NESCACs. Gives some of the non-NESCAC schools in New England a chance to shine.

[lax410]

I think you have to put W&L in that group. Prob over William Smith imo

W&L just got by Roanoke today though.

[lovelax]

What a great weekend of games! I was able to watch several over the weekend. The best game was F&M and Bullets going back and forth all game. F&M took advantage of strong 1 v 1 moves from its attackers for a key 6-0 run in the 4th. I think F&M should host but see them as 5-6 ranked team. We will see if they get another gift draw to the semis.

Nescac was a bit surprising to me. Wes dominated Tufts and its D was GREAT. Wes D shut down two excellent driving teams (WS and Tufts) and also shut down Salisbury. The finals were dominated by two great defenses. I think the difference was Midd's athleticism of its defenders-who could clear by themselves, while Wes needed its goalie to engineer the clear. Midd gave the Wes defenders fits when they were trying to clear in transition. Midd goalie also played great in last 3 quarters and Midd's D only gave up 1 goal in the last 50 minutes of the game. They took out Wes top scorer who was pretty quiet all day and had no shots.

Ithaca also surprised me beating WS in OT. I caught the end of this game and Ithaca is for real. Dominating girl on the circle and good D. WS relies too much on two excellent attackers and have difficulty when they are game-planned. Their only loss was a head-scratcher running clock loss to Trinity....who lost in nescac quarters.

Salisbury breezed, York won a tough one v Stevenson and Denison won its conference again. W&L squeaked by Roanoke in ODACs. I think ODAC gets three teams in at 10:30 today. I also think Colby gets in for 4 nescacs. Let's see where they place Nescacs in the bracket as three teams are final-four worthy. There were almost 4 Nescacs in final four in 2019 but for a late-game yellow-card goal removed from Amherst late in a tie game with the Gulls. Brackets should be interesting!