Polls

[spidey44]

Duke is STILL overrated. Not a puzzle...just one good win. Lots of these "one-offs" happening this year. I'm not backer of Clemson, but how can Duke be ranked and Clemson not after almost running clocking them???

Duke's one good win is better than any Clemson has had this year. That's why I rank Duke ahead of Clemson--at this point anyway.

I don't think either should be ranked and based on resume, neither should make the tournament. Crazy how quickly the season is going. The next couple weeks should be very interesting.

[OuttaNowhereWregget]

Duke is STILL overrated. Not a puzzle...just one good win. Lots of these "one-offs" happening this year. I'm not backer of Clemson, but how can Duke be ranked and Clemson not after almost running clocking them???

Duke's one good win is better than any Clemson has had this year. That's why I rank Duke ahead of Clemson--at this point anyway.

I don't think either should be ranked and based on resume, neither should make the tournament. Crazy how quickly the season is going. The next couple weeks should be very interesting.

You get no argument from me.

[hmmm]

Duke is STILL overrated. Not a puzzle...just one good win. Lots of these "one-offs" happening this year. I'm not backer of Clemson, but how can Duke be ranked and Clemson not after almost running clocking them???

Duke's one good win is better than any Clemson has had this year. That's why I rank Duke ahead of Clemson--at this point anyway.

I don't think either should be ranked and based on resume, neither should make the tournament. Crazy how quickly the season is going. The next couple weeks should be very interesting.

I think it definitely gets very difficult to rank these teams outside the top 15 or so. Especially in a year when everyone is beating everyone. PSU is living off it's win over NU. Duke off their win over UVA. The Pac-12 teams haven't really beaten anyone. Harvard hasn't beaten anyone. Navy beat Duke in first game but no big wins since. To me, Drexel is getting screwed right now at 8-3. They have wins over PSU and Navy who are both ranked. PSU has losses to Colorado, Drexel and Princeton. Teams are getting credit for beating PSU I guess thanks to PSU beating NU. Without that win PSU is 5-5 though and unless they beat Michigan, MD or Hopkins, they won't even be eligible for the NCAAs without a run to the Big Ten finals.

[Seacoaster(1)]

Duke is STILL overrated. Not a puzzle...just one good win. Lots of these "one-offs" happening this year. I'm not backer of Clemson, but how can Duke be ranked and Clemson not after almost running clocking them???

Duke's one good win is better than any Clemson has had this year. That's why I rank Duke ahead of Clemson--at this point anyway.

I don't think either should be ranked and based on resume, neither should make the tournament. Crazy how quickly the season is going. The next couple weeks should be very interesting.

I think it definitely gets very difficult to rank these teams outside the top 15 or so. Especially in a year when everyone is beating everyone. PSU is living off it's win over NU. Duke off their win over UVA. The Pac-12 teams haven't really beaten anyone. Harvard hasn't beaten anyone. Navy beat Duke in first game but no big wins since. To me, Drexel is getting screwed right now at 8-3. They have wins over PSU and Navy who are both ranked. PSU has losses to Colorado, Drexel and Princeton. Teams are getting credit for beating PSU I guess thanks to PSU beating NU. Without that win PSU is 5-6 though and unless they beat Michigan, MD or Hopkins, they won't even be eligible for the NCAAs without a run to the Big Ten finals.

Exactly; this is one reason I cop out and just do a top 10. Just cannot watch enough lacrosse to evaluate the next 15. Hard enough with ten; the next 15 are essentially blind soothsaying for me.

[Womenslaxxfan]

Duke is STILL overrated. Not a puzzle...just one good win. Lots of these "one-offs" happening this year. I'm not backer of Clemson, but how can Duke be ranked and Clemson not after almost running clocking them???

Duke's one good win is better than any Clemson has had this year. That's why I rank Duke ahead of Clemson--at this point anyway.

Duke is 8-5 with a win over a top 10 RPI team (uva)
Clemsons best win is over Duke, whose rpi sits at 30.
It would appear that dukes top end is better than Clemson.
Duke strength of schedule is 9. Clemson is 28.
I can see them being ranked above Clemson.
Although I don’t think either should be in top 20!!!!

[flushlax77]

Duke is STILL overrated. Not a puzzle...just one good win. Lots of these "one-offs" happening this year. I'm not backer of Clemson, but how can Duke be ranked and Clemson not after almost running clocking them???

Duke's one good win is better than any Clemson has had this year. That's why I rank Duke ahead of Clemson--at this point anyway.

Duke is 8-5 with a win over a top 10 RPI team (uva)
Clemsons best win is over Duke, whose rpi sits at 30.
It would appear that dukes top end is better than Clemson.
Duke strength of schedule is 9. Clemson is 28.
I can see them being ranked above Clemson.
Although I don’t think either should be in top 20!!!!

I miss the days when you would look at the head to head and say “Hey that team beat this team”. Forget the numbers, in this case, one team went on the road and beat the other. That has to matter.

Agreed neither should make it but frankly…I think one of them will

[hmmm]

Duke is STILL overrated. Not a puzzle...just one good win. Lots of these "one-offs" happening this year. I'm not backer of Clemson, but how can Duke be ranked and Clemson not after almost running clocking them???

Duke's one good win is better than any Clemson has had this year. That's why I rank Duke ahead of Clemson--at this point anyway.

Duke is 8-5 with a win over a top 10 RPI team (uva)
Clemsons best win is over Duke, whose rpi sits at 30.
It would appear that dukes top end is better than Clemson.
Duke strength of schedule is 9. Clemson is 28.
I can see them being ranked above Clemson.
Although I don’t think either should be in top 20!!!!

I miss the days when you would look at the head to head and say “Hey that team beat this team”. Forget the numbers, in this case, one team went on the road and beat the other. That has to matter.

Agreed neither should make it but frankly…I think one of them will

We here like to give Duke a hard time for their scheduling but this year they did actually schedule a few decent OOC games against Hopkins, Harvard and Navy. Who did Clemson play OOC? Clemson was in the exact same position last year with a win over Duke and nothing else. In fact, they are in a worse spot this year because they lost to Louisville. They aren't ranked in either poll for a reason.

[OuttaNowhereWregget]

I know I had Duke at #18 and Clemson at #20 in my recent top 20. I put them there ahead of other teams like Fairfield or Drexel because I feel like if they played today the ACC teams would win against both. Neither are stellar choices but...who would I put there instead? Plus I've made my position crystal clear on what I think of the verkakte RPI formula. And I have less and less faith in it as time goes on. Fairfield #4 RPI in the country right now. Oh brother! I rest my case--now and forevermore.

[OuttaNowhereWregget]

1. Northwestern
2. Syracuse
3. Notre Dame
4. Boston College
5. Johns Hopkins

6. Michigan
7. Denver
8. James Madison
9. Yale
10. Maryland

11. Loyola
12. Florida
13. Virginia
14. Stony Brook
15. Princeton

16. North Carolina
17. Stanford
18. Duke
19. Pennsylvania
20. Navy

I'm sure this is rife with discrepancies and contradictions but it is what it is--such as it is. These seem to get less and less enjoyable to compile, and more and more a chore every week. Sea has it right doing top 10 only.

[Seacoaster(1)]

Again, after No. 1, it is really just guessing, particularly with teams that lost games they should have won (yes, I am talking about you Virginia!).

1. Northwestern -- in a game that the B1G just had to bill as No. 1 v. No. 2, No. 1 made clear that No. 2's ranking was a sad charade. Sammy White still looks like she's laboring compared to last year. No doubt about it: a team with serious killer instinct.

2. Boston College -- I know they lost to Notre Dame, but I think BC is the better team game over game. This team clobbered 16-8 a Yale team that beat Penn 16-8, which beat Maryland pretty handily. Maybe finding their secret sauce. A lot of kids who can score -- they will soon have five kids over 30 goals, 250+ goals and over 115 assists. Sound experienced defense. Goalie playing pretty well.

3. Syracuse -- just humming along, trying to stay healthy, and awaiting the regular season finale with Boston College.

4. Notre Dame -- 11-2 with losses to Syracuse and UVA.

5. Michigan -- at this point, I am assuming that Michigan and its coaching staff just didn't meet the moment against Maryland, the sole blemish on its record this year.

6. Loyola -- 11-1, only loss in the Dome against Syracuse. The schedule hurts them, because other teams are having pitched battles against conference foes, and Loyola is beating Lafayette by 14.... But the resume is good; wins over JHU (early) and Florida (earlier still) have to count for something.

7. Denver -- just winning the games you'd expect them to win. I find Denver to be really hard to gauge. I am eager to see the outcome of the Yale game on April 22.

8. Florida -- creeping into the picture more for me, but the decisive remaining game on their regular season schedule is Saturday.

9. Yale -- nice showing by Eli yesterday. But you see the distance between Yale and the top tier when you look at the BC result and the Penn result. Good team; plays nice defense and good offense.

10. Virginia -- struggled here, but the fact is that the Hoos beat Notre Dame and JMU, and narrowly lost to Syracuse.

I have Hopkins just outside the top ten, but acknowledge that they may be better than I think. I think these ten teams would beat Penn, Maryland, Stony Brook, and Princeton. Hard to believe there are only a few more weeks before the tournament starts.

[flushlax77]

I agree with ONW, this is starting to get harder. The bottom group is as you see can see combination of teams. I try to look at losses to top teams, how different teams compete against common opponents, and go from there.

1. Northwestern- Dominant win over Maryland slides them all the way to the top for me. Seems like that PSU game is going to end up being THE head scratcher of the year. Favorite as of now
2. Syracuse- Hammered two hapless opponents and has 2 ACC games left before the ACC tourney. Really starting to run on all cylinders.
3. Notre Dame- Put it on Duke this weekend. Duke vs UVA was the second head scratcher of the year for me.
4. Boston College- The Yale game wasn’t nearly as close at the score showed and the Clemson game looked exactly like the score did. If Dolce plays like she did vs Clemson, they are a truly a threat to NW and Syracuse.
5. Maryland- Embarrassing showing on Saturday night and at home. Not sure what this team is going to do come May. Offense is borderline unwatchable. Gotta learn how to beat a zone or they will go home early.
6. Michigan- Beat PSU in business like fashion. Not sure if they have enough PEP to get into shootouts with other top tier teams.
7. Loyola- Flip flopping these two after the less than stellar showing by the below against the Ville. The game vs Princeton this week might be the best of the midweek offerings.
8. Virginia- Louisville looks like a tough place to play. I think I heard a train at one point and a plane at another point in the game. Somethings off with the UVA offense….ND win seems ages ago
9. Florida- Ho hum- smoked ECU. Wake me up for the JMU game
10. JHU- WOW- that game vs Rutgers was bananas. They can score in bunches. I think the staff is doing a good job with the team they have.
11. Denver- Beat up on Marquette, Has 3 games that are wins coming up before a date with Yale in the back half of the month.
12. JMU- Odd game with both Temple and Richmond this past week. Seems like the goaltending is going to be the major issue going forward
13. Yale- As stated before, they got smoked by Boston College in a game that could have been alot worse if pipes didnt exist and their GK wasn’t hot in the first half. Penn game
14. Princeton- Up to 15! Could get higher with the win vs Loyola. Best the Tigers have looked all year! Struggled with this ranking cause Yale beat them and is ranked lower.
15. Penn- Lost to Princeton and Yale where it seemed like it was a complete 180 from the MD game. Draw control is something to watch with this team as they play Loyola, etc in the coming weeks. The Ivy League goes through Yale now.
16. Stony Brook- Do they get bored in conference? According to social media, this marked 200 wins as the head honcho at Stony Brook for the forums favorite coach, Joe Spalling. Rutgers at home midweek is an important game for the Scarlet Knights.
17. UNC- Beat Virginia Tech in a game that was tighter for longer than anyone thought especially after VT demolition at the hands of the Tigers. I was only following via live stats, but the goalie roulette continues with them. Still think they are headed to an early round exit in the NCAA
18. Stanford- Beat SDSU, USC game is big next weekend for top seed in the PAC 12 (RIP). Based on how USC has been playing…give me Stanford by 5 (Spidey set the line please!)
19. Fairfield- They have beat the teams on their schedule. I just think that Harvard, Clemson, Colorado, Temple would beat them. Not to take away the job that they are doing, but RPI def has its faults. But they are doing a great job up there.
20. Drexel- Stony Brook next week! Plus a tough Towson team. Big weekend coming. Another team that schedule crushes the RPI Game:
Losses to Maryland (RPI 1), Penn (RPI 5) Fairfield (RPI 11)
Wins over Navy (RPI 25), Penn State (RPI 23)
21. Harvard- Big win over Cornell. Much like Fairfield, I think they would lose to all the teams that are below them, but still sitting at 2 losses and in a good spot to make the Ivy tournament.
22. Clemson- Beat ECU, lost to BC in the same manner as Yale. Taking a look at their stats, the amount of freshmen playing for them is pretty crazy to be hovering around my dumb and stupid top 25.
23. Colorado- Needs a big win at some point here, has chances with the USC and the Pac 12 tournament. Feeling as if the PAC12 is trending towards a one bid league.
24. Navy- Threw them here after a win over Top 20 RPI opponent Holy Cross (SARCASM ALERT). This is when RPI goes wrong. Holy Cross is NOT a top 20 team. I would say that they would lost to everyone in the Big10, Top 3 of 4 of the Ivy, all of the ACC (minus Pitt), and
25. Temple- Quietly putting together a great season and gave JMU everything they could handle on the road. Not the 3 seed that I would want to play in the AAC tournament.

Receiving Votes
Duke- Lost to both Clemson and Navy, one in running clock fashion, so I dropped them out. There is an argument that they should be 25. Instead of Temple, but call me US Lacrosse Magazine cause I am using my last spot to highlight a team.

USC- righted the ship vs Oregon. Still don’t trust them
Penn State- In the danger zone now of being ineligible for the tournament. A loss to Maryland and JHU will put them in a tough spot.
Brown- Not a believer. Interested in seeing if they even make the ILT.
Richmond- Sure, the one A10 team that will make the tournament.

[MolonLaxe]

I can get behind just about any of these choices for polls, but USA Lax Mag is still on crack. How do they move Maryland up a spot after dropping one to Northwestern, who they have as #2 behind Notre Dame?

Completely unhinged.

[OuttaNowhereWregget]

I can get behind just about any of these choices for polls, but USA Lax Mag is still on crack. How do they move Maryland up a spot after dropping one to Northwestern, who they have as #2 behind Notre Dame?

Completely unhinged.

Cue the clown car gif...

[hmmm]

I can get behind just about any of these choices for polls, but USA Lax Mag is still on crack. How do they move Maryland up a spot after dropping one to Northwestern, who they have as #2 behind Notre Dame?

Completely unhinged.

I guess the question becomes, where do you put them? They just beat Michigan(#6) last week. Is MD supposed to drop below them for losing to the defending champs? Loyola is at 7 but hasn't beaten a top 20 team since 2/21 and the only ranked team they played and lost to(Cuse), MD beat. #8 is Hopkins who MD plays Wednesday. MD is 25-0 all time against Hop.

If not at 5, where would you put MD?

[Seacoaster(1)]

I can get behind just about any of these choices for polls, but USA Lax Mag is still on crack. How do they move Maryland up a spot after dropping one to Northwestern, who they have as #2 behind Notre Dame?

Completely unhinged.

Here it is:

https://www.usalacrosse.com/magazine/co ... ens-top-20

I don't think it is completely unhinged. But the Maryland bias is just embarrassing. Penn beat Maryland, at Maryland, 13-9. Yale clobbered Penn. Princeton beat Penn. Just weird.

And then there is the IWLCA:

https://www.iwlca.org/news_article/show/1306354

[OuttaNowhereWregget]

MD is 25-0 all time against Hop.

*24-0

[hmmm]

The IL poll is worse. How is Drexel not ranked at 9-3 with wins over Navy and PSU while Navy and PSU are ranked.

And MD is #4 ahead of ND in their poll so I'm sure y'all will love that.

https://www.insidelacrosse.com/league/DI/polls/2024/399

[hmmm]

MD is 25-0 all time against Hop.

*24-0

It's 25-0. The first was when Hop was still DIII in 1979. Other 24 are since 2000 when they started playing each other as D1 teams.

[OuttaNowhereWregget]

MD is 25-0 all time against Hop.

*24-0

It's 25-0. The first was when Hop was still DIII in 1979. Other 24 are since 2000 when they started playing each other as D1 teams.

I get the 0-24 from Hop's website and their historical tally vs the Terps. You can include the loss from 1979 as that is your prerogative. But I'm not counting a D3 loss to a D1 program from back in the Stone Age. Nor is Johns Hopkins.

[hmmm]

MD is 25-0 all time against Hop.

*24-0

It's 25-0. The first was when Hop was still DIII in 1979. Other 24 are since 2000 when they started playing each other as D1 teams.

I get the 0-24 from Hop's website and their historical tally vs the Terps. You can include the loss from 1979 as that is your prerogative. But I'm not counting a D3 loss to a D1 program from back in the Stone Age. Nor is Johns Hopkins.

This is from the Hop record book. I'm not savvy enough to post the Trump "Wrong" gif, but you get the idea.