Polls

[Seacoaster(1)]

After Watching a lot of games the first couple of weeks, I think Arizona State deserves some looks for the polls. The goal
Scorer form Mercer seems to be a good pickup. It will be interesting to see what they do with better competition but they looked really good so far. Olay Stony Brook, Michigan and Florida in next 3 so we will find out quickly how good they are.

Good young coaching staff....ASU has picked two good HCs recently (Tim Mc and Taryn VT) - Wakefield and Warden have both had success at the top level...if they can catch a big win in those 3, they will start to get noticed....

My daughter loves Wakefield and heard great things about Warden. Guessing ASU finishes 9-8 (Losses via SB, Michigan, Vandy, USC, Stanford, CU, DU, Oregon). Hope they pull off some upsets and look forward to catching their games against USC and SDSU.

I am a HUGE Caroline Wakefield fan. She brings such great energy to a program. I also love the way she plays.

She doesn't play for ASU though...

She's a coach at ASU. I think that is what Brownlax was referring to when he talked about "energy to a program."

[laxdadpat]

2024 is the year of the graduate student. Just look at Denver's roster, the starters ages may all be over 24(I may have to really look at those ages).
I don't like the rule allowing all the addition year of eligibility, but coaches need to keep or get the most talent on their teams.
There should be several mid major teams that have 5th years that can help them make some noise this year. By noise, I mean deserving to be in the discussion from top 15-30. I hope round 1 of the playoffs have a few upsets by conference champs, only 1 last year.
Feel free to give props to some of the overlooked teams. Fairfield sounds like it has some backers.

[MolonLaxe]

IL’s rankings as always is a joke. I have no problem with ND being 2. JMU at 3. Ok. I can see it. How some teams like PSU stays on this list. .

IL always has unhealthy fascinations based on past events that are way out of date. That bias shines through every time we look at these rankings.

It also gets tough, especially early in the season. Once you get past the top 10-15 you can choose about 20 different teams to be 16-25. The pollsters love to keep UConn and UMass ranked when historically they don't beat anyone good. UConn is 0-2 and IL still has them ranked and doesn't have Fairfield ranked. Meanwhile they lost to Fairfield who is 2-1 with wins over UConn and Albany(who was ranked the first two weeks and played Hopkins and BC tough). Yes, UConn played JMU close thanks to a bunch of late man up goals but no way they should be ranked over Fairfield.

All true. Fairfield is a solid team that competes for the conference, but it's one of the unpopular because it isn't a P5 football school. You'll sometimes see Mercer make something, but don't hold your breath on Fairfield, Coastal, or other programs. Even though Fairfield is better than Coastal, they will be treated as the same--redheaded step children. (I like redheads, btw )

Hell, UConn isn't even IN a football conference! Maybe they're leaning on the hoops success...

Same for Marquette. They lean in to basketball.

[intheknow247]

2024 is the year of the graduate student. Just look at Denver's roster, the starters ages may all be over 24(I may have to really look at those ages).
I don't like the rule allowing all the addition year of eligibility, but coaches need to keep or get the most talent on their teams.
There should be several mid major teams that have 5th years that can help them make some noise this year. By noise, I mean deserving to be in the discussion from top 15-30. I hope round 1 of the playoffs have a few upsets by conference champs, only 1 last year.
Feel free to give props to some of the overlooked teams. Fairfield sounds like it has some backers.

2024 is the last of the COVID kids (2020s with the extra year and 2019s if they redshirted somewhere along the journey - injury, didn't play...). Graduates will drop off dramatically after this year.

[OuttaNowhereWregget]

After Watching a lot of games the first couple of weeks, I think Arizona State deserves some looks for the polls. The goal
Scorer form Mercer seems to be a good pickup. It will be interesting to see what they do with better competition but they looked really good so far. Stony Brook, Michigan and Florida in next 3 so we will find out quickly how good they are.

My guess is they'll be dragged by all three.

SBU 20 ASU 9
Part 1 of the 3 draggings complete.

[laxinforlife]

2024 is the year of the graduate student. Just look at Denver's roster, the starters ages may all be over 24(I may have to really look at those ages).
I don't like the rule allowing all the addition year of eligibility, but coaches need to keep or get the most talent on their teams.
There should be several mid major teams that have 5th years that can help them make some noise this year. By noise, I mean deserving to be in the discussion from top 15-30. I hope round 1 of the playoffs have a few upsets by conference champs, only 1 last year.
Feel free to give props to some of the overlooked teams. Fairfield sounds like it has some backers.

2024 is the last of the COVID kids (2020s with the extra year and 2019s if they redshirted somewhere along the journey - injury, didn't play...). Graduates will drop off dramatically after this year.

2020s did not get an extra year-they got:
no highschool senior season
no prom
no graduation
and possibly the most horrible college freshman year ever with a shortened season
AND they also got
extra players every single year they played in college
Covid was unkind to the 2020s.

[TNLAX]

2024 is the year of the graduate student. Just look at Denver's roster, the starters ages may all be over 24(I may have to really look at those ages).
I don't like the rule allowing all the addition year of eligibility, but coaches need to keep or get the most talent on their teams.
There should be several mid major teams that have 5th years that can help them make some noise this year. By noise, I mean deserving to be in the discussion from top 15-30. I hope round 1 of the playoffs have a few upsets by conference champs, only 1 last year.
Feel free to give props to some of the overlooked teams. Fairfield sounds like it has some backers.

2024 is the last of the COVID kids (2020s with the extra year and 2019s if they redshirted somewhere along the journey - injury, didn't play...). Graduates will drop off dramatically after this year.

2020s did not get an extra year-they got:
no highschool senior season
no prom
no graduation
and possibly the most horrible college freshman year ever with a shortened season
AND they also got
extra players every single year they played in college
Covid was unkind to the 2020s.

I think it was the people in power making poor decisions that were unkind to the 2020’s

[watcherinthewoods]

My daughter lost her senior season ... undefeated, #7 in the country and FINALLY free from a coach she did not choose and who was completely incompetent and a sociopath to boot.

My son, a NARP, lost his HS graduation, prom, and a "normal" freshman year in college. All in all, our family lost far less than the 1.8 M people (and their loved ones) who died who died from COVID in 2020.

https://www.who.int/data/stories/the-tr ... -mortality

Let's try to keep things in perspective.

[Seacoaster(1)]

The Clueless Poll for Monday 2-26-2024:

1. Boston College (keep winning and stay undefeated, but respectfully, they have yet to play someone any of us might expect to challenge them, right? So this No. 1 thing is a bunch of BS. Until Thursday evening).

2. Northwestern (still think they are working through some stuff, and mostly defense. Just giving away too many goals. Eager to see how they respond at BC)

Warning: The rest of this so-called top ten is just full of contradictions.

3. Syracuse (look, I am a fan and a homer for my team, but loved the stout away effort in a weird football practice facility in some windswept midwestern state I will likely never visit)

4. Notre Dame (really good athletes, but something missing; people don't fear Notre Dame; people realize you can stay with them and compete)

5. Michigan (OK, I have no idea; yet to see them play, and apart from Denver, they have yet to play anyone at their level)

6. UNC (yup, here they are ahead of the JMU team that beat them in overtime at JMU's facility; shoot me)

7. James Madison (not a believer yet. Thought they looked pretty average (I know IP was not playing) against Albany)

8. Loyola (I think this is a good team, but other than a stout JHU team, they won't play anyone and should be undefeated when they visit Syracuse have to see them play Syracuse in late March. We shall see)

9. Denver (the three-second team is here; they may be better than this, and probably are. But I am waiting to be convinced)

10. Virginia (rebounded nicely from the OT defeat by UNC. Would this team beat Maryland? Well, which Maryland, the one in the Dome beating Syracuse or the one brainfarting at the weird field against Florida? I just don't know.)

Penn? JHU? Stony Brook?

[OuttaNowhereWregget]

The Clueless Poll for Monday 2-26-2024:

1. Boston College (keep winning and stay undefeated, but respectfully, they have yet to play someone any of us might expect to challenge them, right? So this No. 1 thing is a bunch of BS. Until Thursday evening).

2. Northwestern (still think they are working through some stuff, and mostly defense. Just giving away too many goals. Eager to see how they respond at BC)

Warning: The rest of this so-called top ten is just full of contradictions.

3. Syracuse (look, I am a fan and a homer for my team, but loved the stout away effort in a weird football practice facility in some windswept midwestern state I will likely never visit)

4. Notre Dame (really good athletes, but something missing; people don't fear Notre Dame; people realize you can stay with them and compete)

5. Michigan (OK, I have no idea; yet to see them play, and apart from Denver, they have yet to play anyone at their level)

6. UNC (yup, here they are ahead of the JMU team that beat them in overtime at JMU's facility; shoot me)

7. James Madison (not a believer yet. Thought they looked pretty average (I know IP was not playing) against Albany)

8. Loyola (I think this is a good team, but other than a stout JHU team, they won't play anyone and should be undefeated when they visit Syracuse have to see them play Syracuse in late March. We shall see)

9. Denver (the three-second team is here; they may be better than this, and probably are. But I am waiting to be convinced)

10. Virginia (rebounded nicely from the OT defeat by UNC. Would this team beat Maryland? Well, which Maryland, the one in the Dome beating Syracuse or the one brainfarting at the weird field against Florida? I just don't know.)

Penn? JHU? Stony Brook?

Seacoaster, your polls (with blurbs, of course) are better than anything IL Women or USA Lax Mag puts out. Always a great read.

[Seacoaster(1)]

The Clueless Poll for Monday 2-26-2024:

1. Boston College (keep winning and stay undefeated, but respectfully, they have yet to play someone any of us might expect to challenge them, right? So this No. 1 thing is a bunch of BS. Until Thursday evening).

2. Northwestern (still think they are working through some stuff, and mostly defense. Just giving away too many goals. Eager to see how they respond at BC)

Warning: The rest of this so-called top ten is just full of contradictions.

3. Syracuse (look, I am a fan and a homer for my team, but loved the stout away effort in a weird football practice facility in some windswept midwestern state I will likely never visit)

4. Notre Dame (really good athletes, but something missing; people don't fear Notre Dame; people realize you can stay with them and compete)

5. Michigan (OK, I have no idea; yet to see them play, and apart from Denver, they have yet to play anyone at their level)

6. UNC (yup, here they are ahead of the JMU team that beat them in overtime at JMU's facility; shoot me)

7. James Madison (not a believer yet. Thought they looked pretty average (I know IP was not playing) against Albany)

8. Loyola (I think this is a good team, but other than a stout JHU team, they won't play anyone and should be undefeated when they visit Syracuse have to see them play Syracuse in late March. We shall see)

9. Denver (the three-second team is here; they may be better than this, and probably are. But I am waiting to be convinced)

10. Virginia (rebounded nicely from the OT defeat by UNC. Would this team beat Maryland? Well, which Maryland, the one in the Dome beating Syracuse or the one brainfarting at the weird field against Florida? I just don't know.)

Penn? JHU? Stony Brook?

Seacoaster, your polls (with blurbs, of course) are better than anything IL Women or USA Lax Mag puts out. Always a great read.

Nice of you to say so. But I am really at sea about this, and that may be a result of how early in the season we are, a couple of unexpected results here and there (Maryland-Florida), and the fact that there are relevant teams here I have yet to see with my eyes (Michigan, SBU). Sizing up to be a very interesting year.

[OuttaNowhereWregget]

Nice of you to say so. But I am really at sea about this, and that may be a result of how early in the season we are, a couple of unexpected results here and there (Maryland-Florida), and the fact that there are relevant teams here I have yet to see with my eyes (Michigan, SBU). Sizing up to be a very interesting year.

I hear you. A lot that's murky this early on. Like you wrote above--depending on which team shows up, etc. One could say that about a few teams, so far. I had a time of it coming up with a Top 20 this weekend. Did a lot of combing through stats and such and this is what I came up with (see below in new post). I was asked to explain my rationale on a couple/few spots and had to go back and look at the worksheet.

Agreed--very interesting year, indeed.

[OuttaNowhereWregget]

Top 20

1. Northwestern
2. Boston College
3. Michigan
4. James Madison
5. Syracuse

6. North Carolina
7. Loyola
8. Florida
9. Maryland
10. Notre Dame

11. Denver
12. Penn
13. Stony Brook
14. Virginia
15. Navy

16. Johns Hopkins
17. Brown
18. Rutgers
19. Yale
20. Fairfield

[Seacoaster(1)]

Top 20

1. Northwestern
2. Boston College
3. Michigan
4. James Madison
5. Syracuse

6. North Carolina
7. Loyola
8. Florida
9. Maryland
10. Notre Dame

11. Denver
12. Penn
13. Stony Brook
14. Virginia
15. Navy

16. Johns Hopkins
17. Brown
18. Rutgers
19. Yale
20. Fairfield

Surprised you have Maryland as high, and Notre Dame as low, as you do. As you know, I'm not convinced on JMU, and think Florida is not a very good team.

[intheknow247]

After Watching a lot of games the first couple of weeks, I think Arizona State deserves some looks for the polls. The goal
Scorer form Mercer seems to be a good pickup. It will be interesting to see what they do with better competition but they looked really good so far. Olay Stony Brook, Michigan and Florida in next 3 so we will find out quickly how good they are.

Good young coaching staff....ASU has picked two good HCs recently (Tim Mc and Taryn VT) - Wakefield and Warden have both had success at the top level...if they can catch a big win in those 3, they will start to get noticed....

My daughter loves Wakefield and heard great things about Warden. Guessing ASU finishes 9-8 (Losses via SB, Michigan, Vandy, USC, Stanford, CU, DU, Oregon). Hope they pull off some upsets and look forward to catching their games against USC and SDSU.

I am a HUGE Caroline Wakefield fan. She brings such great energy to a program. I also love the way she plays.

She doesn't play for ASU though...

She's a coach at ASU. I think that is what Brownlax was referring to when he talked about "energy to a program."

Correct, she is a coach. So how she plays is irrelevant.

I also love the way she plays.

[flushlax77]

Top 20

1. Northwestern
2. Boston College
3. Michigan
4. James Madison
5. Syracuse

6. North Carolina
7. Loyola
8. Florida
9. Maryland
10. Notre Dame

11. Denver
12. Penn
13. Stony Brook
14. Virginia
15. Navy

16. Johns Hopkins
17. Brown
18. Rutgers
19. Yale
20. Fairfield

When #10 beat #1 a week ago and #20 lost to Holy Cross, you start to lose me…

Seems like everything else is pretty solid though. Going to be a fun season!

[Seacoaster(1)]

After Watching a lot of games the first couple of weeks, I think Arizona State deserves some looks for the polls. The goal
Scorer form Mercer seems to be a good pickup. It will be interesting to see what they do with better competition but they looked really good so far. Olay Stony Brook, Michigan and Florida in next 3 so we will find out quickly how good they are.

Good young coaching staff....ASU has picked two good HCs recently (Tim Mc and Taryn VT) - Wakefield and Warden have both had success at the top level...if they can catch a big win in those 3, they will start to get noticed....

My daughter loves Wakefield and heard great things about Warden. Guessing ASU finishes 9-8 (Losses via SB, Michigan, Vandy, USC, Stanford, CU, DU, Oregon). Hope they pull off some upsets and look forward to catching their games against USC and SDSU.

I am a HUGE Caroline Wakefield fan. She brings such great energy to a program. I also love the way she plays.

She doesn't play for ASU though...

She's a coach at ASU. I think that is what Brownlax was referring to when he talked about "energy to a program."

Correct, she is a coach. So how she plays is irrelevant.

I also love the way she plays.

So Brownlax is prohibited from mentioning that he likes the way a certain coach plays? OK. Thanks for the guard-rails.

[forthelaxofit]

The Clueless Poll for Monday 2-26-2024:

1. Boston College (keep winning and stay undefeated, but respectfully, they have yet to play someone any of us might expect to challenge them, right? So this No. 1 thing is a bunch of BS. Until Thursday evening).

2. Northwestern (still think they are working through some stuff, and mostly defense. Just giving away too many goals. Eager to see how they respond at BC)

Warning: The rest of this so-called top ten is just full of contradictions.

3. Syracuse (look, I am a fan and a homer for my team, but loved the stout away effort in a weird football practice facility in some windswept midwestern state I will likely never visit)

4. Notre Dame (really good athletes, but something missing; people don't fear Notre Dame; people realize you can stay with them and compete)

5. Michigan (OK, I have no idea; yet to see them play, and apart from Denver, they have yet to play anyone at their level)

6. UNC (yup, here they are ahead of the JMU team that beat them in overtime at JMU's facility; shoot me)

7. James Madison (not a believer yet. Thought they looked pretty average (I know IP was not playing) against Albany)

8. Loyola (I think this is a good team, but other than a stout JHU team, they won't play anyone and should be undefeated when they visit Syracuse have to see them play Syracuse in late March. We shall see)

9. Denver (the three-second team is here; they may be better than this, and probably are. But I am waiting to be convinced)

10. Virginia (rebounded nicely from the OT defeat by UNC. Would this team beat Maryland? Well, which Maryland, the one in the Dome beating Syracuse or the one brainfarting at the weird field against Florida? I just don't know.)

Penn? JHU? Stony Brook?

I admit - I enjoying your reading your picks as well. I haven't seen the JMU / Albany game, but just looked at some of the stats. JMU with 21 goals without Peterson didn't sound bad to me. The Albany starting goalie (not the replacement) save % vs JMU 29%. Her combined save % against good competition of JHU, BC, Fairfield and Brown is 46%. JMUs 21 goals with a shooting efficiency like that, without your best player, when compared to Albany's other opponents looks like a pretty good day.

Side note - I give Albany a lot of credit after their big NCAA performance last year. Ranked teams on their schedule JHU, BC, Brown, JMU, Northwestern and Cuse. (Maybe Fairfield or UConn by end or year?). While I give them credit for going big on schedule, looks like they were way too aggressive for this year. Although maybe it will help recruiting down the line by "playing up" and not down. And as we know, the RPI weighting portion that only cares about opponents records will benefit.

[Kleizaster]

Top 20

1. Northwestern
2. Boston College
3. Michigan
4. James Madison
5. Syracuse

6. North Carolina
7. Loyola
8. Florida
9. Maryland
10. Notre Dame

11. Denver
12. Penn
13. Stony Brook
14. Virginia
15. Navy

16. Johns Hopkins
17. Brown
18. Rutgers
19. Yale
20. Fairfield

I think this is a good poll. But Michigan at 3 is kinda high for me. I don't know i'm not sold yet. Any reason why you're so high on them? i have Florida outside the top 10 and replace them with Denver and bump Navy up a few spots.

[intheknow247]

After Watching a lot of games the first couple of weeks, I think Arizona State deserves some looks for the polls. The goal
Scorer form Mercer seems to be a good pickup. It will be interesting to see what they do with better competition but they looked really good so far. Olay Stony Brook, Michigan and Florida in next 3 so we will find out quickly how good they are.

Good young coaching staff....ASU has picked two good HCs recently (Tim Mc and Taryn VT) - Wakefield and Warden have both had success at the top level...if they can catch a big win in those 3, they will start to get noticed....

My daughter loves Wakefield and heard great things about Warden. Guessing ASU finishes 9-8 (Losses via SB, Michigan, Vandy, USC, Stanford, CU, DU, Oregon). Hope they pull off some upsets and look forward to catching their games against USC and SDSU.

I am a HUGE Caroline Wakefield fan. She brings such great energy to a program. I also love the way she plays.

She doesn't play for ASU though...

She's a coach at ASU. I think that is what Brownlax was referring to when he talked about "energy to a program."

Correct, she is a coach. So how she plays is irrelevant.

I also love the way she plays.

So Brownlax is prohibited from mentioning that he likes the way a certain coach plays? OK. Thanks for the guard-rails.

Bronwlax can talk about what color socks she wears for all I care...

Merits of conversation went from ASU getting looks for polls, to good young coaching staff, to my daughter loves Wakefield...but you know what, I'll add to the mix...her boyfriend is really good at lacrosse also!