This weekend, numerous lower-ranked teams beat higher-ranked teams. St. Bonaventure #63 beat #53 Manhattan. Utah #45 beat #37 Boston University. Hobart #31 beat #24 Bryant. Merrimack #49 beat #42 LIU. Hofstra #25 beat #23 Towson. And… Notre Dame #11 beat #7 Syracuse. And, in most every case, the sane amongst us recognized that these wins were one game. Some teams won by more. Some teams won by less. Some won at home. Some won away. And, in every case, we recognized that this game was one game and, despite being a head-to-head win, does not guarantee that you will be ranked higher than the beaten team. None the less, for some reason, after Notre Dame won this one game, they leap frogged to the top of the rankings. Keep in mind, Notre Dame’s next Best Wins after beating Syracuse are over #26 Robert Morris, #48 Marquette, and #59 Bellarmine.
Numerous teams are currently ranked lower than Notre Dame. Eventhough… Army also beat Syracuse. Lehigh beat Army and Loyola. Rutgers beat OSU twice. Georgetown beat Villanova twice. Denver beat Georgetown. Heck, Syracuse beating UVA is more impressive than Notre Dame beating Syracuse. None the less, the Media has given Notre Dame the #5 spot (after Duke, UNC, UMD, and UVA, not in that order). And, not only does this not make sense but, all but certainly, others will follow suit. Make no mistake, Notre Dame may be one of the top five teams in D1 Men’s Lacrosse. They may be top three. Even top one. But, for heaven’s sake, let them earn that position.
