FanLax Forum Poll

[seacoaster]

Maryland v. Villanova -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwB1vSVQFBw

[Mrs@inthe8m]

Mostly clueless, completely biased, and all ratings are pretty much arbitrary and final:

1. BC -- Beat Denver in the Frostbite Classic, then thumped Yale indoors. Here at least until next week.

2. UNC -- beat Mercer and Lousville. Instead of going to church, travelling to the hostile north on Sunday.

3. Northwestern -- beat SBU at home. I actually think Syracuse is better than Northwestern, but have to slot them here due to the head to head win over the Orange.

4. Syracuse -- good win over UVA in Charlottesville. If the defense comes around -- and 11 goals to UVA on Virginia's field is a decent result in this respect -- they will play on Memorial Day weekend.

5. Loyola -- win over a tough and physical Florida team, without all purpose midfielder for the last 11 minutes of the game. Beat Georgetown by ten and no one really cared, except the kid who got a broken nose.

6. Maryland -- beat Nova by a lot. Next up is undefeated Rutgers on Sunday, on the weird field hockey venue, where the ball sticks in the fence after rolling quickly out of bounds.

7. Stony Brook -- rebounded to beat Hopkins after a tough loss to NU. The move in my poll from 6 to 7 is only because I am starting to believe that Maryland is pretty good.

8. Princeton -- beat USC soundly in Lala Land; went south to San Diego and played a football game. If they stay undefeated after this weekend's game at Penn State, the Tigers face an almost certainly unbeaten Loyola in a Wednesday night game in Baltimore, where people think its "really cold" when it's 43 degrees.

9. Denver -- shaping up as the team no one wants to play in the first round or the quarters of the NCAA tournament. Showed some real toughness to overcome an 8-5 deficit in Ann Arbor to win 9-8. Only losses are to BC and a couple of ear tips to frostbite.

10. Duke -- there: I did it. Duke in the top ten. I know Penn is in a down year, but still, 21-10 over a well-coached and pretty disciplined team is noteworthy. They move the ball well on offense, have a lot of good players, and attack from multiple points on the field. I do, however, hate myself.

11. Michigan -- the loss to Denver means that Michigan has beaten one team of consequence. Not sure how good they are yet.

12. Rutgers -- see No. 6, above.

13. Virginia Tech -- rounding into shape under the new regime.

14. Notre Dame -- a good team mired in mediocrity; tell me why?

15. UVA -- a good team mired in mediocrity; tell me why?

16. Florida -- on the cusp of being labeled "thuggish."

17. USC -- nice weather for that Princeton game, huh?

18. JHU -- is it just sentimental putting them here? They play better fundamentals than the JHU men's team, so there's that.

19. Penn State -- weird team. Just weird.

20. Colorado -- I like Boulder; great town, good food, great bike paths, easily accessible rock climbing.

Please continue this each week, it's now the poll I most look forward to on Monday. Entertaining and more sound than you give yourself credit.

[seacoaster]

Mostly clueless, completely biased, and all ratings are pretty much arbitrary and final:

1. BC -- Beat Denver in the Frostbite Classic, then thumped Yale indoors. Here at least until next week.

2. UNC -- beat Mercer and Lousville. Instead of going to church, travelling to the hostile north on Sunday.

3. Northwestern -- beat SBU at home. I actually think Syracuse is better than Northwestern, but have to slot them here due to the head to head win over the Orange.

4. Syracuse -- good win over UVA in Charlottesville. If the defense comes around -- and 11 goals to UVA on Virginia's field is a decent result in this respect -- they will play on Memorial Day weekend.

5. Loyola -- win over a tough and physical Florida team, without all purpose midfielder for the last 11 minutes of the game. Beat Georgetown by ten and no one really cared, except the kid who got a broken nose.

6. Maryland -- beat Nova by a lot. Next up is undefeated Rutgers on Sunday, on the weird field hockey venue, where the ball sticks in the fence after rolling quickly out of bounds.

7. Stony Brook -- rebounded to beat Hopkins after a tough loss to NU. The move in my poll from 6 to 7 is only because I am starting to believe that Maryland is pretty good.

8. Princeton -- beat USC soundly in Lala Land; went south to San Diego and played a football game. If they stay undefeated after this weekend's game at Penn State, the Tigers face an almost certainly unbeaten Loyola in a Wednesday night game in Baltimore, where people think its "really cold" when it's 43 degrees.

9. Denver -- shaping up as the team no one wants to play in the first round or the quarters of the NCAA tournament. Showed some real toughness to overcome an 8-5 deficit in Ann Arbor to win 9-8. Only losses are to BC and a couple of ear tips to frostbite.

10. Duke -- there: I did it. Duke in the top ten. I know Penn is in a down year, but still, 21-10 over a well-coached and pretty disciplined team is noteworthy. They move the ball well on offense, have a lot of good players, and attack from multiple points on the field. I do, however, hate myself.

11. Michigan -- the loss to Denver means that Michigan has beaten one team of consequence. Not sure how good they are yet.

12. Rutgers -- see No. 6, above.

13. Virginia Tech -- rounding into shape under the new regime.

14. Notre Dame -- a good team mired in mediocrity; tell me why?

15. UVA -- a good team mired in mediocrity; tell me why?

16. Florida -- on the cusp of being labeled "thuggish."

17. USC -- nice weather for that Princeton game, huh?

18. JHU -- is it just sentimental putting them here? They play better fundamentals than the JHU men's team, so there's that.

19. Penn State -- weird team. Just weird.

20. Colorado -- I like Boulder; great town, good food, great bike paths, easily accessible rock climbing.

Please continue this each week, it's now the poll I most look forward to on Monday. Entertaining and more sound than you give yourself credit.

Well, that's nice of you to say. I'll try. Back in the old days, on LaxPower, there were a group of exceptionally knowledgeable and clever poster-pollsters who would do a poll every week, with tons of funny and relevant commentary. Most of these folks had kids playing and/or had been involved in the game for ever and ever. There were parents, club owners and coaches, parents, and officials who were involved. Learned a ton about the game and various programs from these folks. Sorry they no longer post over on FL.

[Matnum PI]

Forum Polls due on Monday at noon EST. Enjoy this weekend's games. https://fanlax.com/2020/01/30/fanlax-forum-polls/

[OuttaNowhereWregget]

1 NC
2 BC
3 Princeton
4 NU
5 Syracuse

6 Maryland
7 Denver
8 Loyola
9 Stony Brook
10 Florida

11 Michigan
12 Duke
13 JMU
14 Stanford
15 Rutgers

16 Notre Dame
17 Virginia
18 Penn St
19 Navy
20 Virginia Tech

21 USC
22 Army
23 Penn
24 UMass
25 Johns Hopkins

[seacoaster]

1. UNC -- went to the former No. 1's home and won. Period. I thought they played great defense, and then realized they still gave up 15.

2. BC -- entertained the other "best team in women's lacrosse" and lost. Not enough assisted goals, and too much reliance on No. 8. I thought they played great defense, and then realized they still gave up 16.

3. Northwestern -- beat The OSU, with another defense-optional performance. Just not sure if they belong at No. 3, but they beat Syracuse, so I'm stuck...

4. Maryland -- Up from my No. 6 last week. But I gotta confess that I don't know how good they really are. They got decent goalie play and offense from the team yesterday, but I don't think Rutgers met the moment very well on the Weird Field. But Terps are undefeated and have beaten a couple of decent teams now. Like ONW, I don't think they are Memorial Day weekend candidates unless they keep improving.

5. Syracuse -- brain fart in Gainesville. Turbocharger in Blacksburg. Who the heck are these kids?

6. Loyola -- go figure; beat Lehigh and go down a slot. That the kind of service you get from amateurs like me!

7. Princeton -- game Wednesday against Loyola in hostile Balmor will tell us a lot about this team. If Syracuse had Sam Fish....

8. Stony Brook -- beat Hofstra in an Island battle.

9. Denver -- they are 8-1, and I'm not sure they lose again in the regular season. UConn?

10. Duke -- when I watch this team (they beat Davidson yesterday 647-3, with Nos. 19 and 4 scoring 76 goals each), I can't help feeling they might actually be pretty good. They play nice offense. Good team speed. Kill everyone on draws for the most part. But the only time they have faced a good offense they gave up 18. They play a desperate Notre Dame team next weekend.

11.Rutgers -- better than Michigan? Really could have played better yesterday in Terptown...but didn't. Still, I think these kids are good.

12. Michigan -- better than Rutgers? I have a suspicion Michigan is overrated.

13. Florida -- beat Syracuse (convincingly) and Drexel (by a whisker). Umm, what? Good athletes. Good Keeper. Inconsistent.

[Now we have reached the Virginia portion of our program....]

14. JMU

15. Virginia Tech

16. UVA

17. Notre Dame

18. Penn State

19. USC

20. UConn

[Dr. Tact]

1. UNC - been saying this for weeks now....good to be validated. too many weapons...too good a defense. They bait you into thinking you are open and then the slide comes fast and hard.
2. BC - Sometimes, they have got to pretend that #8 isnt there and run an offense. Too many good players to have your success be tied to #8. Their come back was because of the other players, not Charlotte.
3. NU - Beat Cuse
3.5 Cuse - lost to FLA, but that was a learning experience. If the weave is back, look out.
5. MD - Rutgers fouled themselves silly...6 YC? I agree with Seacoaster and ONW, I dont see this team getting far, unless the seeding gods want the Terps to get to the final 4.
6. Princeton - Not sure about this team...with the Godmother on her way out, I expect the Tigers to come ready for each and every game going forward. A win at Loyola puts them in the top 5
7. SBU
8. Denver
9. Duke
10 FLA
11-117 - Pick 'em

[Matnum PI]

[FanLax Computer]

I could knit pick, Loyola (too low), UConn (too low), Stony Brook (too high), some others but the top 6 is spot on and... Pretty good, humans!

[seacoaster]

ONW, why are you so high on Princeton? Just curious. Thanks in advance.

[OuttaNowhereWregget]

ONW, why are you so high on Princeton? Just curious. Thanks in advance.

Aside from the fact that I have always enjoyed Princeton and their well-coached dynamic teams; I have them as high as I do because I don’t think anybody beneath them has done as well against ranked opponents while remaining unbeaten. Plus I still have it etched in my mind how well they played against Virginia. I thought it was a clinic even though the final score doesn’t reflect it. I’ve seen them pass every test so far. Back after a two-year layoff while remaining competitive. Check. Win pretty games. Check. Win ugly games. Check. I doubt I would stand up to more in-depth analysis, but that’s why I have them at 3.

[crazyhorse]

I could knit pick, Loyola (too low), UConn (too low), Stony Brook (too high), some others but the top 6 is spot on and... Pretty good, humans!

I'd argue the humans got the top 7 right - my recollection from past posts is that DT has recused himself from voting for Loyola. Other 5 pollsters had Loyola between 6 and 8, so call them a 7, not a 10 - slots them just ahead of Stony Brook.

[Matnum PI]

DT has recused himself from voting for Loyola...

This should stop. One poll-ers vote (or non-vote in this case) makes a big difference. DT, PUT LOYOLA BACK IN THE MIX!

[OuttaNowhereWregget]

DT has recused himself from voting for Loyola...

This should stop. One poll-ers vote (or non-vote in this case) makes a big difference. DT, PUT LOYOLA BACK IN THE MIX!

No no no. Leave the good doctor alone. Don’t you realize he is working a reverse jinx here?

[Dr. Tact]

DT has recused himself from voting for Loyola...

This should stop. One poll-ers vote (or non-vote in this case) makes a big difference. DT, PUT LOYOLA BACK IN THE MIX!

OK. You guys can not count my votes...I still will not be ranking the Hounds....That way they jump up to where you expect them.

[seacoaster]

ONW, why are you so high on Princeton? Just curious. Thanks in advance.

Aside from the fact that I have always enjoyed Princeton and their well-coached dynamic teams; I have them as high as I do because I don’t think anybody beneath them has done as well against ranked opponents while remaining unbeaten. Plus I still have it etched in my mind how well they played against Virginia. I thought it was a clinic even though the final score doesn’t reflect it. I’ve seen them pass every test so far. Back after a two-year layoff while remaining competitive. Check. Win pretty games. Check. Win ugly games. Check. I doubt I would stand up to more in-depth analysis, but that’s why I have them at 3.

Thanks. I think Princeton is really good too. And you're absolutely right: well-coached and panic-free so far. I think Fish is an excellent keeper, and the defense is a good unit, although not challenged by a real scoring power yet. Tigers will give the Hounds a nice run this week.

[Matnum PI]

OK. You guys can not count my votes...I still will not be ranking the Hounds....That way they jump up to where you expect them.

Why are you boycotting Loyola?

[wlaxphan20]

OK. You guys can not count my votes...I still will not be ranking the Hounds....That way they jump up to where you expect them.

Why are you boycotting Loyola?

not boycotting, just not trying to bring around any bad juju (I think)

[Dr. Tact]

OK. You guys can not count my votes...I still will not be ranking the Hounds....That way they jump up to where you expect them.

Why are you boycotting Loyola?

I am not boycotting Loyola...just don't feel it's right to vote on them based on my connection. So, if my non-vote creates an issue for the poll, I will not do it.

[seacoaster]

OK. You guys can not count my votes...I still will not be ranking the Hounds....That way they jump up to where you expect them.

Why are you boycotting Loyola?

I am not boycotting Loyola...just don't feel it's right to vote on them based on my connection. So, if my non-vote creates an issue for the poll, I will not do it.

Doc, please go ahead and do what you’d like. Somewhere along the line, you’ll have to put the Hounds in the poll, even your own top ten.