Polls

[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.

Looks for what? They have beaten Xavier, Niagara, Pittsburgh, and Sisters of the Blind...

Bahaha - should have included Vanderbilt as well and wrote “next 4”. Gross loss for ASU program vs Vanderbilt.

“Arizona State deserves some looks” - yeah NO, thanks for coming out…

[Essexfenwick]

Top 20

1. Northwestern
2. Maryland
3. Michigan
4. Virginia
5. Loyola

6. Boston College
7. Johns Hopkins
8. Florida
9. Stony Brook
10. James Madison

11. Penn
12. North Carolina
13. Syracuse
14. Denver
15. Notre Dame

16. Yale
17. Harvard
18. Brown
19. Penn St
20. Fairfield

Top 15 everybody can beat everybody.

[OuttaNowhereWregget]

Top 20

1. Northwestern
2. Maryland
3. Michigan
4. Virginia
5. Loyola

6. Boston College
7. Johns Hopkins
8. Florida
9. Stony Brook
10. James Madison

11. Penn
12. North Carolina
13. Syracuse
14. Denver
15. Notre Dame

16. Yale
17. Harvard
18. Brown
19. Penn St
20. Fairfield

Top 15 everybody can beat everybody.

Disagree--not Loyola, not Florida, not Penn, not Hop. Polls are polls based on a bunch of different criteria. None of those teams can beat Northwestern. Put Denver in there too. On the whole though--I agree with your general point. A lot of parity in the rankings so far this season.

[flushlax77]

The Ivy League is interesting to me:

Brown opponents are a combined 9-16 on the year with Bryant (who beat LIU, Sacred Heart, Lafayette, etc for wins)

Harvard opponents are 8-17 with 5 of those wins coming from the Brown Bears!

Yale opponents are 13-12 with Princeton doing the heavy lifting with 3 wins.

If you look at Strength of Schedule:

Yale: 26
Brown:36
Harvard: 56

Love seeing the Ivy coming back with strong records but not sure if they should have 4 of the top 20 teams in the nation.

[Relax77]

The Ivy League is interesting to me:

Brown opponents are a combined 9-16 on the year with Bryant (who beat LIU, Sacred Heart, Lafayette, etc for wins)

Harvard opponents are 8-17 with 5 of those wins coming from the Brown Bears!

Yale opponents are 13-12 with Princeton doing the heavy lifting with 3 wins.

If you look at Strength of Schedule:

Yale: 26
Brown:36
Harvard: 56

Love seeing the Ivy coming back with strong records but not sure if they should have 4 of the top 20 teams in the nation.

That is a fair assessment.

[Womenslaxxfan]

Top 20

1. Northwestern
2. Maryland
3. Michigan
4. Virginia
5. Loyola

6. Boston College
7. Johns Hopkins
8. Florida
9. Stony Brook
10. James Madison

11. Penn
12. North Carolina
13. Syracuse
14. Denver
15. Notre Dame

16. Yale
17. Harvard
18. Brown
19. Penn St
20. Fairfield

Top 15 everybody can beat everybody.

Disagree--not Loyola, not Florida, not Penn, not Hop. Polls are polls based on a bunch of different criteria. None of those teams can beat Northwestern. Put Denver in there too. On the whole though--I agree with your general point. A lot of parity in the rankings so far this season.

Are these your rankings or your approximation of what the iwcla poll will be? And how can you say that Loyola can’t beat northwestern and have Loyola at 5 while notre dame DID beat northwestern and you have them at 15?

[flushlax77]

I mean the volatility in ONW/Wlaxnut rankings would give anyone whiplash. Probably not the best jumping off point for targeted discussion on rankings.

Poor Notre Dame who beat his beloved wildcats went from only getting up to #4 after the win and now is down at #15 after losses (checking my notes: to his #4 UVA and #12 UNC)

Now you might be asking…didn’t UNC just beat UVA on the road in a OT game in the rain? Yes. They did.

Hopkins who was in the teens for all of the year (including a tight game vs Gtown), is up to 7 after beating his nemesis.

Boston College went all the way up to #2. Lost to Northwestern and fell down to #7 in the latest rankings. It doesn’t make too much sense to me!

[OuttaNowhereWregget]

Top 20

1. Northwestern
2. Maryland
3. Michigan
4. Virginia
5. Loyola

6. Boston College
7. Johns Hopkins
8. Florida
9. Stony Brook
10. James Madison

11. Penn
12. North Carolina
13. Syracuse
14. Denver
15. Notre Dame

16. Yale
17. Harvard
18. Brown
19. Penn St
20. Fairfield

Top 15 everybody can beat everybody.

Disagree--not Loyola, not Florida, not Penn, not Hop. Polls are polls based on a bunch of different criteria. None of those teams can beat Northwestern. Put Denver in there too. On the whole though--I agree with your general point. A lot of parity in the rankings so far this season.

Are these your rankings or your approximation of what the iwcla poll will be? And how can you say that Loyola can’t beat northwestern and have Loyola at 5 while notre dame DID beat northwestern and you have them at 15?

They are my rankings. Ain't easy coming up with rankings before anyone else does. I take a few things into account. Best wins. Recent record. How the teams did the previous week, etc. I bumped ND down because they've dropped 2 of their last 3, and at home to boot. I think they're already running out of gas, in spite of the lofty hot air that wafted from South Bend in the pre and early season. Loyola has a couple of nice wins under their belt in Hop and Florida. Plus they're undefeated. I figure that kind of record deserves recognition. Better wins than BC to use one example. But Loyola is in a distinctly lower tier than Northwestern. I think the Wildcats would take Loyola apart if they played now, just like they did in the quarters last year. No doubt, some personal bias and subjectivity goes into making up a poll each week, but I don't think anyone is free from that. Just for the halibut, give it a try--before tomorrow's polls come out. It's challenging. I'm sure there are inconsistencies in my rankings. Not claiming they're free of them. But again--it ain't easy making up your own rankings--especially when you don't look at any other rankings for guidance--including last weeks. Give it a shot. You'll see what I mean. Thanks for the inquiry.

[LaxDadMax]

For me

1. NU
2. Boston College
3. Michigan
4. UVA
5. MD

6. UNC
7. Loyola
8. JMU
9. ND
10. Hopkins

11. Denver
12. Florida
13. Stony Brook
14. Cuse
15. Navy

16. Princeton
17. USC
18. Yale
19. Harvard
20. Colorado

[OuttaNowhereWregget]

For me

1. NU
2. Boston College
3. Michigan
4. UVA
5. MD

6. UNC
7. Loyola
8. JMU
9. ND
10. Hopkins

11. Denver
12. Florida
13. Stony Brook
14. Cuse
15. Navy

16. Princeton
17. USC
18. Yale
19. Harvard
20. Colorado

Nice job. I like it.

[Hello]

How can you have Princeton ahead of Yale when they beat them last weekend as well as the last three times they have played each other? That is just living in the past. And Navy should drop back more after the loss to Drexel. USC hasn't really done anything but they stay the course.

[hmmm]

For me

1. NU
2. Boston College
3. Michigan
4. UVA
5. MD

6. UNC
7. Loyola
8. JMU
9. ND
10. Hopkins

11. Denver
12. Florida
13. Stony Brook
14. Cuse
15. Navy

16. Princeton
17. USC
18. Yale
19. Harvard
20. Colorado

Assuming you just forgot to include Penn?

[flushlax77]

For me

1. NU
2. Boston College
3. Michigan
4. UVA
5. MD

6. UNC
7. Loyola
8. JMU
9. ND
10. Hopkins

11. Denver
12. Florida
13. Stony Brook
14. Cuse
15. Navy

16. Princeton
17. USC
18. Yale
19. Harvard
20. Colorado

Assuming you just forgot to include Penn?

But OMW said he liked it! So it’s correct

[Hello]

I guess Penn beating Hopkins is more forgettable than Hopkins beating Stonybrook...

[OuttaNowhereWregget]

I guess Penn beating Hopkins is more forgettable than Hopkins beating Stonybrook...

I'm sure he just forgot. It's not easy making a poll. So much to consider and research--most especially if you're not using past polls to compare and work from.

[flushlax77]

1. Northwestern- Weird game vs Denver where they had to find another gear, but still have them here.

2. BC- Only loss to #1, for some reason always plays Louisville tight, but have passed the tests that they have needed too. Could see them sliding down once they hit other ACC competition

3. Maryland- 2 big time W’s on the Road vs Cuse/Denver (tough places to play) and an odd 2nd half away from being #1. JMU win helps a ton here

4. JMU- Not dropping them too much after losing on the concrete field in MD (I know you are asking why Florida isn’t higher than when they won there). UNC win is very good.

5. Michigan- undefeated and has a claim for the crown, but I just can’t get the ASU game out of my head…see them dropping a game they shouldn’t soon

6. Loyola- Rolled Florida in the 2nd half of their game and beat JHU in the crosstown matchup. Circling the Cuse matchup at the end of the month to get an idea if they are legit or not

7. Virginia- Lost to UNC in OT, but vanquished the Irish on the road. Hot hand. If we were doing one on who would beat who, give me them over Michigan for sure and possibly Loyola. Schwab might be the most important player to an offense in the country.

8. Notre Dame-Beat the #8 team and lost to the #6 team this week at home. Tons of talent on this team. Excited to see them play BC soon.

9. UNC- Figured out something on the draw control this past weekend. I am not sure if they can win the title, but they have some veterans who will help vs the younger teams in the league (See last weekend result)

10. Cuse- Loss to Stony Brook looks worse here or they would have been higher. Big one vs UNC this weekend to see who exactly there are.

11. Penn- Beat JHU who beat SBU. Rest of the schedule are teams headed to 80+ RPI’s . Looking forward to Michigan game (give me Penn) and the Maryland game (give me Maryland)

12. JHU- Some might ask why they aren’t in the single digits? Cuse win vs ND is better than JHU best win vs ND. Not a serious contender after that Gtown stinker

13. SBU- Cuse win was great, let down vs Hopkins was a bummer. Them and #12 can fight it out for this spot tomorrow night.

14. Denver- can’t be in the top 10 with a 3-3 record. Better fight against NW inside keeps them up here.

15. Florida- Again- MD game was a bit flukey and I am not going to reward you for beating the snot out of ASU, Jax, UC Davis, and SDSU. Princeton game will be interesting test of where the Ivy sits amongst the Big10, ACC, and American teams.

16. USC- Much like Michigan, I am not a believer and my hot take is that Stanford will get the AQ for the PAC 12 (RIP). Only beating Army (2-5) by 4, Villanova (recent loss to Columbia, 2-5) by 1, and VCU (1-5) by 3. No good

17. Colorado- Slotting them here but will know more once they play Stanford this weekend. Tight wins vs PSU (even with their nice win, don’t see them being a good win long term), Louisville, St. Jospeh’s (who might win the A10)

18. Yale- Beat Stanford which could be a really good win come tournament time (think Stanford replaces Colorado and USC as the top 20 Pac 12 team). Beat Princeton. Big one vs Rutgers coming next weekend (same reasoning as the Florida vs Princeton game) from a national perspective.

Not ranking 19 and 20, but will for next week: See below why

Options for 19 and 20:
Navy- lost to Drexel by 1. Best win was Richmond who got boat raced by Virginia.

Clemson- 5 wins vs below average competition. Lost to #7 and #9 in these dumb rankings I have come up with. Louisville coming up will be interesting in the grand scheme of the ACC

Princeton- loses to #7 and #18 in my dumb rankings, needed a heck of a comeback vs an average PSU team. Could jump up big time with a win vs Florida.

Fairfield- awful loss to Holy Cross who got beat by Bryant makes it tough to slot them in.

Richmond- Not touching it after the no show vs UVA

Harvard- Big game vs Duke, if they can beat the margin of Navy (1) and Clemson (9) then they can hop in over those two.

Stanford- Loss to #18 and #7 in dumb rankings that no one cares about. They have Denver, Colorado, Stony Brook, and USC to climb to a top 15 ranking if they take care of business.

Drexel-Beat by Fairfield who I won’t put in, rest of the schedule needs to be wins (stony brook is the toughest matchup left). Beat by #3 and #11.

[BackOfTheNet]

Top 20

1. Northwestern
2. Maryland
3. Michigan
4. Virginia
5. Loyola

6. Boston College
7. Johns Hopkins
8. Florida
9. Stony Brook
10. James Madison

11. Penn
12. North Carolina
13. Syracuse
14. Denver
15. Notre Dame

16. Yale
17. Harvard
18. Brown
19. Penn St
20. Fairfield

Top 15 everybody can beat everybody.

Disagree--not Loyola, not Florida, not Penn, not Hop. Polls are polls based on a bunch of different criteria. None of those teams can beat Northwestern. Put Denver in there too. On the whole though--I agree with your general point. A lot of parity in the rankings so far this season.

Agree that everybody in top 15 can beat anybody. Everyones focused on the top 10, many who have not WON more than one or even ANY challenging games yet (boston, michigan). While teams hanging out in 10-15 just started lower in the rankings. Why does a 6-1 JMU get a 2 ranking and 6-1 UVA get 14 last week? Obviously that will start to change as 10-15 get their shots against 1-10. Both stonybrook and virginia proved that this week.

Not sure why you would discount a 5-0 Penn with a JHU win under them. We'll know more when they face michigan, but the last time they played a top 10 was NCAAs last year and played a close 9-7 to BC. Their defense happens to have one of the lowest GA average of this group. Anyone can beat anyone in the top 15.

[OuttaNowhereWregget]

Not sure why you would discount a 5-0 Penn with a JHU win under them. We'll know more when they face michigan, but the last time they played a top 10 was NCAAs last year and played a close 9-7 to BC. Their defense happens to the lowest GA average of everyone in this group. Anyone can beat anyone in the top 15.

Last year was last year. Penn's played 5 games thus far. We know nothing conclusive yet about Penn. Numbers tallied from mostly mediocre to poor teams--also meaningless. The Quakers will have legitimate opportunities to prove their mettle soon enough however: Michigan 3.16; at Maryland 3.27; Loyola 4.17. Then we'll see what their numbers look like. I don't think they'll have a Sunday afternoon stroll through the rest of the Ancient Eight either. We shall see. Good to consider though. I like Penn. Love their coach. I hope they do well.

[Womenslaxxfan]

1. Northwestern- Weird game vs Denver where they had to find another gear, but still have them here.

2. BC- Only loss to #1, for some reason always plays Louisville tight, but have passed the tests that they have needed too. Could see them sliding down once they hit other ACC competition

3. Maryland- 2 big time W’s on the Road vs Cuse/Denver (tough places to play) and an odd 2nd half away from being #1. JMU win helps a ton here

4. JMU- Not dropping them too much after losing on the concrete field in MD (I know you are asking why Florida isn’t higher than when they won there). UNC win is very good.

5. Michigan- undefeated and has a claim for the crown, but I just can’t get the ASU game out of my head…see them dropping a game they shouldn’t soon

6. Loyola- Rolled Florida in the 2nd half of their game and beat JHU in the crosstown matchup. Circling the Cuse matchup at the end of the month to get an idea if they are legit or not

7. Virginia- Lost to UNC in OT, but vanquished the Irish on the road. Hot hand. If we were doing one on who would beat who, give me them over Michigan for sure and possibly Loyola. Schwab might be the most important player to an offense in the country.

8. Notre Dame-Beat the #8 team and lost to the #6 team this week at home. Tons of talent on this team. Excited to see them play BC soon.

9. UNC- Figured out something on the draw control this past weekend. I am not sure if they can win the title, but they have some veterans who will help vs the younger teams in the league (See last weekend result)

10. Cuse- Loss to Stony Brook looks worse here or they would have been higher. Big one vs UNC this weekend to see who exactly there are.

11. Penn- Beat JHU who beat SBU. Rest of the schedule are teams headed to 80+ RPI’s . Looking forward to Michigan game (give me Penn) and the Maryland game (give me Maryland)

12. JHU- Some might ask why they aren’t in the single digits? Cuse win vs ND is better than JHU best win vs ND. Not a serious contender after that Gtown stinker

13. SBU- Cuse win was great, let down vs Hopkins was a bummer. Them and #12 can fight it out for this spot tomorrow night.

14. Denver- can’t be in the top 10 with a 3-3 record. Better fight against NW inside keeps them up here.

15. Florida- Again- MD game was a bit flukey and I am not going to reward you for beating the snot out of ASU, Jax, UC Davis, and SDSU. Princeton game will be interesting test of where the Ivy sits amongst the Big10, ACC, and American teams.

16. USC- Much like Michigan, I am not a believer and my hot take is that Stanford will get the AQ for the PAC 12 (RIP). Only beating Army (2-5) by 4, Villanova (recent loss to Columbia, 2-5) by 1, and VCU (1-5) by 3. No good

17. Colorado- Slotting them here but will know more once they play Stanford this weekend. Tight wins vs PSU (even with their nice win, don’t see them being a good win long term), Louisville, St. Jospeh’s (who might win the A10)

18. Yale- Beat Stanford which could be a really good win come tournament time (think Stanford replaces Colorado and USC as the top 20 Pac 12 team). Beat Princeton. Big one vs Rutgers coming next weekend (same reasoning as the Florida vs Princeton game) from a national perspective.

Not ranking 19 and 20, but will for next week: See below why

Options for 19 and 20:
Navy- lost to Drexel by 1. Best win was Richmond who got boat raced by Virginia.

Clemson- 5 wins vs below average competition. Lost to #7 and #9 in these dumb rankings I have come up with. Louisville coming up will be interesting in the grand scheme of the ACC

Princeton- loses to #7 and #18 in my dumb rankings, needed a heck of a comeback vs an average PSU team. Could jump up big time with a win vs Florida.

Fairfield- awful loss to Holy Cross who got beat by Bryant makes it tough to slot them in.

Richmond- Not touching it after the no show vs UVA

Harvard- Big game vs Duke, if they can beat the margin of Navy (1) and Clemson (9) then they can hop in over those two.

Stanford- Loss to #18 and #7 in dumb rankings that no one cares about. They have Denver, Colorado, Stony Brook, and USC to climb to a top 15 ranking if they take care of business.

Drexel-Beat by Fairfield who I won’t put in, rest of the schedule needs to be wins (stony brook is the toughest matchup left). Beat by #3 and #11.

This was great stuff. Largely agree with everything other than quibbling.

[BackOfTheNet]

Not sure why you would discount a 5-0 Penn with a JHU win under them. We'll know more when they face michigan, but the last time they played a top 10 was NCAAs last year and played a close 9-7 to BC. Their defense happens to the lowest GA average of everyone in this group. Anyone can beat anyone in the top 15.

Last year was last year. Penn's played 5 games thus far. We know nothing conclusive yet about Penn. Numbers tallied from mostly mediocre to poor teams--also meaningless. The Quakers will have legitimate opportunities to prove their mettle soon enough however: Michigan 3.16; at Maryland 3.27; Loyola 4.17. Then we'll see what their numbers look like. I don't think they'll have a Sunday afternoon stroll through the rest of the Ancient Eight either. We shall see. Good to consider though. I like Penn. Love their coach. I hope they do well.

Point was, some of the top 10 has largely played mediocre to poor teams as well. And theyre sitting in their rankings based on LAST YEAR. this week's games proved the top 10 needed a shakeup.