2020 Preason Top 20

[AreaLax]

PENN STATE RANKED NO. 1 IN NIKE/USL DIVISION I MEN’S PRESEASON TOP 20]

1 Penn State
2 Virginia
3 Yale
4 Maryland
5 Duke
6 Notre Dame
7 Syracuse
8 Johns Hopkins
9 Denver
10 Penn
11 North Carolina
12 Cornell
13 Ohio State
14 UMass
15 Loyola
16 Rutgers
17 Villanova
18 Lehigh
19 Towson
20 Army

[AreaLax]

IL Top 5
UVA
PSU
Yale
Maryland
Penn

[HopFan16]

Full IL top 20:

1. UVA
2. Penn State
3. Yale
4. Maryland
5. Penn
6. Duke
7. Notre Dame
8. Syracuse
9. Ohio State
10. Denver
11. North Carolina
12. Cornell
13. Johns Hopkins
14. Loyola
15. Army
16. Georgetown
17. High Point
18. Towson
19. UMass
20. Lehigh

[RumorMill]

Not too many surprises. Largest discrepancies look like Rutgers, High Point, Penn and Villanova.

[calourie]

Not too many surprises. Largest discrepancies look like Rutgers, High Point, Penn and Villanova.

Which implies Georgetown as a team showing up at 16 on only one list, as well as perhaps Hopkins and UMass if one considers a discrepancy of 5 spots as a meaningful deviation for those on both lists.

[RumorMill]

Not too many surprises. Largest discrepancies look like Rutgers, High Point, Penn and Villanova.

Which implies Georgetown as a team showing up at 16 on only one list, as well as perhaps Hopkins and UMass if one considers a discrepancy of 5 spots as a meaningful deviation for those on both lists.

Georgetown agree. And yes 5 place deviation considered, listed Penn because one has them top 5... but can definitely argue Umass and Hopkins.

[Henpecked]

In my mind this is the most competitive top 20 teams that I’ve seen in years. Wouldn’t completely surprise me to see any of these teams in the final four. This season will showcase the deepest attack talent I’ve ever seen. When Jeff Teat is not in the top 3 attack units, you know it’s deep.

UMass brings back a BOATLOAD of offense but will miss Scannone and Paparo more than you think. They look more like a 19 than a 14, but that’s splitting hairs.

February can’t get here soon enough.

[RumorMill]

Hope you’re wrong about UMass! Have them in my final four. But definitely agree with the rest, looking forward to a fun and competitive season.

[Laxfandad]

Polls are opinions and like....everyone has one.

Ranking should incorporate Strength of Schedule (RPI) [Value 0.612] + Goal For Differential (normalized by a factor to be a similar sized value as RPI).

If you play the tougher schedule and roll the table (like Penn State last year) then you are an undisputed #1 rank.
If you play the tougher schedule but are mediocre (like Hopkins last year outside their 2 wins against Maryland late) then the negative "goal for differential" brings down your RPI and you are not ranked as high.
If you play a slightly weaker schedule but have a positive "goal for differential" then you have displayed a winning pedigree and you should have a higher ranking. The teams with these weaker schedules are not always in control of their schedules. The Big Boys control who they play, when they play and where they play.

If High Point had rolled the table last year (excluding their SoCon tourney), where should they be ranked? If they then lost the SoCon after going undefeated would they be omitted from the tourney. Could a team with a weaker schedule that goes 16-0 not be ranked #1?

This idea of a good win or a bad loss is way too subjective and honestly is a nonsensical statistic. Create a mathematical formula and let the numbers not biased parties make the decision.

[MDlaxfan76]

Not only are these merely 'opinions' they have no actual importance.
So, they're really not worth sweating beyond the fun of debating the merits of one's opinion versus that of others.

The advantage of 'opinions' versus a basic algorithm is that they can look at what is different this year versus last year.
Who graduated, who transferred, who is injured, which coaches moved...

They can consider past match-ups, not only of the team but key personnel.

Now, in-season rankings begin to have some meaning, though all that really is important are the games actually played, the post-season opportunities earned (or granted), and the final outcomes.

IMO, Penn State deserved its #1 ranking in spades.
However, UVA won the National Championship.

Guess which one we all would prefer?

[hofpride]

dont sleep on the Dutch

[blue angels]

Polls are opinions and like....everyone has one.

Ranking should incorporate Strength of Schedule (RPI) [Value 0.612] + Goal For Differential (normalized by a factor to be a similar sized value as RPI).

If you play the tougher schedule and roll the table (like Penn State last year) then you are an undisputed #1 rank.
If you play the tougher schedule but are mediocre (like Hopkins last year outside their 2 wins against Maryland late) then the negative "goal for differential" brings down your RPI and you are not ranked as high.
If you play a slightly weaker schedule but have a positive "goal for differential" then you have displayed a winning pedigree and you should have a higher ranking. The teams with these weaker schedules are not always in control of their schedules. The Big Boys control who they play, when they play and where they play.

If High Point had rolled the table last year (excluding their SoCon tourney), where should they be ranked? If they then lost the SoCon after going undefeated would they be omitted from the tourney. Could a team with a weaker schedule that goes 16-0 not be ranked #1?

This idea of a good win or a bad loss is way too subjective and honestly is a nonsensical statistic. Create a mathematical formula and let the numbers not biased parties make the decision.

Undisputed #1........Hmmmmm. Penn State had a very good, not great 2019 season but this is the definition of a Homer post. Let me guess, Jo PA is the greatest college football coach ever?

[xxxxxxx]

The cover of Inside Lacrosse has 2 players from Haverford School on the cover, Grant Ament and Dox Aitken. Says a lot about John Nostrant, and they also both played for the club he runs Mesa. Pretty impressive.

[Matnum PI]

FanLax doesn’t do (a.k.a. hates) Preseason Rankings. The FanLax 2020 Preseason Rankings are the 2019 Post-Season Rankings.

1 Virginia
2 Yale
3 Penn State
4 Penn
5 Duke
6 Maryland
7 Notre Dame
8 Cornell
9 Johns Hopkins
10 Loyola
11 North Carolina
12 Towson
13 Syracuse
14 Ohio State
15 Denver
16 Army
17 High Point
18 Rutgers
19 Villanova
20 Richmond
21 Princeton
22 Georgetown
23 UMass
24 Delaware
25 Boston University
26 Bucknell
27 Navy
28 Lehigh
29 Drexel
30 Michigan
31 Air Force
32 Brown
33 Harvard
34 Holy Cross
35 Hofstra
36 Marquette
37 Colgate
38 Providence
39 Jacksonville
40 Mount St Mary’s
41 Sacred Heart
42 Robert Morris
43 Hobart
44 Cleveland State
45 Fairfield
46 Stony Brook
47 Saint Joseph’s
48 St. John’s
49 Albany
50 Vermont
51 UMBC
52 Marist
53 Utah
54 Detroit Mercy
55 Canisius
56 Monmouth
57 Siena
58 Quinnipiac
59 Bryant
60 Lafayette
61 Hartford
62 UMass Lowell
63 Furman
64 Manhattan
65 Binghamton
66 Bellarmine
67 Dartmouth
68 Mercer
69 VMI
70 St. Bonaventure
71 Wagner
72 NJIT
73 Hampton

[Matnum PI]

Undisputed #1........Hmmmmm.

Last season, they were also the undisputed #1. Who is going to beat them?!?! etc. ...

[ABV 8.3%]

FanLax doesn’t do (a.k.a. hates) Preseason Rankings. The FanLax 2020 Preseason Rankings are the 2019 Post-Season Rankings.

1 Virginia
2 Yale
3 Penn State
4 Penn
5 Duke

head scratcher, and could have sworn that duke was in the semi's, NOT Penn. like your method, lots of positives. But, shouldn't, if you finished in the top 4, be in the top 4 ? if I click the link, will it explain how this happened? ?

[ABV 8.3%]

Another Holiday miracle is Princeton is no longer ranked in the pre-season. Years of not even making the Ivy tourny finally catching peoples attention? Hoping for less glacial like observations/reactions in the future for the lacrosse world.

[Matnum PI]

head scratcher, and could have sworn that duke was in the semi's, NOT Penn. like your method, lots of positives. But, shouldn't, if you finished in the top 4, be in the top 4 ? if I click the link, will it explain how this happened? ?

If you click the link(s), it does explain. Being in the Final Four doesn't make you a top 4 team because not all paths to the Final Four are created equal. But, to answer your question, Penn is ahead of Duke because:

Penn's and Duke's wins are equal (both ranked #2 in terms of Best Wins) but Duke's losses are worse. Penn's three worst losses are to MD, Duke, and PSU. Duke's three worst loses were to High Point, SU, and UNC.

[ABV 8.3%]

head scratcher, and could have sworn that duke was in the semi's, NOT Penn. like your method, lots of positives. But, shouldn't, if you finished in the top 4, be in the top 4 ? if I click the link, will it explain how this happened? ?

If you click the link(s), it does explain. Being in the Final Four doesn't make you a top 4 team because not all paths to the Final Four are created equal. But, to answer your question, Penn is ahead of Duke because:

Penn's and Duke's wins are equal (both ranked #2 in terms of Best Wins) but Duke's losses are worse. Penn's three worst losses are to MD, Duke, and PSU. Duke's three worst loses were to High Point, SU, and UNC.

If a SoCon team loses to Hampton, how is this counted ? How about Merrimack ? The latter being much more likely.

What's your "if everyone started with the same ante" method tell you?

[Matnum PI]

If a SoCon team loses to Hampton, how is this counted ? How about Merrimack ?

If I understand your question, losing to Hampton is bad. No matter who loses to them. It makes the team's Worst Loss a loss to the worst D1 Men's team. On Day One of 2020, if a team loses to UVA, it'll actually be like they never played a game. (UVA is currently ranked #1.) On Day One of 2020, losing to Hampton (who is in last place) will put you in last place in the rankings. Until you get some good wins, Hampton moves up, etc.

PS My "10% Ante System" was from 2 years ago. The Rankings were based on a system similar to playing poker where each team would put up 10% of their Points (where Top Ranked teams had more Points and bottom ranked teams had less) and the winner of the game walked away with all the ante Points. It was fun but I don't do that any more. This system is a Comparative System that looks at each team's Best Wins and Worst Losses.