FanLax Forum Poll

[LaxGuy17]

how did 2 other posters not rank UMass?

Good question...

And while we're at it--where are all the accompanying rationales?

Ok here’s mine and after 15 it’s a crap shoot so I’m only doing 15...

1) UNC...most talent on paper, they move when NU beats them. Believe the hype for now if you want...I did.

2) NU..wow who needs to play D. Great O, transition, Goalie and Draw. If there was ever a team built in their coaches mold...it’s this one.

3) Cuse...did this before loss to SB, doesn’t change my view or pick as Natty Champ this year

4) MD...respect until they lose, but cmon talent isn’t yet close to 3 above

5) ND..ranked here for now, but they’ll drop after NU dismantles them this weekend. Expect 8 or 9 goal loss!

6) UVA...survive and advance, listen any team playing a physical and always in top shape Navy team will struggle in Game 1. You’ll agree with me after they are 5-0.

7) Princeton...don’t believe it, but didn’t play yet so can’t move em down. Lost 95% of draws and other key pieces (George, etc.). Until they show they can survive a Sears faceguard, I don’t believe.

8) Loyola..I’m a believer in Rosensweig, but can they win a draw without the sisters VT and survive a Rosensweig faceguard, I don’t know. Too good to move lower.

9) Penn...nobody is talking about this solid team top to bottom. Good on circle, 3-4 legit scorers, other Rosensweig as QB. Will win Ivy’s...move em up people!

10) Umass...cmon they beat a top 6-7 team handily and looked good doing it. Can we give them props for at least one week. BTW who else do they lose to the rest of the way? They have staying power.

11) BC...they will get better..won’t they?

12) Navy...good, not great. Should have beaten UVA but didn’t. Larkin will keep them up.

13) Stony Brook...did this before game against SU, but that was a perfect system game for SB. Let’s see how they do against solid man to man and Ohlmiller faceguard. Yes I wouldn’t faceguard Kennedy. Expect them to move up with their schedule, just not yet.

14) Denver..best of the west, but it’s the West. See last 4 or 5 NCAA Tourney’s. Until a Team from the West beats a real Team this year...Sidekick!!!!

15) USC...see above. They will drop hard in future weeks.

[LaxDad23]

Mine...

as for UMASS... i penalized BC for the loss, but forgot to reward UMASS for the 'w' will rectify this week.

My theme for this week... good teams find ways to win close games...

1. North Carolina -- still the best in my view. Return too many weapons
2. Syracuse -- i had them here before the SB loss, they will certainly drop. See this week's theme above.
3. Northwestern -- scored a lot of goals, but still winning despite D
4. Maryland -- won the opener, but young... we'll see
5. Princeton -- no news -- no change -- won't know about them for a couple of weeks
6. Denver -- beat a plucky Stanford team... have scorers, goal keeper.. right now they look pretty good... biggest mover for me
7. Virginia -- squeaked by Navy see theme for week.
8. Michigan -- looked okay in game... see theme for week.
9. Boston College -- dropped a few slots... growing pains
10. USC -- see theme for week... return a lot of scorers, defense and goalie... i think (hope) they will surprise
11. Penn -- no news, no change
12. Notre Dame -- not buying into the hype. they won big against marquette. unless you are an indigenous people, hate the face paint.
13. Loyola -- no news. let's see what this week brings
14. Stony Brook -- pre-Syracuse win... will move up...
15. Navy -- close won with Virginia
16. Florida -- close win against Colorado.. see this week's theme, but not as good as past years
17. James Madison -- lost to UNC...
18. Colorado -- lost to Florida, but better showing than I expected
19. Duke -- they had a couple of good games, but until they beat someone good, we'll see
20. Va Tech -- off to a good start
21. Penn State -- beat Towson
22. Stanford -- played okay on the road at Denver
23. Georgetown -- won opener
24. Dartmouth -- no news
25. Hopkins -- squeaked by opener

[wlaxnut]

...unless you are an indigenous people, hate the face paint.

I used to feel the same way. Then I read some of the history of the sport, and how Native Americans used to settle disputes by playing this amazing game of lacrosse, sometimes for days. It has been a practice of Native Americans going into battle in the days of yore to craft designs on their faces—warpaint. I see it now as a way of honoring the tradition of Native Americans and carrying on a legacy. When one hears the spine-tingling pregame war cries of some of the brave young women preparing for battle, I see the warpaint as honorary and that they are serious about going to war, as it were.

[wlaxnut]

Princeton struggled against Temple, they’ll be dropping down. Obviously Maryland will take a bit of a plunge. Dartmouth gets a bump up after going into UMass and winning. (I think all the Ivy League teams won today, except Columbia.) Florida will get a bump up obviously. Loyola bump up.

UNC
ND
NU
SBU
FLA

Toying with this for a top 5 maybe

[Dr. Tact]

Princeton struggled against Temple, they’ll be dropping down. Obviously Maryland will take a bit of a plunge. Dartmouth gets a bump up after going into UMass and winning. (I think all the Ivy League teams won today, except Columbia.) Florida will get a bump up obviously. Loyola bump up.

UNC
ND
NU
SBU
FLA

Toying with this for a top 5 maybe

Still not convinced on the Gators....but you are entitiled to your opinion. Yes, you (FLA) beat MD, you get some cred, but was it FLA beating MD or the Terps just not playing to their level....I dont know, I didnt see it, just the final score...Love your top 5 though, BOLD

[wlaxnut]

Princeton struggled against Temple, they’ll be dropping down. Obviously Maryland will take a bit of a plunge. Dartmouth gets a bump up after going into UMass and winning. (I think all the Ivy League teams won today, except Columbia.) Florida will get a bump up obviously. Loyola bump up.

UNC
ND
NU
SBU
FLA

Toying with this for a top 5 maybe

Still not convinced on the Gators....but you are entitiled to your opinion. Yes, you (FLA) beat MD, you get some cred, but was it FLA beating MD or the Terps just not playing to their level....I dont know, I didnt see it, just the final score...Love your top 5 though, BOLD

Agreed. I don't know how long the green reptiles will stay there. Next week's tussle with your Hounds will tell a thing or two. I figured they deserve their moment in the sun as it was a very impressive win, given the reputation of their opponent alone and the ending of The Streak. And I also agree--I still don't really know how good or mediocre this turtle team is. They looked pedestrian during much of the game. They have lost a lot on offense over the past two years and it's showing. Not ready to write them off yet but my oh my do they have two stiff tests coming up--at UNC and at Syracuse less than a week later.

[Matnum PI]

1. Polls due on Monday Night at Midnight.
2. You may want to have a Poll in hand to work off of. Trying to remember your Top Teams week-after-week is not a simply task.
3. You can now have your submitted Poll e-mailed to you so you can see your Poll. BUT... You will not have access to this functionality until after Feb. 18th.

[wlaxnut]

1. Polls due on Monday Night at Midnight.
2. You may want to have a Poll in hand to work off of. Trying to remember your Top Teams week-after-week is not a simply task.
3. You can now have your submitted Poll e-mailed to you so you can see your Poll. BUT... You will not have access to this functionality until after Feb. 18th.

I type my picks out first and save them. From there I enter the picks, then I copy the whole into a new post under the thread. It is easier to work off one's old polls than to try to recreate from scratch each week, as you say.

[Matnum PI]

Florida at #15...

http://fanlax.com/fanlax/2020/02/11/d1- ... b-10-2020/

[seacoaster]

Unless something weird happens, here's where I am going:

February 17, 2020

1. UNC (beat High Point, beat Davidson, yawn…)
2. Notre Dame (beat NU in Evanston; tough gritty win in a game that could have gone either way, and in which UND kept their cool for the W; then beat Central Michigan at home when everyone was supposed top be in church)
3. NU (lost to Our Lady of the ACC, then put a can of whoopass on poor ASU)
4. Syracuse (beat Albany after going to sleep for 12 minutes during a game against Stony Brook, then beat Bingo)
5. SBU (beat Syracuse in the Dome; then got out a can of whoopass on someone else)
6. UVA (beat Stanford 12-11)
7. Penn (beat Georgetown 17-6)
8. Loyola (beat JHU soundly)
9. Princeton (beat Temple 16-14, without D’Orsi – monitoring this situation)
10. USC (beat Michigan 10-8)
11. Florida (beat the Terps in College Park)
12. Maryland (lost to Gators at home; big learning moment? Or sign of things to come? I think Maryland will only climb from here as the season progresses)
13. BC (beat the Commonwealth Ave crew; beat Vandy. BC-USC game on Friday 2/21 should be interesting)
14. Denver (beat Lousiville)
15. Michigan (lost to USC after a desultory showing in Jacksonville; the B1G not looking great this year)
16. Colorado (DNP)
17. Dartmouth (beat UMass 15-11 in Amherst)
18. Navy (beat St. Joe’s)
19. Stanford (lost to UVA by a goal)
20. JMU (beat Virginia Tech 9-8 in either one or two OTs; because this is women’s lacrosse, it’s really impossible to say….)

[Matnum PI]

sea, Why lift FL a little and drop MD so much vs. moving FL up so much and dropping MD a little?

[Dr. Tact]

Unless something weird happens, here's where I am going:

February 17, 2020

1. UNC (beat High Point, beat Davidson, yawn…)
2. Notre Dame (beat NU in Evanston; tough gritty win in a game that could have gone either way, and in which UND kept their cool for the W; then beat Central Michigan at home when everyone was supposed top be in church)
3. NU (lost to Our Lady of the ACC, then put a can of whoopass on poor ASU)
4. Syracuse (beat Albany after going to sleep for 12 minutes during a game against Stony Brook, then beat Bingo)
5. SBU (beat Syracuse in the Dome; then got out a can of whoopass on someone else)
6. UVA (beat Stanford 12-11)
7. Penn (beat Georgetown 17-6)
8. Loyola (beat JHU soundly)
9. Princeton (beat Temple 16-14, without D’Orsi – monitoring this situation)
10. USC (beat Michigan 10-8)
11. Florida (beat the Terps in College Park)
12. Maryland (lost to Gators at home; big learning moment? Or sign of things to come? I think Maryland will only climb from here as the season progresses)
13. BC (beat the Commonwealth Ave crew; beat Vandy. BC-USC game on Friday 2/21 should be interesting)
14. Denver (beat Lousiville)
15. Michigan (lost to USC after a desultory showing in Jacksonville; the B1G not looking great this year)
16. Colorado (DNP)
17. Dartmouth (beat UMass 15-11 in Amherst)
18. Navy (beat St. Joe’s)
19. Stanford (lost to UVA by a goal)
20. JMU (beat Virginia Tech 9-8 in either one or two OTs; because this is women’s lacrosse, it’s really impossible to say….)

Waiting for today's games, but my first 10 are almost exactly yours...I kept MD in the top ten...

[seacoaster]

sea, Why lift FL a little and drop MD so much vs. moving FL up so much and dropping MD a little?

Mostly because Maryland hasn't proved it deserves it. Florida narrowly beat what I think is an OK Colorado team. Maryland beat a mid-major and then lost a game, at home, that it could have and maybe should have won. I think I had Florida about where it belonged last week, and had Maryland several spots above what it deserves. Be mindful that I think Maryland's trajectory is up from here. It'll lose to Carolina, and then give Cuse a good game, and it'll keep learning and improving.

[wlaxnut]

1 - UNC — And then there was one (of the top 5 yet to suffer an upset)
2 - Notre Dame — Impressive win in Evanston over (my) #2 Wildcats
3 - Northwestern — I think they would beat the #4 and #5 teams, so I bumped them down only 1 spot
4 - Stony Brook — Very impressive win over Syracuse in the Dome
5 - Florida — Breaks into the top 5 with that monumental win.
6 - Virgina — Won another tight one on the road vs Stanford
7 - Syracuse — They have a lot of talent if they can just work on being more consistent
8 - Maryland — I still don’t know how good or bad this years edition is. They look pedestrian at times.
9 - Loyola — Won their opener in pretty easy fashion
10 - Penn — The Quakers open with a blowout win over ranked Georgetown on the road
11 - Princeton — They struggled all game vs Temple. Had to come from behind to win.
12 - Navy — Withstood a good test from Duke at home
13 - Duke — Good fight vs. Navy. This team has a lot of talent and they will improve as the year goes on
14 - USC — Win over Michigan but I’m not sure how good Michigan is. Their offense seems one dimensional
15 - Dartmouth — Solid win over UMass in Amherst
16 - JMU — Won tough OT scrap over VT
17 - Denver — Still not sure how good/bad this team is. Haven’t really played anyone yet
18 - VT — Lost a tough game in the rain. If they took better care of the ball in OT they might have won
19 - BC — Showed signs of jelling with win over BU but struggled mightily vs Vanderbilt
20 - UMass — Tough loss to a good Dartmouth team. They won’t be tested again till April
21 - Penn St — Won again but over a marginal team at best
22 - Michigan — They seem more and more to be a limited team: play good defense and hope to squeeze out goals
23 - Colorado — Long time off between games.
24 - Hofstra — Bounced back with a win
25 - Georgetown — Blown out by a top 10 team. That’s good for a few RPI

[seacoaster]

Unless something weird happens, here's where I am going:

February 17, 2020

1. UNC (beat High Point, beat Davidson, yawn…)
2. Notre Dame (beat NU in Evanston; tough gritty win in a game that could have gone either way, and in which UND kept their cool for the W; then beat Central Michigan at home when everyone was supposed top be in church)
3. NU (lost to Our Lady of the ACC, then put a can of whoopass on poor ASU)
4. Syracuse (beat Albany after going to sleep for 12 minutes during a game against Stony Brook, then beat Bingo)
5. SBU (beat Syracuse in the Dome; then got out a can of whoopass on someone else)
6. UVA (beat Stanford 12-11)
7. Penn (beat Georgetown 17-6)
8. Loyola (beat JHU soundly)
9. Princeton (beat Temple 16-14, without D’Orsi – monitoring this situation)
10. USC (beat Michigan 10-8)
11. Florida (beat the Terps in College Park)
12. Maryland (lost to Gators at home; big learning moment? Or sign of things to come? I think Maryland will only climb from here as the season progresses)
13. BC (beat the Commonwealth Ave crew; beat Vandy. BC-USC game on Friday 2/21 should be interesting)
14. Denver (beat Lousiville)
15. Michigan (lost to USC after a desultory showing in Jacksonville; the B1G not looking great this year)
16. Colorado (DNP)
17. Dartmouth (beat UMass 15-11 in Amherst)
18. Navy (beat St. Joe’s)
19. Stanford (lost to UVA by a goal)
20. JMU (beat Virginia Tech 9-8 in either one or two OTs; because this is women’s lacrosse, it’s really impossible to say….)

Waiting for today's games, but my first 10 are almost exactly yours...I kept MD in the top ten...

So I switched USC (to 11) and Florida (to 10) in the submitted poll.

[Dr. Tact]

1 - UNC — And then there was one (of the top 5 yet to suffer an upset)
2 - Notre Dame — Impressive win in Evanston over (my) #2 Wildcats
3 - Northwestern — I think they would beat the #4 and #5 teams, so I bumped them down only 1 spot
4 - Stony Brook — Very impressive win over Syracuse in the Dome
5 - Florida — Breaks into the top 5 with that monumental win.
6 - Virgina — Won another tight one on the road vs Stanford
7 - Syracuse — They have a lot of talent if they can just work on being more consistent
8 - Maryland — I still don’t know how good or bad this years edition is. They look pedestrian at times.
9 - Loyola — Won their opener in pretty easy fashion
10 - Penn — The Quakers open with a blowout win over ranked Georgetown on the road
11 - Princeton — They struggled all game vs Temple. Had to come from behind to win.
12 - Navy — Withstood a good test from Duke at home
13 - Duke — Good fight vs. Navy. This team has a lot of talent and they will improve as the year goes on
14 - USC — Win over Michigan but I’m not sure how good Michigan is. Their offense seems one dimensional
15 - Dartmouth — Solid win over UMass in Amherst
16 - JMU — Won tough OT scrap over VT
17 - Denver — Still not sure how good/bad this team is. Haven’t really played anyone yet
18 - VT — Lost a tough game in the rain. If they took better care of the ball in OT they might have won
19 - BC — Showed signs of jelling with win over BU but struggled mightily vs Vanderbilt
20 - UMass — Tough loss to a good Dartmouth team. They won’t be tested again till April
21 - Penn St — Won again but over a marginal team at best
22 - Michigan — They seem more and more to be a limited team: play good defense and hope to squeeze out goals
23 - Colorado — Long time off between games.
24 - Hofstra — Bounced back with a win
25 - Georgetown — Blown out by a top 10 team. That’s good for a few RPI

you will see with my rankings (when I get to them) that I am a slightly different than you.... I have SBU and 'cuse in the opposite positions than you....I still think Cuse is going to be the better team, but they got schooled in that game.. (and BTW that video of Joe coaching them up was money. Priceless!!!) I value Penn over Loyola because they played a better opponent in GT than Hop. Oh, I have FLA much lower than you do, just below Princeton. Bottom 15 we dont align, but that is much harder to qualify.

As far as overrated teams. I think UVA is the number one candidate. I have them in the top 7 as you do, but I dont think they have showed much with their 2 one goal games. The second candidate is FLA. Great game against the Terps, but I am not sure what that means. I would have included ND, but darn it, they look good. So they are not overrated at all.

[wlaxnut]

Good Shtuff, Doc. I look forward to seeing your picks along with the rest of the pollsters. This was a rootin tootin good idea Matnum had, warn't it? Take a bow, Matnum!

[Dr. Tact]

Week 2

1. UNC - nothin to say here
2. ND - hurts me to put them this high, but they earned it
3. NU - I think NU wins that game against ND 7 out of 10 times.
4. Syracuse - to be a top team, you have to beat top teams in your own house...too much talent to drop them much
5. SBU - Big jump for beating the Cuse....only 2 or 3 more tough games on their schedule...could be undefeated.
6. UMD - dropped some, but still a top 10 team
7. UVA - two squeaker games that should have been easier. Princeton, Richmond, UNC, Duke, Cuse, JMU, Penn State in the next month, then ND and Loyola...whew that is alot of quality games.
8. Penn - Watch out for the Quakers...they may be too high in this ranking, but like what they did to Georgetown...Maybe GT isnt good?
9. Loyola
10. Princeton - I still think they are top 10, but a 2 goal win over Temple?
11. Florida - 2 one goal wins, one of them taking down the terps they jump up in my poll, but want to see where they are after Loyola. I am gonna take heat on this one after the MD win
12. Navy - Tough loss to UVA, but hung on enough to beat Duke. This could be as high as they get
13. USC - not sure about this team, if they beat BC, maybe they deserve being up here?
14. JMU - Good win against the Hokies, but too close a game against UConn. Penn State and UVA in their near future...
15. Denver - I want to like this team, but just not enough yet for me to know how good they are
16. Dartmouth - Win over UMass...with the transitive property, they are better than BC (below)
17. BC - North has 12G 5 A in 3 games....If they have it figured out after stubbing their toes against UMass, they could be back up in a hurry
18. Colorado - Buffs had a good game against FLA...not enough to rank them higher
19. UMass - an A-10 team in top 20....we will see if they can get any higher
20. Stanford - opened with Denver and UVA...Then NU and USC coming up...win one of those two and they stay in the top 25...lose and they drop out
21. Michigan - Beat Colorado next week and they could be 6-1 when they host Denver. If that is the case they should be nipping at the top 10
22. Penn State - Carter appears to still be out...they need her easy wins versus Towson/Lehigh...Loyola, JMU, NU, UVA, Princeton, Mich., UMD are still on the schedule...
23. VT - tough loss against JMU. But then you have (had) Davidson, Liberty, Radford, Elon, Cincy, Louisville, Bill and Mary before Cuse. They will be 7-1 going to the dome...They will be riding high, but I dont see them in the top 15.
24. Georgetown - Smoked by the quakers...but smoked St Joe's. Hop should be a good test for them next week
25. Richmond - Killed the teams they should by a combined 36-9 (Longwood, Radford). Got to give UVA a game to move up.

[seacoaster]

So Doc, you and I are thinking along the same lines, a lot of the time anyway.

One quick comment: I think Richmond may be the class of the A-10. We'll be able to see them in action against William & Mary on February 22 ESPN+, and then they are in Charlottesville, where I think they will give UVA a good game.

I completely understand placing a team higher than another even where (SBU-SU, Maryland-FLA) the lower won head-to-head. But I think Maryland just misses Colson and Giles and Evans and Taylor and Braig and Steele, etc., too much to warrant a top ten slot -- for now anyway.

I share you and wlaxnut's consternation about Princeton; not only did they lose a lot to graduation, but only squeaked by Temple. Couple of things: first, why didn't D'Orsi play? They are a different team without her playmaking around GLE. And second, Temple may well be a pretty good team. Rosen is a good coach.

[Dr. Tact]

One quick comment: I think Richmond may be the class of the A-10. We'll be able to see them in action against William & Mary on February 22 ESPN+, and then they are in Charlottesville, where I think they will give UVA a good game.

You may be right...been recruiting well the last few years (they have a good 21 class)...That said, they got squashed against Loyola in the first round last year....I would love to see Richmond get in the top 20...and take down UMass a step or two, but that wont happen until April...I wouldnt be surprised if UVA overlooks the spiders...with the schedule they (UVA) have, it would be a perfect trap game.