Final Four Predictions (Poll)

[OCanada]

The pressure is on at Cuse. Changes made to staff etc. make the FF. They should be included in the discussion.

[FannOLax]

A number of us picked Cuse to make the Final Four. Especially after Scanlan's transfer, the Orange have definitely been in the discussion. As I see it, nobody is a lock; there will be more than four teams capable of winning it all in 2020, meaning that several very good teams won't make it to the Final Four.,

[kramerica.inc]

Get to see if Scanalan can do it without all eyes on Spencer.

[10 10 2]

UNC
Penn
Syracuse
Penn State

[Cooter]

So far:
Cooter - PSU, UMd, UVa, Syracuse
Hoodat - UVa, Cornell, Duke, Penn
laxrules - PSU, UMd, UVa, Syracuse
Hop16 - PSU, Yale, UVa, Duke
FannOLax - UVa, PSU, Yale, Syracuse
molo - UVa, PSU, Syracuse, UMd
calorie - Yale, PSU, UVa, Syracuse
DocB - Duke, PSU, UVa, JHU
Dip&Dunk - UMd, PSU, JHU, UVa
stupified - PSU, UMd, UVa, Penn
jersey shore lax - PSU, Duke, Yale, Delaware
Typical Lax Dad - PSU, UVa, Duke, Penn
AreaLax - UMd, Penn, PSU, Yale
BigTom4 - PSU, UVA, Yale, Penn
DAlaxDad - UVA, Penn, Syracuse, UMd
QuakerSouth - Duke, JHU, Penn, UMd
Spartanslynx - PSU, UVA, Yale, Penn
ABV 8.3% - OSU, Syracuse, Brown, UMd
RumorMill - Yale, Duke, Notre Dame, UMass
Drcthru - PSU, UVA, Yale, JHU
blue angels - Penn, UMd, Duke, UNC
PizzaSnake - Penn, PSU, UMd, UVa
Walker - UVA, UNC, PSU, Penn
PulpExposure - UVA, PSU, Maryland, Duke
GSP - UVA, Duke, UMd, Penn
PicLax - PSU, Yale, Duke, UVA
Dunker - DENVER, PSU, VIRGINIA, SYRACUSE
10 10 2 - UNC, Penn, Syracuse, Penn State

28 entries,
PSU - 21, UVa - 21,
Yale - 10, UMd - 13, Penn - 13, Syracuse - 9, Duke - 11
JHU - 4, UNC - 3, Cornell - 1, UMass - 1, Notre Dame - 1, Brown - 1, Delaware - 1, OSU - 1, Denver 1

[blue angels]

So far:
Cooter - PSU, UMd, UVa, Syracuse
Hoodat - UVa, Cornell, Duke, Penn
laxrules - PSU, UMd, UVa, Syracuse
Hop16 - PSU, Yale, UVa, Duke
FannOLax - UVa, PSU, Yale, Syracuse
molo - UVa, PSU, Syracuse, UMd
calorie - Yale, PSU, UVa, Syracuse
DocB - Duke, PSU, UVa, JHU
Dip&Dunk - UMd, PSU, JHU, UVa
stupified - PSU, UMd, UVa, Penn
jersey shore lax - PSU, Duke, Yale, Delaware
Typical Lax Dad - PSU, UVa, Duke, Penn
AreaLax - UMd, Penn, PSU, Yale
BigTom4 - PSU, UVA, Yale, Penn
DAlaxDad - UVA, Penn, Syracuse, UMd
QuakerSouth - Duke, JHU, Penn, UMd
Spartanslynx - PSU, UVA, Yale, Penn
ABV 8.3% - OSU, Syracuse, Brown, UMd
RumorMill - Yale, Duke, Notre Dame, UMass
Drcthru - PSU, UVA, Yale, JHU
blue angels - Penn, UMd, Duke, UNC
PizzaSnake - Penn, PSU, UMd, UVa
Walker - UVA, UNC, PSU, Penn
PulpExposure - UVA, PSU, Maryland, Duke
GSP - UVA, Duke, UMd, Penn
PicLax - PSU, Yale, Duke, UVA
Dunker - DENVER, PSU, VIRGINIA, SYRACUSE
10 10 2 - UNC, Penn, Syracuse, Penn State

28 entries,
PSU - 21, UVa - 21,
Yale - 10, UMd - 13, Penn - 13, Syracuse - 9, Duke - 11
JHU - 4, UNC - 3, Cornell - 1, UMass - 1, Notre Dame - 1, Brown - 1, Delaware - 1, OSU - 1, Denver 1

I Am surprised no one, especially some Loyola fans, have picked Loyola to make the final 4 in your poll. They are openly predicting a win over a team tied for the most votes here in their 1st game on their thread in their opener. Stranger things have happened so you can never be too confident.

[houndace1]

So far:
Cooter - PSU, UMd, UVa, Syracuse
Hoodat - UVa, Cornell, Duke, Penn
laxrules - PSU, UMd, UVa, Syracuse
Hop16 - PSU, Yale, UVa, Duke
FannOLax - UVa, PSU, Yale, Syracuse
molo - UVa, PSU, Syracuse, UMd
calorie - Yale, PSU, UVa, Syracuse
DocB - Duke, PSU, UVa, JHU
Dip&Dunk - UMd, PSU, JHU, UVa
stupified - PSU, UMd, UVa, Penn
jersey shore lax - PSU, Duke, Yale, Delaware
Typical Lax Dad - PSU, UVa, Duke, Penn
AreaLax - UMd, Penn, PSU, Yale
BigTom4 - PSU, UVA, Yale, Penn
DAlaxDad - UVA, Penn, Syracuse, UMd
QuakerSouth - Duke, JHU, Penn, UMd
Spartanslynx - PSU, UVA, Yale, Penn
ABV 8.3% - OSU, Syracuse, Brown, UMd
RumorMill - Yale, Duke, Notre Dame, UMass
Drcthru - PSU, UVA, Yale, JHU
blue angels - Penn, UMd, Duke, UNC
PizzaSnake - Penn, PSU, UMd, UVa
Walker - UVA, UNC, PSU, Penn
PulpExposure - UVA, PSU, Maryland, Duke
GSP - UVA, Duke, UMd, Penn
PicLax - PSU, Yale, Duke, UVA
Dunker - DENVER, PSU, VIRGINIA, SYRACUSE
10 10 2 - UNC, Penn, Syracuse, Penn State

28 entries,
PSU - 21, UVa - 21,
Yale - 10, UMd - 13, Penn - 13, Syracuse - 9, Duke - 11
JHU - 4, UNC - 3, Cornell - 1, UMass - 1, Notre Dame - 1, Brown - 1, Delaware - 1, OSU - 1, Denver 1

I Am surprised no one, especially some Loyola fans, have picked Loyola to make the final 4 in your poll. They are openly predicting a win over a team tied for the most votes here in their 1st game on their thread in their opener. Stranger things have happened so you can never be too confident.

Correction: its PB the one who's saying Loyola will beat UVA, and win the national championship this year. Many of us question his optimism.


Many wouldn't pick Loyola, because Loyola 2020 graduated a ton of talent and contributors. I myself, don't see the team beating UVA in the first game, or making the NCAA quarters. Shoot i see them struggling to win the PL this year

[blue angels]

So far:
Cooter - PSU, UMd, UVa, Syracuse
Hoodat - UVa, Cornell, Duke, Penn
laxrules - PSU, UMd, UVa, Syracuse
Hop16 - PSU, Yale, UVa, Duke
FannOLax - UVa, PSU, Yale, Syracuse
molo - UVa, PSU, Syracuse, UMd
calorie - Yale, PSU, UVa, Syracuse
DocB - Duke, PSU, UVa, JHU
Dip&Dunk - UMd, PSU, JHU, UVa
stupified - PSU, UMd, UVa, Penn
jersey shore lax - PSU, Duke, Yale, Delaware
Typical Lax Dad - PSU, UVa, Duke, Penn
AreaLax - UMd, Penn, PSU, Yale
BigTom4 - PSU, UVA, Yale, Penn
DAlaxDad - UVA, Penn, Syracuse, UMd
QuakerSouth - Duke, JHU, Penn, UMd
Spartanslynx - PSU, UVA, Yale, Penn
ABV 8.3% - OSU, Syracuse, Brown, UMd
RumorMill - Yale, Duke, Notre Dame, UMass
Drcthru - PSU, UVA, Yale, JHU
blue angels - Penn, UMd, Duke, UNC
PizzaSnake - Penn, PSU, UMd, UVa
Walker - UVA, UNC, PSU, Penn
PulpExposure - UVA, PSU, Maryland, Duke
GSP - UVA, Duke, UMd, Penn
PicLax - PSU, Yale, Duke, UVA
Dunker - DENVER, PSU, VIRGINIA, SYRACUSE
10 10 2 - UNC, Penn, Syracuse, Penn State

28 entries,
PSU - 21, UVa - 21,
Yale - 10, UMd - 13, Penn - 13, Syracuse - 9, Duke - 11
JHU - 4, UNC - 3, Cornell - 1, UMass - 1, Notre Dame - 1, Brown - 1, Delaware - 1, OSU - 1, Denver 1

I Am surprised no one, especially some Loyola fans, have picked Loyola to make the final 4 in your poll. They are openly predicting a win over a team tied for the most votes here in their 1st game on their thread in their opener. Stranger things have happened so you can never be too confident.

Correction: its PB the one who's saying Loyola will beat UVA, and win the national championship this year. Many of us question his optimism.


Many wouldn't pick Loyola, because Loyola 2020 graduated a ton of talent and contributors. I myself, don't see the team beating UVA in the first game, or making the NCAA quarters. Shoot i see them struggling to win the PL this year

Fair Points. On paper, Virginia appears to have an advantage but Toomey always does more with less. Anything can happen in an early game at this level.

[Cooter]

We are heading into the New Year. I thought I would bounce this thread up as some might like to make predictions at this time.

[bearlaxfan]

FF, no order of finish implied:
PSU sooo much carryover.
Duke ho hum
UNC transfer fever... catchit!
Cuse gotta get back eventually, yes?

Nope:
Yale goalie is inconsistent, 2 new assistants
UVa we find out just how valuable 22 was
Penn was last year their shot? Junkin graduated. Is the transfer the UVa goalie, IIRC?

[tech37]

FF, no order of finish implied:
PSU sooo much carryover.
Duke ho hum
UNC transfer fever... catchit!
Cuse gotta get back eventually, yes?

Nope:
Yale goalie is inconsistent, 2 new assistants
UVa we find out just how valuable 22 was
Penn was last year their shot? Junkin graduated. Is the transfer the UVa goalie, IIRC?

Let's face it, any one of about 10 teams and perhaps a dark horse (Lehigh or Brown?) could make it.

As for "nope"...

Other than keeper?, I think Yale has a great shot. Ierlan = possessions...and that attack!

Something special, perhaps intangible allowed Cavs to come back to win late in games (you should know BLF, your guys had them on the ropes in Cville, so did Cuse in Dome)...maybe it was #22?

As for Penn, not just Junkin but losing Mathias to grad really hurts. I think you're right that last year was Penn's best shot at the ring. That said...

Maryland
Cuse
Yale
PSU

[TheBigIguana]

Penn State is just so good on offense that I can't see them not being there. The other popular pick is UVA but I think the one goal game luck runs out and they go out early. The usual suspects in Maryland, Yale, Duke and Notre Dame should be strong again. For now I'm going with Penn State, Maryland, Duke and Yale.

[blue angels]

Penn State is just so good on offense that I can't see them not being there. The other popular pick is UVA but I think the one goal game luck runs out and they go out early. The usual suspects in Maryland, Yale, Duke and Notre Dame should be strong again. For now I'm going with Penn State, Maryland, Duke and Yale.

This would best be renamed the "Wishing and a Hoping thread"

[Cooter]

So far:
Cooter - PSU, UMd, UVa, Syracuse
Hoodat - UVa, Cornell, Duke, Penn
laxrules - PSU, UMd, UVa, Syracuse
Hop16 - PSU, Yale, UVa, Duke
FannOLax - UVa, PSU, Yale, Syracuse
molo - UVa, PSU, Syracuse, UMd
calorie - Yale, PSU, UVa, Syracuse
DocB - Duke, PSU, UVa, JHU
Dip&Dunk - UMd, PSU, JHU, UVa
stupified - PSU, UMd, UVa, Penn
jersey shore lax - PSU, Duke, Yale, Delaware
Typical Lax Dad - PSU, UVa, Duke, Penn
AreaLax - UMd, Penn, PSU, Yale
BigTom4 - PSU, UVA, Yale, Penn
DAlaxDad - UVA, Penn, Syracuse, UMd
QuakerSouth - Duke, JHU, Penn, UMd
Spartanslynx - PSU, UVA, Yale, Penn
ABV 8.3% - OSU, Syracuse, Brown, UMd
RumorMill - Yale, Duke, Notre Dame, UMass
Drcthru - PSU, UVA, Yale, JHU
blue angels - Penn, UMd, Duke, UNC
PizzaSnake - Penn, PSU, UMd, UVa
Walker - UVA, UNC, PSU, Penn
PulpExposure - UVA, PSU, Maryland, Duke
GSP - UVA, Duke, UMd, Penn
PicLax - PSU, Yale, Duke, UVA
Dunker - DENVER, PSU, VIRGINIA, SYRACUSE
10 10 2 - UNC, Penn, Syracuse, PSU
bearlaxfan - PSU, Duke, UNC, Syracuse
tech37 - Maryland, Syracuse, Yale, PSU
TheBigIguana - PSU, Maryland, Duke, Yale

31 entries,
PSU - 24, UVa - 21,
Yale - 12, UMd - 15, Penn - 13, Syracuse - 11, Duke - 13
JHU - 4, UNC - 4, Cornell - 1, UMass - 1, Notre Dame - 1, Brown - 1, Delaware - 1, OSU - 1, Denver 1

PSU is on one of their runs, 24/31 = .774

[FannOLax]

College Crosse put out some pre-season poll stuff this morning. Rankings by College Crosse individual contributors, then an overall pre-season ranking. Penn State gets a whole lotta (non-Zeppelin) love. https://www.collegecrosse.com/2020/1/20 ... e-lacrosse
Maryland certainly gets plenty of respect. Here is the aggregate:
1 Penn State
2 Virginia
3 Maryland
4 Yale
5 Penn
6 Duke
7 Syracuse
8 Notre Dame
9 Ohio State
10 Johns Hopkins
11 Cornell
12 North Carolina
13 Georgetown
14 Loyola
15 Army
16 Denver
17 High Point
18 Rutgers
19 Lehigh
20 Towson

[Matnum PI]

Qs Top 20

20. Lehigh Unless they upset either Penn State or Virginia, their non-conference slate (average RPI 44) offers little entry as an at-large selection, although the Patriot League is wide open and Lehigh will win boatloads of face-offs — which is why the IL brain trust slots them here ahead of Delaware, Albany, Navy, ’Nova, Rutgers, Princeton, Hofstra, Drexel, Richmond, Bucknell, RoMo, Michigan and Marquette.

19. Towson The CAA kingpins lost 40% of their starters, including FOGO Alex Woodall, defensive midfielder Zach Goodrich, defender Chad Patterson, midfielder Tim Monahan and leading playmaker Brendan Sunday. I enjoy watching Koby Smith play defense and transition the ball up the field.

18. UMass The Gorillas bring back 92% of their scoring but have two colossal holes to fill with the graduation of defender Isaac Poparo and goalie Sean Sconnone. LSN has a robust offering of CAA lacrosse this spring.

17. High Point The Panthers shocked Virginia and Duke last winter behind Asher Nolting and graduated goalie Tim Troutner. The Panthers will now battle for the SoCon AQ with Richmond, Jacksonville and Air Force while trying to play with more week-to-week consistency. The game on Tuesday, Feb. 25, at Virginia will be on ESPNU.

16. Georgetown The Swamp Dogs have made back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances and now lean on Jake Carraway and groundball ace Gibson Smith to soften the sting of losing 53% of their scoring. The Big East Hoyas, under the watchful eye of "Tears of Joy" Kevin Warne, will reveal their hearts weekly.

15. Army The Cadets will have firepower led by quick-witted Brendan Nichtern and a handful of top scorers from 2019, but will a new goalie and top defender be enough in their annual ritual of close games? Patriot League feels like trail mix. CBS Sports will televise 10 or so Patriot League games this season.

14. Loyola What's life without Pat Spencer, Jacob Stover and Chase Scanlan going to look like for Gang Green? Aidan Olmstead and Kevin Lindley seize the moment. LSM Ryan McNulty is a havoc creator — he can actually cover the ball-carrier which is seemingly becoming a lost art for offensive-minded LSMs. The schedule is tough, facing Virginia, Johns Hopkins, Rutgers, Towson, and Duke in the first month.

13. Johns Hopkins #WeWantMore made one Final Four appearance in the decade and will rely heavily on sensational sophomore Joey Epstein as their unproven defense and goalie grow up. Epstein's freshman production over the last third of 2019 was impressive. For 2020, there are unnerving questions. How does coach Dave Pietramala transform the close defense? Can the Jays improve their defensive midfield? Do they have the team speed/athletes win the middle of the field? A favorable schedule catches Towson and Loyola early while avoiding Virginia.

12. Cornell The Big Red will go as far as its defense and FOGO. Remember, they were preseason No. 5 in 2019 with superstar Jeff Teat and didn't make the NCAA Tournament because of defensive issues. My gut says buy Cornell stock. Why? I think they'll be better on defense — they can't be worse — and they'll also be better in the goal with sophomore Chayse Ierlan, and they can't be worse facing off.

11. North Carolina If sophomore goalie Caton Johnson takes the next step to greatness and Chris Gray transfers his production from the BU to the ACC, this Heels squad will be dangerous and could turn some close 2019 losses into 2020 wins. It's an obvious conclusion to draw; Carolina is loaded with an assortment of talent on offense, but very little on defense.

10. Denver The Pios have young skill, two strong FOGO options but will break in some new faces at close defense, goalie and in their rope unit. Denver's 2019 offensive tempo was arrestingly unprogressive — I'm expecting adjustments to the intricacies of the shot clock with a more rapid strike rate. The time is now for Jack Hannah, Alex Simmons, Ellis Geis, Ted Sullivan and Ethan Walker.

9. Duke The Devils had zero behind-the-goal presence in 2019, but Duke is still Duke until proven otherwise. Their top defender, JT Giles Harris, may be the best in the nation, matching feet with the game's most elusive ball-handlers when he isn't dead lifting on social media. I'm eager to see Garrett Leadmon, Cam Badour, Nakeie Montgomery and Dyson Williams. Air Force at Duke Feb 1 on ACC Network.

8. Ohio State Improvement is expected with a host of returnees (80% of their starts) who put together an 8-4 campaign in 2019, but the Buckeyes' 1-4 Big Ten record and loaded conference temper enthusiasm. Remember, too, that they got run over by that Team Up North. Coach Nick Myers has parlayed his U-19 Team USA coaching slot into a recruiting bonanza, as the Scarlet and Gray continue to mine for blue chips. Ryan Terefenko, Tre LeClaire, Jack Myers and Justin Inacio lead the charge.

7. Penn The Quakers lost some key personnel and now look to follow up their breakthrough 2019 season with a roster led by Adam Goldner, Mark Evanchick, Mitch Bartolo, Kyle Gallagher and freight train Sam Handley. The retro nature of Franklin Field suits Penn's style to perfection - they play fast, shoot to score, attack the middle, mercilessly hit you in the mouth on defense while engulfing ball-carriers and offer no breathers for 60 minutes. They are quite entertaining.

6. Notre Dame Rudy is a model of consistency, qualifying for 14-consecutive NCAA Tournaments; a nationally elite program that plays a tremendous schedule while knocking on the door in May. Maybe 2020 is the Domer's year with Bryan Costabile ripping corners from range. You will be poked, slapped or pronged to death by Irish defenders Jack Kielty and Arden Cohen.

5. Penn State #WeAre loaded with an offense that lights up scoreboards. Did you realize that Grant Ament scored 7.5 points per game in 2019? And that Mac O'Keefe torched the twine 78 times? Can the defense and role players do their share against upper echelon competition? Can the Lions duplicate their breakout season? A 2020 Final Four excursion is dependent on becoming a better defense on a possession-based scale.

4. Yale The attack unit softens the blow of new offensive and defensive coordinators and replacing the first midfield line while FOGO TD Ierlan tilts the field in historical fashion. Every time Ierlan walks out onto the field, the Elis are a threat. Jackson Morrill and Matt Brandau handle the pill behind the goal, finding Matt Gaudet in the slot. Middie Brian Tevlin is sitting on a big year.

3. Syracuse #HHH is poised for a return to glory bolstered by a healthy Tucker Dordevic and a slew of starters who should soften the inconvenience of Dome renovations, once a treacherous place. Giddy alums Carc and Anish proclaim the Orange are relevant again. Nick Mellen, Brett Kennedy, Peter Dearth and Drake Porter are the doormen, nobody gets in without permission. There's abundant talent everywhere.

2. Maryland Seven of the last nine years the Terps have played in Championship Weekend and the expectations for the same in 2020 revolve around hard shells Jared Bernhardt, Logan Wisnauskas and Bubba Fairman. When a "down" year is a Quarterfinal appearance, that's proof — Tillman can flat out coach. He's mined the transfer portal and picked up Michael Ubriaco, Alex Smith, Chris Brandau, Nick Grill, Jake Higgins and Joel Trucksess.

1. Virginia The 2019 champs were Comeback Cavs, now having lost less than 20% of its offensive output they are the team to beat in the ACC, returning headliners and speed across the board. Playoff finish saw all cylinders firing at maximize efficiency. The offense will be stronger and deeper in 2020 with swarms of elite contributors like Michael Kraus, Matt Moore, Dox Aitken and Ian Laviano.

[10stone5]

Qs Top 20

5. Penn State #WeAre loaded with an offense that lights up scoreboards. Did you realize that Grant Ament scored 7.5 points per game in 2019? And that Mac O'Keefe torched the twine 78 times? Can the defense and role players do their share against upper echelon competition? Can the Lions duplicate their breakout season? A 2020 Final Four excursion is dependent on becoming a better defense on a possession-based scale.

Penn State should turn into a possession team ?
Makes zero sense to me.

[HopFan16]

Penn State at #5 is egregious. Quint trying to be provocative as usual. Last season he had Denver at #2 in a year virtually everyone else knew was going to be a bit of a rebuilding year for the Pios. The year before that he had Army at #7 (they went 5-8 that year). Always at least one or two total head scratchers. At least he's stopped ranking Rutgers in the top 10.

[Mr3Putt]

Unc @ #11. The last three years 23-22. 3-9 in Conference, 5-9 on the road, 15-12 at Home. One win here or there vs a Duke etc does not make you a top15, top10 team.

[HopFan16]

Unc @ #11. The last three years 23-22. 3-9 in Conference, 5-9 on the road, 15-12 at Home. One win here or there vs a Duke etc does not make you a top15, top10 team.

They added a dude who had 111 points last year