Toughest/Softest Lacrosse Schedule 2023?

[Laxman23]

Been waiting for a new topic and think this should generate a few comments if not spirited discussion. I believe all the schedules have been posted and preseason rankings offered. With the understanding that some top 25 matchups may result in wins that turn out to be wins against overrated teams…..what top 25 team plays the toughest schedule?? What top 25 plays the “softest”??

[keno in reno]

UVA's schedule looks brutal. Duke twice, Notre Dame twice, Maryland, Ohio State, JHU, UNC, Cuse, Richmond and even Michigan.

[Typical Lax Dad]

UVA's schedule looks brutal. Duke twice, Notre Dame twice, Maryland, Ohio State, JHU, UNC, Cuse, Richmond and even Michigan.

Focus should be on out of conference. UVA does have a tough schedule. Syracuse is a wild card.

[10stone5]

I’m not seeing a lot among the top 25 in terms of cupcake
scheduling.

It does look like, though, teams like Jacksonville and Delaware
are hamstrung a bit to get tougher schedules due to their
own in-conference schedules.

[HopFan16]

I’m not seeing a lot among the top 25 in terms of cupcake
scheduling.

It does look like, though, teams like Jacksonville and Delaware
are hamstrung a bit to get tougher schedules due to their
own in-conference schedules.

I realize non-con scheduling is not entirely up to them but no one is forcing Delaware to play Lafayette, UMBC, Mount St. Mary’s, AND St. John’s out of conference.

[Crease Crank]

Are the ACC schedules that tough? Duke, outside of Grimes do they have depth? Cuse and UNC in rebuild mode? UVA and ND should dominate the ACC this year. Can’t wait to see where everyone shakes out.

[youthathletics]

I’m not seeing a lot among the top 25 in terms of cupcake
scheduling.

It does look like, though, teams like Jacksonville and Delaware
are hamstrung a bit to get tougher schedules due to their
own in-conference schedules.

I realize non-con scheduling is not entirely up to them but no one is forcing Delaware to play Lafayette, UMBC, Mount St. Mary’s, AND St. John’s out of conference.

The PL is the worst, too many in conference teams, with locked bye weeks, leaving little margin for OOC opponents. Sure, mid-week games can also work, but they often turn out to be stinkers. And, the way the NCAA selection works, they primary focus is your AQ, which means, how impactful is that OOC game, really and truly.

Look at Army that past decade, outside of Cuse' their OOC schedule is rather soft all things considered, and yet, they are competing for the PL AQ year in and year out. Conversely, we could argue, playing a tougher OOC schedule, gets you over that hump.

[Laxfan#1969]

Conference scheduling is locked in, so not much any team can do about that

Ivy, B1G, and ACC have built in tough schedules because of conference play (most years)…

A good number of teams have good OOC schedules so we should all be treated to some fun OOC early season games.

Loyola has another very good/tough OOC slate with…

Maryland
Hopkins
Rutgers
Towson
Duke
Georgetown

That’s pretty strong IMO

I’m sure that we can find others that are slightly tougher, but Loyola has a strong OOC slate

[Typical Lax Dad]

Conference scheduling is locked in, so not much any team can do about that

Ivy, B1G, and ACC have built in tough schedules because of conference play (most years)…

A good number of teams have good OOC schedules so we should all be treated to some fun OOC early season games.

Loyola has another very good/tough OOC slate with…

Maryland
Hopkins
Rutgers
Towson
Duke
Georgetown

That’s pretty strong IMO

I’m sure that we can find others that are slightly tougher, but Loyola has a strong OOC slate

How many games does Loyola play? That is a tough slate and a lot of OCC games.

[houndace1]

Conference scheduling is locked in, so not much any team can do about that

Ivy, B1G, and ACC have built in tough schedules because of conference play (most years)…

A good number of teams have good OOC schedules so we should all be treated to some fun OOC early season games.

Loyola has another very good/tough OOC slate with…

Maryland
Hopkins
Rutgers
Towson
Duke
Georgetown

That’s pretty strong IMO

I’m sure that we can find others that are slightly tougher, but Loyola has a strong OOC slate

How many games does Loyola play? That is a tough slate and a lot of OCC games.

loyola plays 14 games total. 8 PL in conference with 6 OOC.

[wgdsr]

Conference scheduling is locked in, so not much any team can do about that

Ivy, B1G, and ACC have built in tough schedules because of conference play (most years)…

A good number of teams have good OOC schedules so we should all be treated to some fun OOC early season games.

Loyola has another very good/tough OOC slate with…

Maryland
Hopkins
Rutgers
Towson
Duke
Georgetown

That’s pretty strong IMO

I’m sure that we can find others that are slightly tougher, but Loyola has a strong OOC slate

How many games does Loyola play? That is a tough slate and a lot of OCC games.

loyola plays 14 games total. 8 PL in conference with 6 OOC.

the type of schedule that's need out of the pl if an at large is ever in the cards. great schedule.

[Typical Lax Dad]

Conference scheduling is locked in, so not much any team can do about that

Ivy, B1G, and ACC have built in tough schedules because of conference play (most years)…

A good number of teams have good OOC schedules so we should all be treated to some fun OOC early season games.

Loyola has another very good/tough OOC slate with…

Maryland
Hopkins
Rutgers
Towson
Duke
Georgetown

That’s pretty strong IMO

I’m sure that we can find others that are slightly tougher, but Loyola has a strong OOC slate

How many games does Loyola play? That is a tough slate and a lot of OCC games.

loyola plays 14 games total. 8 PL in conference with 6 OOC.

Ok. That’s probably the ideal number.

[JustPassingThrough]

Conference scheduling is locked in, so not much any team can do about that

Ivy, B1G, and ACC have built in tough schedules because of conference play (most years)…

A good number of teams have good OOC schedules so we should all be treated to some fun OOC early season games.

Loyola has another very good/tough OOC slate with…

Maryland
Hopkins
Rutgers
Towson
Duke
Georgetown

That’s pretty strong IMO

I’m sure that we can find others that are slightly tougher, but Loyola has a strong OOC slate

How many games does Loyola play? That is a tough slate and a lot of OCC games.

loyola plays 14 games total. 8 PL in conference with 6 OOC.

the type of schedule that's need out of the pl if an at large is ever in the cards. great schedule.

Also works nicely when 4 of those 6 OOC games are within an hour of campus.

[xxxxxxx]

I’m not seeing a lot among the top 25 in terms of cupcake
scheduling.

It does look like, though, teams like Jacksonville and Delaware
are hamstrung a bit to get tougher schedules due to their
own in-conference schedules.

I realize non-con scheduling is not entirely up to them but no one is forcing Delaware to play Lafayette, UMBC, Mount St. Mary’s, AND St. John’s out of conference.

I know from a solid source Delaware tried to get games with Penn Princeton PennSt and Duke dropped them, no one wants to play a senior led team who got to the final 8 last year. Scheduling is very difficult and changes year to year.

[wgdsr]

I’m not seeing a lot among the top 25 in terms of cupcake
scheduling.

It does look like, though, teams like Jacksonville and Delaware
are hamstrung a bit to get tougher schedules due to their
own in-conference schedules.

I realize non-con scheduling is not entirely up to them but no one is forcing Delaware to play Lafayette, UMBC, Mount St. Mary’s, AND St. John’s out of conference.

I know from a solid source Delaware tried to get games with Penn Princeton PennSt and Duke dropped them, no one wants to play a senior led team who got to the final 8 last year. Scheduling is very difficult and changes year to year.

everyone wants to play a team that would be #8 rpi. delaware's rpi was nowhere near that. what you don't want to play is a team that might be in the 20s rpi that can beat you. you have to work your way up. it's why loyola can get a schedule every year. even after a +20 rpi last year.

[youthathletics]

I’m not seeing a lot among the top 25 in terms of cupcake
scheduling.

It does look like, though, teams like Jacksonville and Delaware
are hamstrung a bit to get tougher schedules due to their
own in-conference schedules.

I realize non-con scheduling is not entirely up to them but no one is forcing Delaware to play Lafayette, UMBC, Mount St. Mary’s, AND St. John’s out of conference.

I know from a solid source Delaware tried to get games with Penn Princeton PennSt and Duke dropped them, no one wants to play a senior led team who got to the final 8 last year. Scheduling is very difficult and changes year to year.

everyone wants to play a team that would be #8 rpi. delaware's rpi was nowhere near that. what you don't want to play is a team that might be in the 20s rpi that can beat you. you have to work your way up. it's why loyola can get a schedule every year. even after a +20 rpi last year.

You can’t work your way up if teams don’t / won’t play you. Then those high RPI teams want to make sure they too are playing ‘potentially’ high ranked RPI teams. Much like life, it’s the haves and the have nots.

Just another reason why RPI should not be the barometer metric in lacrosse.

[wgdsr]

I’m not seeing a lot among the top 25 in terms of cupcake
scheduling.

It does look like, though, teams like Jacksonville and Delaware
are hamstrung a bit to get tougher schedules due to their
own in-conference schedules.

I realize non-con scheduling is not entirely up to them but no one is forcing Delaware to play Lafayette, UMBC, Mount St. Mary’s, AND St. John’s out of conference.

I know from a solid source Delaware tried to get games with Penn Princeton PennSt and Duke dropped them, no one wants to play a senior led team who got to the final 8 last year. Scheduling is very difficult and changes year to year.

everyone wants to play a team that would be #8 rpi. delaware's rpi was nowhere near that. what you don't want to play is a team that might be in the 20s rpi that can beat you. you have to work your way up. it's why loyola can get a schedule every year. even after a +20 rpi last year.

You can’t work your way up if teams don’t / won’t play you. Then those high RPI teams want to make sure they too are playing ‘potentially’ high ranked RPI teams. Much like life, it’s the haves and the have nots.

Just another reason why RPI should not be the barometer metric in lacrosse.

yeah, not true at all. not saying it's easy. win your way up. it may be more difficult in a mid-major conference, but that's the path. at least they tell you this.

[youthathletics]

I’m not seeing a lot among the top 25 in terms of cupcake
scheduling.

It does look like, though, teams like Jacksonville and Delaware
are hamstrung a bit to get tougher schedules due to their
own in-conference schedules.

I realize non-con scheduling is not entirely up to them but no one is forcing Delaware to play Lafayette, UMBC, Mount St. Mary’s, AND St. John’s out of conference.

I know from a solid source Delaware tried to get games with Penn Princeton PennSt and Duke dropped them, no one wants to play a senior led team who got to the final 8 last year. Scheduling is very difficult and changes year to year.

everyone wants to play a team that would be #8 rpi. delaware's rpi was nowhere near that. what you don't want to play is a team that might be in the 20s rpi that can beat you. you have to work your way up. it's why loyola can get a schedule every year. even after a +20 rpi last year.

You can’t work your way up if teams don’t / won’t play you. Then those high RPI teams want to make sure they too are playing ‘potentially’ high ranked RPI teams. Much like life, it’s the haves and the have nots.

Just another reason why RPI should not be the barometer metric in lacrosse.

yeah, not true at all. not saying it's easy. win your way up. it may be more difficult in a mid-major conference, but that's the path. at least they tell you this.

Oh, I agree it’s the path. Have experienced it first hand coaching in HS. We didn’t get deeper into the playoffs until our conference changed and allowed more OOC games. Won a state championship a couple years later. Players realized we CAN compete with top ranked schools.

My point, is we even had problems scheduling OOC games with top ranked HS’s b/c most others were trying to do the same. And yes, we had plenty give us the Heisman look. It is even more complicated in college logistically. We where willing to travel at their convenience.

[wgdsr]

I’m not seeing a lot among the top 25 in terms of cupcake
scheduling.

It does look like, though, teams like Jacksonville and Delaware
are hamstrung a bit to get tougher schedules due to their
own in-conference schedules.

I realize non-con scheduling is not entirely up to them but no one is forcing Delaware to play Lafayette, UMBC, Mount St. Mary’s, AND St. John’s out of conference.

I know from a solid source Delaware tried to get games with Penn Princeton PennSt and Duke dropped them, no one wants to play a senior led team who got to the final 8 last year. Scheduling is very difficult and changes year to year.

everyone wants to play a team that would be #8 rpi. delaware's rpi was nowhere near that. what you don't want to play is a team that might be in the 20s rpi that can beat you. you have to work your way up. it's why loyola can get a schedule every year. even after a +20 rpi last year.

You can’t work your way up if teams don’t / won’t play you. Then those high RPI teams want to make sure they too are playing ‘potentially’ high ranked RPI teams. Much like life, it’s the haves and the have nots.

Just another reason why RPI should not be the barometer metric in lacrosse.

yeah, not true at all. not saying it's easy. win your way up. it may be more difficult in a mid-major conference, but that's the path. at least they tell you this.

Oh, I agree it’s the path. Have experienced it first hand coaching in HS. We didn’t get deeper into the playoffs until our conference changed and allowed more OOC games. Won a state championship a couple years later. Players realized we CAN compete with top ranked schools.

My point, is we even had problems scheduling OOC games with top ranked HS’s b/c most others were trying to do the same. And yes, we had plenty give us the Heisman look. It is even more complicated in college logistically. We where willing to travel at their convenience.

you had trouble scheduling good games after winning a state championship? i never did. you need a new scheduler.

[Dip&Dunk]

The silence from an otherwise vocal “league” is deafening especially considering their repeated posts last year about this issue and how it benefitted them.