2024 FanLax Forum Poll

[Devil4Life]

6) Bowdoin: 6 Grads

Bowdoin doesn't have any graduate programs - how do they have graduate students on the roster?

Dickinson has the same issue and we have 2 “grad” students. One has been there 5 years not taking classes this fall. Another one has been there for 4 years not taking classes in the fall and skipping the Covid year 4 years ago. The true seniors only played 7 games in 2021, no one on campus for the fall and could only practice in pods of 10 or less(basically a lost year with many sophomores taking the year off). Hence 17 “seniors” in this class. This is the last year kids have a “Covid” year. None of our kids have 6 years like some of the programs.

[Backlax]

The roster is the roster - let's not worry about the 5th/6th years. End of the day it doesn't matter. Same as injuries- teams will win or lose with the players available to play that day. Rank on the wins and/or losses. I'm very interested in Tufts - a young team that has reloaded. Love the way they play.

[valaxfan]

I think the USILA does a pretty good job of it. I thought it was interesting that about half of the teams in the top 20 don't have any 5th year covid (Grad Student) players. It will be a big change for some of these teams next year to be without them.

1) Salisbury: 8 Grads
2) Tufts: none
3) RIT: 8 Grads
4) Dickinson: 1 Grad
5) CNU: 11 Grads
6) Bowdoin: 6 Grads
7) RPI: 6 Grads
8) W&L: none
9) Union: none
10) St. Lawrence: none
11) York: 6 Grads
12) Lynchburg: 7 Grads
13) Gettysburg: none
14) Amherst: none
15) Swarthmore: none
16) Middlebury: none
17) Stevens: 6 Grads
17) Williams: none
19) Babson: 6 Grads
20) Wesleyan: 4 Grads

Generals have no graduate programs to speak off but they do have 1 5th year senior, if that should be counted.

valaxfan

[Dlaxva5]

Freshmen play in 20 and 21 didn't count towards eligibility. 22 was the first year. Meaning there is one more covid year of eligibility for this year's seniors and grads.. So one more year of grads in 2025.

[ah23]

Dickinson has the same issue and we have 2 “grad” students. One has been there 5 years not taking classes this fall. Another one has been there for 4 years not taking classes in the fall and skipping the Covid year 4 years ago. The true seniors only played 7 games in 2021, no one on campus for the fall and could only practice in pods of 10 or less(basically a lost year with many sophomores taking the year off). Hence 17 “seniors” in this class. This is the last year kids have a “Covid” year. None of our kids have 6 years like some of the programs.

Makes sense. Not necessarily a traditional 4-year career, but definitely not the same as playing five (or six!) full seasons.

[Duckdad]

Off/on topic. College have made a mint off of these extra years of eligibility. So many people staying in school or going to grad school just to keep playing. Pay for Play!! Colleges whether they are winning games are winning in the department of enrollment $$!!

[MVPiccoli]

1) Salisbury: 8 Grads
2) Tufts: none
3) RIT: 8 Grads
4) Dickinson: 1 Grad
5) CNU: 11 Grads
6) Bowdoin: 6 Grads
7) RPI: 6 Grads
8) W&L: none
9) Union: none
10) St. Lawrence: none
11) York: 6 Grads
12) Lynchburg: 7 Grads
13) Gettysburg: none
14) Amherst: none
15) Swarthmore: none
16) Middlebury: none
17) Stevens: 6 Grads
17) Williams: none
19) Babson: 6 Grads
20) Wesleyan: 4 Grads

In some respects, I think this list might look pretty close to identical if no grad-students existed on these teams. Those programs all recruit and develop really well. LaxDad mentioned on another thread I think, IDK, this is my "I need a break from work time" so I'm all over the place, that being a year older doesn't make you better at lacrosse. Which is true right. But if you invest in development for that extra year, you absolutely have a chance to improve and mature. On the Cortland thread, one of their guys stated that (in essence) the grads on last years team were holding back younger players who are contributing at a higher clip. I still contend that it's a cultural challenge too. Just a strange time that created unique rosters and situations. I'm rambling.

[Jumbo]

interesting weekend of lacrosse. a few questions have been cleared up. mainly, the top 4 are not as elite as we thought. the toughest team to rank for me is York. 2-5. all loses to top 10 teams. 3 of those losses by 1 goal.

1. Salisbury
2. RIT
3. St Lawrence
4. Tufts
5. Dickinson
6. CNU
7. RPI
8. Union
9. Amherst
10. Stevens
11. Bowdoin
12. Wesleyan
13. Gettysburg
14. lynchburg
15. Middlebury
16. Babson
17. York
18. W&L
19. Randolph Macon
20. Swarthmore

[SaltCounty]

interesting weekend of lacrosse. a few questions have been cleared up. mainly, the top 4 are not as elite as we thought. the toughest team to rank for me is York. 2-5. all loses to top 10 teams. 3 of those losses by 1 goal.

1. Salisbury
2. RIT
3. St Lawrence
4. Tufts
5. Dickinson
6. CNU
7. RPI
8. Union
9. Amherst
10. Stevens
11. Bowdoin
12. Wesleyan
13. Gettysburg
14. lynchburg
15. Middlebury
16. Babson
17. York
18. W&L
19. Randolph Macon
20. Swarthmore

Despite the CNU loss to SLU - you have to have them ahead of the team they beat by 8 just the day before...

I wonder if media polls will drop York at 2-5 with their best win being against a 4-3 W&L
I think they'll beat Denison, but at 2-4 they won't be a quality win
The Gettysburg game becomes incredibly important - or else its going to come down to the MAC AQ for them.

Wesleyan & Stevens will be a good mid-week matchup & make it clear who belongs around the Top 15 (I think it's Wesleyan)

Swat should be a little higher
And if Skidmore wins today - I think the 9-0 start is worthy of a Top 20 spot (even if only for a week)

[Jumbo]

my mistake. that should have been cnu above dickinson.
as important as the gettysburg game will be. if york beats them, gettysburgh will be likely be 6-4 after the york game (assuming Gburg lose to Amherst). this is what makes York such a tough ranking. clearly able to play with any of the teams, but unable to beat the top 7. on paper, a 2-5 team doesn’t look like a top 25 team. but seeing how they play, they are probably somewhere between 8-12.
looking at the schedule from last year, after the mustang classic, they were 2-4, with wins over Ursinus and F&M. neither of them were ranked. and york was ranked 14th after 6 week. really not much different than this year.

[DadofTwins]

interesting weekend of lacrosse. a few questions have been cleared up. mainly, the top 4 are not as elite as we thought. the toughest team to rank for me is York. 2-5. all loses to top 10 teams. 3 of those losses by 1 goal.

1. Salisbury
2. RIT
3. St Lawrence
4. Tufts
5. Dickinson
6. CNU
7. RPI
8. Union
9. Amherst
10. Stevens
11. Bowdoin
12. Wesleyan
13. Gettysburg
14. lynchburg
15. Middlebury
16. Babson
17. York
18. W&L
19. Randolph Macon
20. Swarthmore

Wow! No love for Endicott. They beat Bowdoin, MIT, Springfield and Nazareth. Only loss to Union 14-12. They led Bowdoin the whole game. Every run by Bowdoin was answered by Endicott.

[Jumbo]

interesting weekend of lacrosse. a few questions have been cleared up. mainly, the top 4 are not as elite as we thought. the toughest team to rank for me is York. 2-5. all loses to top 10 teams. 3 of those losses by 1 goal.

1. Salisbury
2. RIT
3. St Lawrence
4. Tufts
5. Dickinson
6. CNU
7. RPI
8. Union
9. Amherst
10. Stevens
11. Bowdoin
12. Wesleyan
13. Gettysburg
14. lynchburg
15. Middlebury
16. Babson
17. York
18. W&L
19. Randolph Macon
20. Swarthmore

Wow! No love for Endicott. They beat Bowdoin, MIT, Springfield and Nazareth. Only loss to Union 14-12. They led Bowdoin the whole game. Every run by Bowdoin was answered by Endicott.

wait. you are questioning my ranking, but you also didn’t rank them anywhere. why didnt you show endicott any love?

[Backlax]

No love for Stevenson - but what an awesome event. Outstanding showcase for DIII lacrosse.

Rankings for the week:
1) Salisbury - until someone beats them, and maybe not even then.
2) RIT - looked impressive this weekend

3) Tufts - interesting team, exciting to watch - a little bit of discipline would go a long way
4) RPI - off to a very solid start
5) St. Lawrence - probably the best weekend at the Classic, showed tremendous grit

6) Union - see RPI
7) CNU - games with Salisbury looming huge
8) Dickinson - good rebound W vs York, looked slow vs CNU, can't afford another slip
9) Stevens Tech - 2 big games this week
10) Endicott - if they stay focused they could win out
11) Wesleyan - big midweek game

12) Amherst
13) Bowdoin
14) Randolph-Macon

15) Swarthmore
16) W&L
17) Gettysburg
18) Babson
19) Hamilton
20) Lynchburg/York

[BallHunt]

Massie ratings looks like it sorted out pretty well after the weekend.

https://masseyratings.com/clax/ncaa-d3/ratings

[Laxattackjack]

my issue with massey is how they over weigh nescac. bowdin amherst and middlebury. the only ranked win is against the other. maybe they are all just average?
tufts over salisbury??
and Hamilton in the top 15 with a 12 point loss

how does Tufts have the #1 sos? they have played #1, 9,15,35 and 36

york schedule is much harder #1,3,4,6,11,17,33

even grove city has been tougher schedule then tufts has played
maybe they are looking at the entire season? but how do they know how good a team will be in 10 games from now?

[BallHunt]

my issue with massey is how they over weigh nescac. bowdin amherst and middlebury. the only ranked win is against the other. maybe they are all just average?
tufts over salisbury??
and Hamilton in the top 15 with a 12 point loss

how does Tufts have the #1 sos? they have played #1, 9,15,35 and 36

york schedule is much harder #1,3,4,6,11,17,33

even grove city has been tougher schedule then tufts has played
maybe they are looking at the entire season? but how do they know how good a team will be in 10 games from now?

There's no calculation for conference, but initial seeding of the rankings can hang on for several weeks. York locked in SOS wins and losses to teams with both high and lower rankings when those games were played. Their current SOS is #2.

It ain't perfect, but I bet there is not too much movement going forward. Even the undefeated teams when they lose one or two should not fall very far.

[JustOneTime]

Here we go. Very difficult once you get past the top 10. I think there will continue to be a lot of movement in the polls as there is a lot of parity in D3 lacrosse. Winning your conference this year seems to be more important than ever so as to eliminate the worry of getting an at large bid.
1 Salisbury
2 RIT
3 Tufts
4 St. Lawrence
5 RPI
6 Wesleyan
7 CNU
8 Dickinson
9 Union
10 Amherst
11 Bowdoin
12 Swarthmore
13 York
14 W&L
15 Gettysburg
16 Hamilton
17 Stevens
18 Lynchburg
19 Randolph Macon
20 Middlebury
21 Williams
22 Endicott
23 Stevenson
24 Babson
25 Roanoke
26 Hampden Sydney
27 Grove City
28 Cabrini
29 Messiah
30 F&M

[MacAttack]

No love for Stevenson - but what an awesome event. Outstanding showcase for DIII lacrosse.

Rankings for the week:
1) Salisbury - until someone beats them, and maybe not even then.
2) RIT - looked impressive this weekend

3) Tufts - interesting team, exciting to watch - a little bit of discipline would go a long way
4) RPI - off to a very solid start
5) St. Lawrence - probably the best weekend at the Classic, showed tremendous grit

6) Union - see RPI
7) CNU - games with Salisbury looming huge
8) Dickinson - good rebound W vs York, looked slow vs CNU, can't afford another slip
9) Stevens Tech - 2 big games this week
10) Endicott - if they stay focused they could win out
11) Wesleyan - big midweek game

12) Amherst
13) Bowdoin
14) Randolph-Macon

15) Swarthmore
16) W&L
17) Gettysburg
18) Babson
19) Hamilton
20) Lynchburg/York

Good list. This is hard at this time of the year. I would rank them a bit differently, mainly based on "perceived" strength of schedule at this point and how teams showed against ranked opponents. I just don't see how we can have teams that haven't really played many, if any, ranked opponents on this list. It's easy to go undefeated or have a great record if you stay away from those teams, but doing so should not result in a top x spot. Not taking anything away from those teams, but I think we still need to see more of them before we can say with certainty.

I can't leave a comment and not give my take, so here goes:
1. Salisbury
2. RIT
3. Tufts
4. St. Lawrence
5. CNU
6. York
7. Dickinson
8. RPI
9. Washington & Lee
10. Union

Over that, not even going to try! These lists are always fun, but mean absolutely nothing in the grand scheme of things at this point in the year. Let's see where we are in a few weeks!

[SKUD]

1 Salisbury
2 RIT
3 Tufts
4 RPI
4 St Lawrence
4 Union
7 Wesleyan
8 Dickinson
9 CNU
10 Amherst
11 Bowdoin
12 Babson
13 Gettysburg
13 Endicott
13 Hamilton
16 Stevens
17 Williams
18 Swarthmore
19 Middlebury
20 York
21 Lynchburg
22 Washington and Lee
23 Randolph-Macon
24 Roanoke
25 F&M

[Cannonlax1]

I have no gripes with Kaplans poll…. All fair points after this weekend. But can someone tell me how the hell Swarthmore stays in top 20. Outside of a tight game with Amherst what have they done? Are we not going to reward Hamilton or Endicott for staple victories vs ranked opponents?