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In the interest of transparency, here's how I voted in the Inside Lacrosse media poll this week. Some brief explanations follow the ballot.
RANK | TEAM | PREVIOUS | CHANGE |
1. | Loyola | 2. | +1 |
2. | Duke | 1. | -1 |
3. | Denver | 3. | |
4. | Johns Hopkins | 6. | +2 |
5. | Notre Dame | 9. | +4 |
6. | Syracuse | 4. | -2 |
7. | North Carolina | 5. | -2 |
8. | Maryland | 7. | -1 |
9. | Pennsylvania | 8. | -1 |
10. | Cornell | 10. | |
11. | Virginia | 11. | |
12. | Harvard | 16. | +4 |
13. | Fairfield | 14. | +1 |
14. | Yale | 12. | -2 |
15. | Hofstra | 13. | -2 |
16. | Bryant | 15. | -1 |
17. | Drexel | 20. | +3 |
18. | Albany | NR | |
19. | Lehigh | 19. | |
20. | Princeton | 17. | -3 |
- New this week: Albany. Dropped out this week: Army. Also seriously considered: Penn State, Army, and St. Joseph's (in no particular order). I actually thought long and hard about doing a straight swap with St. Joseph's and Bryant, but decided against it. I think that the Bulldogs are a soft 16, and with St. Joseph's kind of existing just on the fringe of the top 20, I couldn't pull the trigger. I may regret that after the Northeast Conference Tournament this week, or I could look pretty smart. Whatever. I pushed Albany back into the run; I'm still not sold that the Great Danes are a complete team capable of running through whatever stands in front of them, but there aren't 20 teams better than Albany. They are the heaviest matchup-driven team in the nation, and that makes them an odd duck in a ranking of "best teams."
- Notre Dame/Syracuse/Virginia/North Carolina/Maryland: The ACC Tournament did little to alleviate the competitive equality of the conference. I went with what's above, but it's not an accident that four of those teams are lumped right together on the ballot. I wouldn't freak out about specific placements at this point; the power of the poll -- in totem -- will smooth out the edges. I wasn't quite sure what to do with Virginia; it was tough to displace Pennsylvania and Cornell and thrust the Cavaliers ahead. It's really a block of these-teams-are-all-kind-of-the-same-to-me from four on back to 11.
- Harvard: I gave the Crimson a bump this week. They're the biggest mover mostly because I had been slow-playing them for a while. I originally had Yale in the 13-hole, but gave the Stags a push based on their win against Ohio State. Harvard-Yale is going to be a show in the first round of the Ivy League Tournament.
- 17-20: Your guess is as good as mine. I ended up leaving Lehigh exactly where I had them last week based on beating Navy and Army. I held on to Princeton despite seriously considering putting Penn State in that spot. I'm gambling on a Drexel move based on what the team has done in its winning streak and the Dragons' potential in the THUNDERDOME! Tournament.