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(Ed. Note: Bolded teams are College Crosse Big Board Certified Dimes ®.
Rank | Lacrosse Magazine | USILA Poll | Doc_Lunchbox | Inside Lacrosse | Eri_Barrister |
1 | Notre Dame | Yale | Brown | Yale | Notre Dame |
2 | Yale | Notre Dame | Yale | Notre Dame | Denver |
3 | Brown | Brown | Denver | Brown | Brown |
4 | Denver | Denver | Notre Dame | Denver | Yale |
5 | Maryland | Villanova | Maryland | Maryland | Maryland |
6 | Villanova | Maryland | VIllanova | Villanova | Villanova |
7 | Duke | Syrause | Towson | Syracuse | Towson |
8 | Johns Hopkins University | Duke | Johns Hopkins University | Towson | Albany |
9 | Syracuse | Albany | Syracuse | Johns Hopkins University | Stony Brook |
10 | Towson | Towson | Albany | Albany | Navy |
11 | Albany | Johns Hopkins University | Duke | Duke | Air Force |
12 | Navy | Stony Brook | Stony Brook | Stony Brook | Army |
13 | Loyola | Navy | Air Force | Navy | Johns Hopkins University |
14 | Penn State | Loyola | Navy | Air Force | Syracuse |
15 | North Carolina | North Carolina | Army | Army | Duke |
16 | Virginia | Army | Penn State | Loyola | Marquette |
17 | Stony Brook | Air Force | Boston U. | North Carolina | Penn State |
18 | UMass | Penn State | Loyola | Penn State | UMass |
19 | Air Force | UMass | Marquette | UMass | Hofstra |
20 | Boston U. | Penn | Hofstra | Boston U. |
Boston U. |
Major Guest List News.
- Down Goes Denver. Denver's loss to Penn State was definitely unexpected. While we discussed the potential for a trap game on our St. Patty's Day Pod, I don't know if any of us would've put a bag of Skittles on it. Indeed, Denver's last loss was a little over a year ago to fellow B1G team The Ohio State University back on March 14, 2015. The Pios are not a team that slips up frequently.
While Denver had to drop, I believe their body of work earned them some consideration (wins over Air Force, Duke, North Carolina, Notre Dame, and Ohio State) and only moved them to #2. However, I can appreciate why others have Denver lower. Indeed, I wish we could do a revote after the Villanova vs. Brown game today, as the winner of that has a reasonable argument at #1.
- Welcome back, Virginia! Let's give a warm Big Board welcome to UVA! Really nice win for the Cavs over Hopkins on Saturday. While UVA is still under .500, beating JHU brought the Cavs to 4-5, and breathed life back into their 2016 season.
Lacrosse Magazine has them at 16 and being on one Big Board poll means you are on the Guest List. However, I think it's fair to say that UVA probably received a bigger bump than the one Penn State got for beating the defending champs. But no matter! Outside of the top 7 is a big mess anyway, and UVA has looked good the last couple weeks against top teams (not to mention their 1 point loss to Syracuse several weeks ago). So I can understand the rationale. Sunday's win might be the catalyst to a nice mid to late season run; 1 or 2 conference wins and suddenly UVA goes from being on the brink to near the front of the at-large line.
- Penn. I SEE YOU, PENN! The Quakers' win over Cornell puts them at 5-2 overall and 2-0 in the Ivy League. This is only the second time since 1984 that Penn's been 2-0 to start conference play. 1 more Ivy win and they are almost assured a spot in the Ivy tournament. 2 or more Ivy wins and suddenly we're talking about Penn maybe being a top 2 seed in their conference dance.
Polls.
- Who is #1? Great QUESTION! Honestly, no one really knows! Things were so much easier when Denver was running things. Anyway, as I said above, I sincerely believe the winner of Villanova vs. Brown has a good case for the top spot. Furthermore, I can totally understand why others believe Yale is the clear #1. You could even (EASILY!) convince me that Denver is still the true #1. I put Notre Dame this week, but this is definitely a fluid situation with no right/wrong answer.
- Dimes. I was a bit skittish about putting Albany, Navy, and Stony Brook in my top 10 instead of Cuse, Hopkins, and Duke. However, after I
said YOLO and hit submitMEDITATED AND REELECTED on my polll, Iwas like, let em hateam at peace with my poll and stand by my decision (Ed. Note: For this week at least!!)
Indeed, Albany is actually really close to being a Dime right now now. The Danes are top 10 on every poll on the Big Board except for being #11 on Lacrosse Magazine. Not exactly a big fall off from the other 4 polls. Additionally, I think Navy's a tough team to ignore. At 6-2, their only losses have been in double OT to Hopkins and Boston U. Moreover, their win over Air Force in week 1 looks better and better each week and they presently sit at #2 in the Patriot League. I don't think anyone really wants to play Navy right now, especially with their offense clicking (10 or more Gs in their last 4 wins).
I can understand that Stony at 9th may look like an outlier, but aside from Lacrosse Magazine putting the Seawolves at 17, the rest of the polls on the Big Board have SBU at #12. I think 9-12 is a fair range for Stony and gave them the a top 10 nod on mine because they didn't lose a game last week and Duke, Hopkins, and Syracuse all did. .Losses have consequences.
Bragging Rights.
- Air Force. Air Force has the longest active winning streak in D1 lacrosse. #WhatATimeToBeAlive
- Maryland. With clutch wins over Albany and now North Carolina, Maryland is shaping into one of the top teams in the country. A mid-week away game against Penn today will be a big test, but Maryland is rolling right now, as they enter the game on a 4 game winning streak.
- Penn State. Penn State's win over Denver on Saturday was pretty huge. It was the program's first win over a #1 ranked team and the final score doesn't accurately reflect how handily the Lions controlled the game. PSU was up 15-7 with less than 4:00 minutes to play before Denver went on a quick 3 goal spurt. Shout out to the Nittany Lions. That was a big win on Saturday and will come in real handy on Selection Sunday.
That's it for today. We got the pod tonight and a special NHL crossover pod with the kid, Jayskrem, on Wednesday! I'll see you out there.