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With the loss of Hoya last year, a piece of him went as well. It was Reverse Survivor.
After going up the attic one day and checking out relics of the past, I came across the Reverse Survivor series. It was a gem back in the day, and it still is popular with many readers.
That’s why we’re bringing it back.
(Ed. Note: ⬇⬇)
Dropping it last year is on me, as I'm not a big fan of the series, but when we say we give the people what they want, we mean it. pic.twitter.com/o1V8qYUIIx
— Safe Fekadu (@Eri_Barrister) February 27, 2017
Every member of Division I lacrosse has played at least one game this season. Of those 71 teams, 17 have yet to win a game. Of those 17 teams, 15 programs form the participant pool for Reverse Survivor, a chronicle that tracks Division I's winless teams and simultaneously tears at your heart.* Here’s what we found from the ghosts of Reverse Survivor-past:
No team should exist on the fringe of consciousness simply due to the fact that it struggles to bag kills, and these teams need love -- the desire to watch them earn a victory against an opponent at the highest level of college lacrosse -- and attention. This isn't about highlighting "bad" teams as much as it's helping illustrate who you should be pulling for after your favorite team. These teams work as hard as the unbeatens and should have a place in your lacrosse soul.
While the 15-team field for Reverse Survivor is defined, not all of the contenders are playing with similar circumstances. The number of winless teams is likely to decline over the next few weeks, leaving only a handful of teams being true Reverse Survivor contenders. This is due to a number of factors:
(1) A bunch of currently winless teams can really play and they're going to find victories relatively soon.
(2) Teams win even when they shouldn't, blowing your mind into thousands of little pieces.
(3) Reverse Survivor tends to figure itself out by late-March and early-April, leaving only a team or two with a dastardly null set when asked, "Hey, how are things going?"
Here's the field and what's upcoming for each team:
Reverse Survivor 2017
| Team | Record | Next Opponent | Date | Opponent After That | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | Record | Next Opponent | Date | Opponent After That | Date |
| Cornell | 0-2 | vs. Albany | 3/4 | vs. Virginia (in CA) | 3/11 |
| Dartmouth | 0-2 | vs. Vermont | 2/28 | at Wagner | 3/4 |
| Drexel | 0-2 | vs. Villanova | 2/28 | at Marist | 3/4 |
| Georgetown | 0-3 | vs. Hofstra | 3/4 | vs. Robert Morris | 3/7 |
| Hartford | 0-2 | vs. Manhattan | 2/28 | vs. Jacksonville | 3/4 |
| Jacksonville | 0-4 | at Hartford | 3/4 | at Duke | 3/13 |
| Lafayette | 0-3 | at Sacred Heart | 2/28 | at Army West Point | 3/4 |
| Mount St. Mary's | 0-4 | at Bellarmine | 3/11 | vs. Bryant | 3/18 |
| NJIT | 0-3 | at Hofstra | 2/28 | vs. Quinnipiac | 3/4 |
| Quinnipiac | 0-2 | at NJIT | 3/4 | at Princeton | 3/7 |
| Siena | 0-4 | vs. St. John's | 3/4 | vs. Binghamton | 3/7 |
| St. Joe's | 0-3 | at St. John's | 3/1 | at Manhattan | 3/4 |
| St. John's | 0-3 | vs. St. Joe's | 3/1 | at Siena | 3/4 |
| UMass | 0-3 | at Albany | 3/1 | at Yale | 3/7 |
| Villanova | 0-3 | at Drexel | 2/28 | vs. Delaware | 3/4 |
The contestants will dwindle this week, as there’s at most five Reverse Survivor-off games on tap, and plenty of other teams are playing games they can certainly win.
*NOTE: First year program Cleveland State and Hampton aren't eligible for Reverse Survivor. To include new programs and programs that don’t play a full Division I schedule in this competition misses the point.