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We’re into the third official week of what’s been a chaotic D1 mens lacrosse season. High Point owns the ACC. The defending champs went down in their first game. Johns Hopkins is outside the top 20. Notre Dame actually scored goals. The lacrosse world has been turned upside down.
That just makes this week’s picks all the more interesting, as anything can happen. Because there were so many enticing games this week, we had trouble only picking the usual five, so we went with eight instead. In general, we’ll try to keep it around five, but in crazy weeks like this one we reserve the right to add a few more games to pick from.
Last week’s results:
- Me (3-2)
- Jake (3-2)
- Ryan (3-2)
- Chris (2-3)
- Safe (1-4)
An ugly one for Safe as he picked Denver, Rutgers, Hopkins, and Albany, who all lost. But he still finds himself in a share for third place on the season, with Ryan:
- Me (12-3)
- Jake (10-5)
- Ryan (8-7)
- Safe (8-7)
- Chris (7-8)
Chris needs a big week to get back on the positive side of .500. This slate, however, looks tough.
We’ve got Penn State vs. Yale in a matchup of the preseason #1 against the current College Crosse #1 (in a tie with Loyola). We’ve got Towson vs. Georgetown in a delicious Maryland area matchup. We’ve got Johns Hopkins vs. North Carolina as the Jays try to grab their first win of the season down in Chapel Hill. And we’ve got Army vs. Syracuse as the Orange welcome the Black Knights fresh off their win last week against Albany.
Rounding out the list of matchups is Virginia vs. Princeton in a defense-is-optional game, Maryland vs. Navy in another Maryland derby, Loyola vs. Rutgers as the Hounds look to keep it rolling against the Big Ten, and a Albany vs. Drexel as a surprising Drexel team welcomes the Danes after upsetting Michigan last week.
The picks:
College Crosse Week 3 Picks
| WEEK 3 (Feb 18. - Feb. 24) | Adam | Jake | Ryan | Chris | Safe |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WEEK 3 (Feb 18. - Feb. 24) | Adam | Jake | Ryan | Chris | Safe |
| Virginia vs. Princeton | Virginia | Princeton | Princeton | Princeton | Princeton |
| Towson vs. Georgetown | Towson | Towson | Towson | Towson | Georgetown |
| Johns Hopkins vs. North Carolina | Johns Hopkins | Johns Hopkins | Johns Hopkins | Johns Hopkins | North Carolina |
| Maryland vs. Navy | Navy | Maryland | Maryland | Navy | Maryland |
| Penn State vs. Yale | Penn State | Penn State | Penn State | Penn State | Penn State |
| Loyola vs. Rutgers | Loyola | Loyola | Loyola | Loyola | Loyola |
| Albany vs. Drexel | Drexel | Drexel | Drexel | Albany | Drexel |
| Army vs. Syracuse | Syracuse | Syracuse | Army | Army West Point | Army |
A lot to dissect here.
We’re all pretty high on Penn State, a team that is averaging more than 20 goals per game over its first three games, which has included wins over solid teams in Villanova and Robert Morris. Yale looked vulnerable in its opener against Villanova, so we all like the Penn State Express to keep on chuggin’—though I don’t think anyone expects another 27 goal outing against Chris Fake and company.
This week’s list is filled with contrarianism. I was the only one to pick Virginia over Princeton. Safe was the only one to pick Georgetown over Towson and Carolina over Hopkins. And Chris was the only one to pick Albany over Drexel. Hm.
Army vs. Syracuse and Maryland vs. Navy are pretty evenly split. I think Navy has a good shot at giving the Terps their first loss this weekend, while I like Cuse to keep the momentum up in the Dome and win a close one against Army in what I think is the toughest game to pick this week.
As always, we’ll be back next week with the updated standings and a new list of games. In the mean time, follow us @College_Crosse on Twitter for all the banter.