There is no Media Poll this week, so every other week, I’ll be laying out my Top 20 picks for the Media Poll over on Inside Lacrosse. (Thanks to those guys for inviting me to be a part!) The next media poll doesn’t come out until February 15th, but I don’t want you to wait for TWO weeks, so I’ll drop my imaginary Top 20 Media Poll votes below. I get why there is no media poll this week, but there was plenty of action, and plenty of movement!
Teams that have not played any games will benefit from other teams losing in most cases, especially in upsets. I try not to penalize a team that hasn’t played yet, but I will move teams up that get big wins. At the same time, just because a team won, it doesn’t mean they can’t drop. To be at the top right now you need to be dominant right now! The preseason poll nonsense is ending. The realness is here, and now that it is, it’s all about what teams are doing ON THE FIELD.
No Media Poll? So What?
1) Denver – Now I agree with everyone else it seems. Denver is my #1 and they haven’t played a game yet. Thanks High Point for giving Duke a great game… this moves Duke down and Denver up.
2) Notre Dame – I could easily put ND at #1 as they haven’t played a game yet either. It’s all about results for my poll, but I’m not going to knock Denver or ND down simply because they haven’t played yet. Until there are on the field results, teams don’t drop.
3) Syracuse – I would put Cuse at #1 after they beat up on Siena and looked good doing so, but I’m not going to penalize teams that haven’t played yet. Cuse is an easy choice for any of the top 3 spots right now.
4) Johns Hopkins – Johnny Hop looked good against UMBC. Their defense was stifling, goaltending was spot on, and Ryan Brown had a day putting the ball away. His shooting form is something of wonder. Hop makes move upwards as Loyola and Duke fall.
5) Virginia – A big win over Loyola gets Virginia the nod to makes moves up the poll. I will break my own rule here and move UVA over Cornell and Maryland, who have not played yet, because they beat Loyola, a team I had ranked above Cornell and Maryland.
6) North Carolina – UNC took down Furman 19-4. Wins are wins and big early season wins help you bump up a spot. I am valuing the Virginia over Loyola win higher than UNC over Furman.
7) Cornell – Cornell hasn’t played a game yet, but they move up over Duke and Loyola.
8) Maryland – Same as Cornell
9) Loyola – I still like Loyola, and someone had to lose that game. Loyola drops four spots and Virginia moves up five spots. That’s a lot of movement for a tight win, but early on, that’s the kind of swing you can make.
10) Duke – Duke won their game, but up until the very end, this result was very much in question. High Point looked really strong, but if Duke is going to stay in top 5, they need to win this game by more. I like that they pulled it out, and High Point was tested (they had defeated Delaware the week before). Duke was also missing three players to suspension. I thought Duke might lose an early game or two, they almost made me an accurate prognosticator immediately.
Duke also played on Sunday and took down a dangerous Air Force team in relatively convincing fashion, which helps keep them in the Top 10 as well.
11) Albany – Has not played.
12) Harvard – Has not played.
13) Penn State – Penn State beat Vermont 15-8. UVM is improving it seems, but this win is not going to move PSU up or down. Plus the teams above and below them haven’t played. So for now, a win is a win and PSU stays where they are.
14) Yale – Has not played.
15) Penn – Has not played.
16) Drexel – Has not played.
17) Hofstra – Has not played.
18) Army – The Black Knights move in to my Top 20 as high as they can at #18 after beating UMass 12-7. Army is definitely a team on the rise and a win like that against UMass early on bodes well.
19) Marquette – Marquette took down Lehigh and the program got a historic victory. Since Lehigh was a Top 20 team by most people’s standards, Marquette makes the jump and gets in to my Top 20 at #19.
20) High Point – High Point beat Delaware, and while the first half ended at 7-7, the Panthers looked like the much better team in the second half. They also took Duke to the wire before falling 16-13. That was superb game and Austin Geisler stood on his head at times to keep them in it.
Lehigh lost to Marquette 10-9, so they are out for now and need a big win to get back in. Same goes for Bryant who lost to Colgate 9-5.
