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Is This D1 Lacrosse Poll Serious?

The USILA and Nike/IL Polls for NCAA D1 Men’s Lacrosse have been released. Quint Kessenich has dropped his Top 20. Let’s break down the Polls and rankings, and see if they are serious!

I will add in my ranking of the Top 20 to provide an alternative view on the situation.

Main Photo Credit: Tommy Gilligan

Rank | USILA Poll | Nike/IL Poll | Quint’s Top 20 | My Ranking

1) Denver | Denver | Notre Dame There seems to be a lot of will to have Denver or ND as the #1 or #2 team, but I’m going rogue, and with Cornell’s loss, UNC and DUKE make their way to a tie for #1. Both are on impressive win streaks, but I have to give it to someone, so I’ll go with Duke, who just topped a “must win” Virginia team. Winning playoff games in the regular season? I like you as my #1.

2) UNC | Notre Dame | Denver I love what the Coaches are doing here. UNC is an easy choice for #2 right now.

3) Notre Dame | Syracuse | Duke I’ll give Denver the nod at number three because I like Loyola. I like them a lot.

4) Maryland | Maryland | UNC Maryland, eh? They’ve lost two games recently, right? Just checking. I’ll take Syracuse at #4. They have definitely earned Top 5 status at this point in the season.

5) Syracuse | UNC | Syracuse I actually don’t hate any of the other polls’ choinces at #5. For me, Cornell gets the nod though. If Cuse is so legit, is a road loss really that bad? Let me answer that for you… it’s not.

6) Duke |Cornell | Maryland Quint and I seeing eye to eye? It’s happened before. Coaches are underrating Duke, and so is IL. They had a rough start, but pollsters should have a slightly more flexible view on a team than just their start. After all, it’s the playoffs that count! I’ll take Loyola at #6. Yes, I know they lost to Maryland earlier and I haven’t ranked Maryland. That’s not how this thing works.

7) Cornell | Duke | Cornell Ok, people are starting to rank Cornell again, I feel better. Don’t you? I’ll take Notre Dame at #7.

8) Loyola | Loyola | Penn State – LOVE where Quint is going with the PSU pick, but I’ll take Maryland here instead. I think PSU has been rising, is rising, and will continue to rise for the last portion of the season, making them a true dark horse. Been saying it all season, and it’s starting to happen. 8 or 9 is too high RIGHT NOW, but I do believe in their trajectory.

9) Penn State | Penn State | Loyola So much love for Penn State! Seems like the polls bandwagon on and off PSU together. Well, I’m still not ranking them yet. Johns Hopkins at #9. Call me crazy, but playoff conditions make them tough right now for anyone.

10) Albany | Albany | Ohio State My #10 team is Princeton. They are pretty dynamic, run good schemes, and have been well tested this year. It’s a weird pick, I know, but I believe in the Tigers and think they being written off a bit early.

11) Hopkins |Hopkins | Albany I’ll go with a left field pick at #11 and select Yale. 4 straight wins, a suffocating defense, and an offense capable of winning close games. I like the formula in New Haven right now.

12) Ohio State/Princeton/Yale | Ohio State | Princeton Finally I’m going to throw Albany in there. Listen, I’ve said the Danes were good for a while now, but I don’t know that they can count on huge games from their keeper every time out. I think they can beat anyone, but to be in the Top 10, you have to be able to beat anyone five games in a row. I don’t know that Albany is there… yet.

13) NA | Princeton | Johns Hopkins I can agree that it’s weird that I am placing Penn State at #13 right now. First off, I’ve been singing their praises. Second, they are winning. Third, everyone else has them higher. That makes me nervous. I’ve learned not to trust polls this year, and I think PSU has another week or two before they are truly a top 10 team…. but they are getting there. Watch them if you can. I’m actually shocked Quint put Hop THIS low. It’s like he’s become an opposite homer now. He’s like the anti-Fred Wilbon with Northwestern.

14) NA | Lehigh| Lehigh I still don’t see the magic that is Lehigh Lacrosse in 2013. It’s not like they’re bad, but I can’t seem to figure out why they are a Top 15 team. A win over Bucknell is good, but I just don’t see it. I’m going with Ohio State at #14.

15) Bucknell | Yale | Bucknell I’ll go with Lehigh here. Just kidding. With my above comment that would have been funny. I’ll take 9-3 Drexel actually. Almost ranked them higher. Solid squad!

16) Lehigh | Bucknell | Yale Call me crazy, but I’ll take Villanova at #16. Yup, 5-6 Nova is my #15 team. If you look at their first six games, they aren’t a Top 30 team. If you look at their last 5 games, they are perfect at #15. I’ll go with there recent developments.

17) Drexel | Drexel | Drexel Let’s have a little fun with these bottom Top 20 teams. Everyone else seems to be pretty set in their ways here. Let’s be DIFFERENT, and hopefully, better. #17 for me Towson. Their last five games have been excellent and they gave PSU all they could handle this past weekend.

18) Penn | Penn | Penn I’ll take Lehigh at #18, which is far lower than everyone else has them.

19) Villanova | Villanova | Villanova Now I go out there. Army gets the nod at #19 for me. They could be a shocker in the Patriot.

20) Hofstra | St. John’s | Army I’ll take Bucknell in my last spot. Just not that impressed with this team so far, but I’ll be more than happy to be proved wrong.

These teams also got votes in the USILA Poll: Army, St. John’s, Colgate, Marist

These teams also got votes in the Nike/IL Poll: Army, Bellarmine, Marist, Towson, Hofstra, Colgate, Harvard, Georgetown

Quint’s Next Five: none listed.

BIG Takeaways: Why