Is This Lacrosse Poll Serious? Week 2 2016

Welcome to one of my favorite series of the year: Is This Lacrosse Poll Serious?

I ask that same question each week, and while I question the Media Poll over on IL, what I really question are my own votes in the Media Poll. It’s a somewhat meaningless exercise in fun, and it makes for excellent fodder for conversation. Ryan Conwell provided a comprehensive D1 Rundown, so if you’re looking for more coverage from the weekend, that’s a great place to go next.

So take a look at my personal votes and my reasoning, and make an argument for why YOUR team is too low (or too high)!

Would anyone actually argue that their team is ranked too high? NO sand-bagging!

Is This Lacrosse Poll Serious?

My Media Poll votes are in Bold, while the actual Media Poll ranked team is in (parentheses). I try to explain the differences and revel when we agree!

My Week 2 Media Lacrosse Poll Votes

1. Syracuse (Notre Dame) – I really like Syracuse and they dismantled a good Albany team. My top 3 is in a different order than the Media Poll, but we have the same teams as our top 3.
2. Notre Dame (Denver) – Solid win over Georgetown and ND could easily be #1.
3. Denver (Syracuse) – Close wins are still wins, and if Denver wins all their games close, they win all their games. Beating a good Duke team raises Denver back up a bit in my book, and I could see them anywhere in the top 3. Heck, I could even see Maryland getting some #1 votes, or Loyola. It’s not out of the question! This early on we simply don’t know. Maybe Brown or Yale is the best team, but we don’t know it yet. Based on results alone, and not bias, a pollster could have 10 different #1s. That is what makes polls fun, and challenging!
4.  Maryland (Maryland) – An early game where you have to rally can be a good thing and the Terps had to do just that against High Point. Still a contender. The Media Poll and I agree on this pick and the NEXT two picks. This never happens.
5. Duke (Duke) – One loss to Denver won’t kill you in my book. Someone had to win, and that means someone had to lose. Still a Blue Believer.
6. Loyola (Loyola) – The Hounds look great on both ends of the field, and in the middle of the field they look even better. Depth and talent, AND the ability to play fast or slow. Danger in Loyola.
7. Brown (Yale) – Crushed Quinnipiac, looked like the transition heavy Brown we’ve all come to love. Maybe I have Yale way too low? Pollsters seem to love the Bulldogs!
8. Hopkins (Johns Hopkins and Brown) – Hopkins is going to need to clean up on D, and play better team ball on O, but they have a group of players who are seemingly bought in, and that means they are very dangerous. The poll and I are close here.
9. Navy (empty) – Allowing 1 goal to Delaware is good. Allowing only 7 shots (yes, in the WHOLE game) in unreal. I still like Navy as my Darkhorse, so #9 seems fair.
10. Yale (Virginia) – They are just so consistent. Talk about players buying in! A 14-7 win over Drexel is good, but not nearly enough for me to vault UVa back into the Top 10. That’s crazy. Make them work for it!
11. Hofstra (UNC) – Woah, Hofstra won a big game and they did so while only giving up 5 goals. Is Hempstead ready for the big time? I rewarded this big time win as UNC was looking good before this one! I don’t know how the pollsters can put UNC over Hofstra right now. Down the road, maybe they’re right, but for today, anyone who puts UNC over Hofstra is wrong, wrong, wrong.
12. Albany (Penn State) – Not a great showing from Albany, but I think Cuse is superb, and Albany was playing their first game. Am I making excuses? Absolutely! I still think those excuses will pan out though. Penn State is high, but I like it.
13. Stony Brook (Hofstra) – Keep winning and they keep rising. I’ve been known to support fresh blood in the Top 20, so I’m throwing SBU way up there. Maybe this is a better place for Hofstra, but not with UNC above them! No way!
14. Virginia (Towson) – Good rebound win over Drexel, and Virginia looks like a Top 15 team again. I think the other pollsters to Towson right at 14, and I put them too low at 17.
15. Penn State (Harvard) – Bye bye Cornell, hello Penn State! This may be presumptive, but it’s early, so I can always change it later. Beat a maybe Top 20 Villanova and leap up to #15? Ok, but I’m not a believer yet.
16. UNC (Navy) – Two dominant wins keep UNC in the Top 20, but they need to show me something this week. How can the poll put Navy so low, especially if it thinks Hopkins is still so good?
17. Towson (Georgetown) – You’re looking at a defensive monster with some rock solid options on offense. Why am I not ranking Towson higher? Likely because I am an idiot. I can see the Hoyas here.
18. Rutgers (Albany) – Welcome to my Top 20 Rutgers! It’s early but the Scarlet Knights are showing some pep in their step. Wow, Albany really dropped with a loss to Cuse. Wonder why UNC’s loss to Hofstra impacted them about the same? Seems very uneven.
19. Georgetown (Cornell) – Conceivably higher, the Hoyas still look good, and should climb back up in my rankings. I dropped Cornell, but can easily seem them working back in.
20. Bucknell (Bucknell) – DJ Khaled would be so proud of Bucknell. All they’ve done is win. 3-0 and I’ll bump them in to this elite group. We agree on #20. I’ll take it!

So there you have it! Now that we have real, consistent results coming in we can make more informed decisions on how to RANK TEAMS FOR 2016. It no longer matters what we THOUGHT of teams… all that matters is how they perform! You could also compare this to the Nike/LM Poll. This week it’s like a little bit of my poll and the media poll mixed together. And of course there is the USILA Coaches Poll. Always worth a gander, and while they can be slow to publish their results, they get it up eventually.