The Montana Men’s Lacrosse program had a huge weekend after taking down previous #1 St. Thomas and Minnesota Duluth. They jump to top ranked spot in D2 with other schools jumping all over the place across both polls.
Division I
1. Virginia Tech
After beating Colorado and Colorado State by 10 and 12, they’re a pretty obvious #1. They play in what could be the game of the year this year when they head to Atlanta to play #2 Georgia Tech.
2. Georgia Tech
Not that far back from Virginia Tech, they had a scare over the weekend when they were down to unranked Clemson at half, but they came back and won by four. They will host #1 seed Virginia Tech, in what will be there first #1 vs #2 game this year.
3. Florida State
Beating DII teams in pretty expected by ranked DI teams, but 19-5 and 20-4 wins over DII ranked #22 Georgia Southern and #15 Miami are very good wins for FSU. They head to Nashville this weekend to play Tennessee and Vanderbilt.
4. Arizona
The Wildcats had the weekend off, but have tough home matchups against #14 Northeastern and USC. They only play ranked or formerly ranked teams from now on.
5. UC Santa Barbara
The Gauchos have had some doubters after winning all of their games by five or less goals, but they have a huge chance to prove themselves this week when they host #10 Concordia.
6. Liberty
Best one loss team out there considering it was to Virginia Tech, they swept Colorado teams this weekend beating the Buffs by one and the Rams by five. They’re off this weekend but get Georgia Tech on the 11th.
7. Boston College
Haven’t played in two weekends and have also played the least amount of games out of Top 10 teams. This weekend will be huge for the Eagles when they head west to play at #5 UCSB and at #11 Chapman.
8. Florida
The Gators beat Auburn to start 1-0 in the SELC South, and now play two unranked, but very solid teams in Western Michigan and TCU in Pensacola.
9. Cal
After a somewhat slow start, Cal bounced back and has really proved to be a Top 10 team with their win over Chapman. Now they have the toughest weekend any team might have this year. They will be flying cross country to Atlanta to play the #1 and #2 teams in the country back-to-back days.
10. Concordia
The Golden Eagles were heavily favored to win it all this year, possibly even more now since the news of them going NCAA DII dropped, but some of the hype went away after their loss to Cal. However they are looking likely championship favorites again after beating a very good Cal Poly team 21-2, and now have a chance to keep it going when they play UCSB on Tuesday.
11. Chapman
Beat a solid Santa Clara team by seven to solidify they’re spot in the Top 15. They have a chance to prove it even more this weekend at home against an unranked but rising Clemson team and #7 Boston College.
12. BYU
The Cougars haven’t played since their eight goal loss to CUI on 2/11, but get a chance to show where they really stand this week. They travel to Tempe to play three very good unranked teams in Arizona State, Grand Canyon, and Michigan State.
13. Georgia
The Dawgs completed the turkey 20-burger this weekend after beating rival Alabama 21-7. A big thing holding them back however is a six goal loss to Florida from earlier in the season. They get the next two weekends off before playing again.
14. Northeastern
The Huskies are taking their second flight of the year, this time to Arizona to play the #4 Wildcats and unranked, but possibly soon to be ranked Sun Devils. They’ve still only played two DI games, this a good chance to show they belong in the Top 15.
15. Utah Valley
They were one of the last ranked teams to play a DI game so it was pretty hard to tell just how good they were, but this weekend showed they should have been ranked higher all this time. They beat a solid unranked NC State by eight and then upset defending champs South Carolina on a last second goal, both games on the road, and now play in-state rival Utah in SLC this weekend.
16. LSU
The Tigers beat rival Tulane by 12 and then beat defending LSA Champions TCU by one. They look to move to 5-0 in LSA DI this weekend when they play Kansas and Ole Miss.
17. SMU
Were unranked up until now and proved everyone wrong by beating #18 Texas by nine goals in Austin. Now 3-0 in the LSA, they look to keep it going this weekend against Oklahoma and Temple.
18. Boise State
A team that was only ranked by us so far, and even we only had them in the bottom three of the rankings. They proved everyone wrong, beating Utah by three goals. This weekend they host Washington State and Nevada.
19. Utah
The Utes lost a close one to Boise State and get to redeem themselves this weekend against in-state rival Utah Valley. Last year when the two met Utah Valley won by three, but it was also Utah’s first ever game, so it should be interesting to see how this game goes.
20. South Carolina
Possibly the only team to start 1-4 and still be ranked in any sport at any level. They stayed ranked despite the record considering how close the losses were, and how good the teams are. They have losses to #8 by one, #3 by two, #2 by five, and #15 by one goal they let up in the last 20 seconds. Their season somehow gets even tougher this weekend, when they travel to California to play at CP and CUI.
21. San Diego State
After starting the season with a loss to DII CSUSM, the Aztecs stayed unranked, but have since proved everyone wrong by beating Arizona State by nine, and then beating Sonoma St. and Dominican on the road. They have a huge game this weekend against UCSB.
22. Colorado
Lost to #6 Liberty by just one goal before losing to #1 Virginia Tech by 10. Tough to know if they should be ranked right behind Liberty or pretty far away from VT. They host Texas A&M this weekend which should give a better idea of where they’re at.
23. Colorado State
Lost to Liberty and VT by a little bit more than Colorado did which is why they’re right behind them. Also tough to know where they really stand so this weekend against Texas A&M should help.
24. Simon Fraser
Beat a solid Nevada team by 20 and a really good Santa Clara team by one. Have a huge rivalry game this weekend against Oregon.
25. Oregon
Their win against Arizona State is looking better as the Sun Devils are rising, but their loss to Cal Poly and win over Dominican aren’t looking as good after both teams lost this week. They have a chance to really prove themselves this weekend against rival Simon Fraser.
Division II
1. Montana
Took over the #1 spot after beating past #1 St. Thomas, and then solidified it with a win over Minnesota Duluth. This weekend they have a huge rivalry game against #12 Montana State.
2. Rhode Island
Not that far off from Montana, they mainly got the #1 spot for beating St. Thomas. They had the week off this weekend, but play their first CLC DII game against Iona this weekend.
3. St. Thomas
Lost a tough one to Montana to move out of #1, but beat #12 Montana State to keep them in the Top 3. The Tommies have the entire month of March off then play Missouri State and GVSU the first week of April.
4. Charlotte
Easily handled conference opponent Davidson 19-6, and now have the weekend off from games.
5. Grand Valley State
Still don’t play until 3/9, but still confident they’re a Top 5 team which is why they’re staying.
6. San Marcos
Had the weekend off, but now play two SLC DII opponents in a surging San Diego team and a solid Long Beach team.
7. Missouri State
The Bears play their first games this weekend against North Dakota State, Dayton, and Florida Atlantic, which should be a huge test for them.
8. Utah State
They beat two new, but pretty good Utah teams in Utah Tech and Southern Utah. They have two more solid DII games this weekend against Northwest Nazarene and Colorado Mines.
9. Kennesaw State
They beat DI Vanderbilt and Mizzou this weekend, and now head to Statesboro to play a ranked conference opponent in Georgia Southern.
10. UC San Diego
They beat Claremont 23-7 last week and play two more SLC DII teams in Point Loma Nazarene and Arizona Christian. Good chance they could move higher than #10 after this weekend.
11. Florida Gulf Coast
The Eagles are 2-0 against DI teams and now play their 1st DII game against ranked conference opponent #16 Miami at home.
12. Montana State
Split this past weekend beating Duluth and losing to St. Thomas by four. They play in one of the best rivalry games this weekend against now #1 Montana.
13. Wake Forest
Have quietly moved up in the rankings every week and made another case for themselves to be even higher after beating UNCW 14-9. They take on DI Auburn and a solid DII team in Baylor this weekend.
14. Florida Atlantic
The Owls have a huge test this weekend in Springfield when they play Missouri St, Dayton, and North Dakota St in the span of two days. None of the games are conference ones, but wins against these teams could solidify an at-large bid come April.
15. Miami
Started ranked low, but have proven themselves every week. This week they beat ranked conference opponent, Georgia Southern, by six at a neutral location. They have an even bigger test this weekend against #11 FGCU.
16. Air Force
Won three conference games by a combined 68-24, and now play out-of-conference opponent UTSA at home, before getting a month off.
17. Saint John’s
Probably should have been ranked all along, but it was tough to tell if they should be considering this weekend was their first time playing MCLA teams. They beat DI Iowa State by two and head to Utah this weekend to play Northwest Nazarene, Mines, and USU.
18. North Dakota State
Put them right behind SJU since they lost to Iowa State by one. Huge weekend ahead of them when they play Missouri State, Florida Atlantic, and Drury in Springfield.
19. Dayton
Kept them around here so far just because they had a good season last year and they haven’t played at all yet, but have heard from people that they are going to be a Top 10 or even Top 5 team. They play Drury, Missouri State, and FAU this weekend. A sweep would for sure put them in the Top 10.
20. UC Davis
Beat Humboldt 21-3 and then took a month off from games. They’re back this weekend with one game against WCLL DII foe Saint Mary’s
21. Northern Arizona
Haven’t played yet so kept them ranked low, but have faith they’ll stay ranked after they play Southern Utah and Fort Lewis this weekend.
22. Georgia Southern
Lost a tough one to Miami this weekend, but their win against CCU is looking better and better which is keeping them ranked. They have a huge game this weekend against Kennesaw State.
23. Coastal Carolina
The Chants beat Elon 14-3 this weekend to move to 5-1. The one loss is to GSU which is keeping them ranked this low, but they have time to keep rising.
24. College of Idaho
Should have probably stayed ranked last week, so they’re back after realizing that. They play Boise State and Cal Poly Humboldt in two weeks.
25. Northwest Nazarene
The Nighthawks got two good wins this weekend against Idaho and Chico State. This weekend they have #8 Utah State and #17 Saint John’s, both in Logan.
