While this week wasn’t as across the board crazy as last, there was still plenty of activity to shakeup the NCAA DI poll rankings. The most significant occurrence was the Yale loss to Villanova. I don’t think anyone felt the earth tremble from that, but it was still big and made way for a new number one.
When looking at the new top spot, I really wish I could just vote for a tie. But I can’t, so therefore, a choice was made!
Now, on to the list! Here are my NCAA DI Poll votes and reasoning for each one:
1Penn State
17-4 win over Stony Brook
Last Week: 5 | National Poll: 2
For me, this came down to Loyola or Penn State with Yale’s loss. Since Yale lost to Villanova and Penn State wiped the floor with Nova, I gave the nod to Penn State. Would I fault anyone for thinking differently? Not even a little. Loyola has been incredible so far this year.
2Loyola
18-12 win over Hopkins
Last Week: 4 | National Poll: 1
Hopkins put up a better fight than they did against Towson, but Loyola is still just incredible. If they play like this all year, it’s hard to imagine them losing a game in the regular season. The only non-league games left are Rutgers, Towson, Duke, and Georgetown. That game with Towson should sell a ticket or three.
Video highlights from LaxFactor on YouTube:
3Maryland
13-12 win over Penn
Last Week: 2 | National Poll: 3
Maryland is winning, but the margins are low. Last time I doubted Maryland early due to scoring margin, they won a national title. So, yeah. Let’s just keep saying they’re good and undefeated.
4Cornell
Did not play
Last Week: 3 National Poll: 4
Cornell gets back into the mix against Hobart this Friday in Geneva, NY.
5Notre Dame
19-6 win over Detroit
Last Week: 7 | National Poll: 8
Notre Dame finally played and won their opener against Detroit handily. Carry on.
6Virginia
11-8 win over Lehigh
Last Week: 8 | National Poll: 12
Good happy hour win for the Hoos over Lehigh. They still sit at 1-1, but given the early season, I’m just barely OK with that. This is a team I won’t really understand until after they visit Syracuse. Their next opponents, High Point and Princeton are also just as unknown.
Video highlights from Lacrosse Analytics on YouTube:
7Towson
12-7 win over MSM
Last Week: 9 | National Poll: 7
Towson came back to earth a bit with this one. Is Mount St. Mary’s better than Hopkins? I’m definitely not going that far. But Towson is definitely looking like the team to beat in the CAA after taking a year off.
8Duke
10-9 win over Denver
Last Week: 12 | National Poll: 5
Duke wins an absolute nail biter of a game against Denver to prove they still deserve to be in the national conversation. A NCAA DI Poll ranking of 8 still might be a little high, but it’s still early.
Video highlights from Lacrosse Nation on YouTube:
9Denver
Lost to Duke, 10-9
Last Week: 6 | National Poll: 9
Denver almost pulled this one off, but almost doesn’t cut it. I didn’t drop them far for a one point road loss, though. What we really need is for Denver to hit March. They have a superb schedule that will really help sort things out in the rankings world.
10. Yale
Lost to Villanova, 11-10
Last Week: 1 | National Poll: 6
NOT A GREAT START, YALE. They playmakers from Yale are the ones we expected, but they had first game jitters in a major way. While the addition of TD Ierlan did result in a goal just 13 seconds into the game, his other 17 face-off wins results in just three resulted in goals on that possession. With a talent like that, thy need to improve upon that ratio.
11. Syracuse
13-5 win over Albany
Last Week: 16 | National Poll: 17
Cuse bounced back in a big way. The part of the postgame press conference that was most telling for the Orange was when they were asked how much last year’s Albany’s loss factored into this effort. The response: it was last week’s Colgate loss that made the difference. The Orange corrected the big gaps from a week ago in this win and it showed.
Video highlights from LaxFactor on YouTube:
12. Navy
11-6 win over UMBC
Last Week: 14 | National Poll: Unranked
I have Navy up here while they are still unranked in the national NCAA DI Poll. Why? I like the way they ended last season and they really did great in the Patriot League regular season. That’s why I had them in my initial poll. Since they’re not losing, they are more or less hovering as teams around them lose. With Maryland up next, they could have a huge statement win, or just wind up falling off the map.
13. Army
10-9 win over Rutgers
Last Week: 17 | National Poll: 13
Army was unranked in the national NCAA DI Poll last week, but the Rutgers win jumped them up to 13? These early season polls are crazy. Anyway, Army is a team that you do expect to be better earlier in the season. It’s closing things out at the end when they tend to fade away. But next weekend is still one of my favorite annual dates: Army at Syracuse. Make sure the helmets are on tight for that one.
14. Rutgers
Lost to Army, 10-9
Last Week: 10 | National Poll: 19
Rutgers dropping this one, especially at home, was not ideal. But I hardly think it warrants a drop down to #19 in the NCAA DI Poll. Unfortunately for the Scarlet Knights, that means they’re probably going to be unranked next week. Loyola is coming up the coast for a visit and rumor has it they are looking to score some goals.
15. High Point
15-14 win over Drexel
Last Week: 20 | National Poll: 11
So here’s where I get to look really stupid. I’m typing this description after they’ve already beaten Virginia. Knowing that, High Point would be much higher. And they will be next week. But given how closely they played Drexel, I didn’t seen a reason to move them up too many spots this past week.
16. Villanova
11-10 win over Yale
Last Week: Unranked | National Poll: 15
I had Yale ranked in the preseason NCAA DI Poll. Then they were routed by Penn State, so I dropped them. Then they beat the #1 team in the country. Who knows? Are they just pretty good? Are they amazing, but Penn State is just that much better? I didn’t vault them up to like 10 for this win, but they earn the benefit of the doubt for several weeks now.
Check out what it was like to beat the number one lacrosse team in the country according to Stelios Kroudis, a freshman attackman for Villanova:
17. Colgate
16-10 win over Binghamton
Last Week: Unranked | National Poll: 16
Colgate followed up their huge win against Syracuse with a solid late effort against another upstate NY foe in Binghamton. This game was enough for me to show the Syracuse game was no fluke. It will be great to see where Colgate can take this season.
18. Princeton
23-7 win over Monmouth
Last Week: Unranked | National Poll: 20
While I did expect Princeton to win this game, it was the first game of the season for both programs. But the 23 goals they put up was more than enough to catch my eye.
19. Lehigh
Lost to Virginia, 11-8
Last Week: 15 | National Poll: Unranked
I can understand not having Lehigh in, and honestly this pick for me is the most uncomfortable. Should I have Ohio State in over them? Probably. But this is more of a factor of having them somewhat highly ranked, then trying to not overreact to a loss to a higher ranked team. Using Hopkins as the argument against this, Lehigh’s losses look better than Hopkins losses. I won’t debate they’re on thin ice, though. Really thin. Given UVA’s loss today, it might be that cartoon ice like Wyle E. Coyote where he’s already on water and just needs to realize it to fall in.
20. North Carolina
16-11 win over Harvard
Last Week: Unranked | National Poll: 14
This was UNC’s best win to date, since their other two against Mercer and Furman really didn’t give me much reason to include them in the top 20 yet. I may be late to the party, but I’m still just much more reserved with this team right now. Next week is Hopkins, who is getting desperate for a win. If the UNC ranking holds true, they should send the Jays home with an 0-3 record.
NCAA DI Poll: My Week-Over-Week Changes
Who did I drop?
- Albany
- Hopkins
- UMass
Who did I leave out?
- #10 Ohio State
- #18 Georgetown
Ohio State is still the team on here that I don’t get why they’re as high as they are. My best guess is that they’re the national version of my Navy. People had them high and they keep winning. They’ll likely be in my NCAA DI poll next week assuming a loss or two happens in my 16-20 range.
