Things are getting interesting in Week 10! Teams are climbing the polls after some earlier season trouble, and others are starting to stumble with the long season. These last few weeks will determine conference tourney seeding and set us up for the NCAA, which means every single game matters to someone. It’s the best time of the year!
So, here are my personal top 20 votes, some sort of description, and a note of where that team stands in the national media poll, which can be found here.
Below, Jim Fenzel crushed out a killer Goonies Lacrosse Cartoon, and thank goodness for that, because if he hit the wrong note here, we’d all B flat.
In case you need a reminder, here’s the post format:
My Rank/Team/My Rank Last Week
Record
Games this week
National Media Poll Rank
Ramblings.
Now on to the Top 20!
Week 10 NCAA Media Poll Votes
1 Maryland LW: 1
10-1
Games: 11-10 W vs. Rutgers
National Poll: 1
Even though Maryland started off hot in this game, Rutgers made it pretty close. They should still handle Ohio State fairly easily this week, but the game with Hopkins is looming.
2 Denver LW: 2
9-2
Games: 15-6 W vs. St. John’s
National Poll: 4
Denver had another big Big East win, and only have Providence and Marquette left. While Denver is certainly lacking many true marquee wins (Villanova was big, though), their losses were timed perfectly for poll world. An adjustment may be in order depending on who loses around them.
3 Albany LW: 4
10-1
Games: No Games
National Poll: 2
They haven’t played since their loss to UMBC, but now get Yale and Binghamton this weekend.
4 Duke LW: 5
11-2
Games: 18-13 W vs. UVA
National Poll: 3
Duke wrapped up their ACC schedule with only the loss to Syracuse to their name. Both of their losses are also by only single goal each, which is not a bad spot to be to be at all. There are plenty of “depends”, but if they win the ACC tournament and Maryland suffers a loss or two, the Blue Devil might be looking at a top seed in the NCAA tournament.
5 Hopkins LW: 3
8-3
Games: 14-12 L vs. Penn State
National Poll: 7
Hopkins had a win streak going since February and was one of the hottest teams in the country. Yes, Penn State was improving, but I was not expecting this one. At this point, I think it’s better for the Nittany Lions than it is bad for the Jays.
6 Rutgers LW: 6
8-4
Games: 11-10 L vs. Maryland
National Poll: 10
Rutgers came close to pulling this one off. I’m really excited to see how they do with the Big Ten tournament, which could springboard into an NCAA run.
7 Yale LW: 7
9-2
Games: 27-15 W vs. Brown
National Poll: 5
27 goals?!? Ridiculous. Of all the teams who could put up numbers like this, Yale was not on my list. 27 was not enough to crack the NCAA history leaderboard, but it isn’t far off. It’s also a sign of how much fun their game against Albany might be.
8 Loyola LW: 8
9-3
Games: 11-8 W vs. Georgetown; 23-9 W vs. BU
National Poll: 8
Loyola had a good win against Georgetown, but their throttling of BU is a serious shock. We knew they were good, but that’s a stomping like I was not expecting.
9 Cornell LW: 10
9-3
Games: 13-8 W vs. Syracuse; 12-10 W vs. Lehigh
National Poll: 6
This was a great week for the Big Red. They looked great against Syracuse and totally controlled that game. With only Brown and Princeton left on their schedule, I’m really hoping we see a rematch with Yale in the Ivy tournament.
10 Syracuse LW: 9
7-4
Games: 13-8 L vs. Cornell; 13-12 W vs. UNC
National Poll: 9
Cuse bounced back from their midweek loss to Cornell by topping UNC at home to finish ACC play undefeated. Not too shabby. Their young offense is growing up quickly and they are going to be a very dangerous team next year. And they’re still a top 10 team now.
11 Bucknell LW: 13
10-3
Games: 15-6 W vs. Lafayette
National Poll: 12
This was definitely an expected win for Bucknell and may finish Patriot play with just the loss to Navy. But, a dangerous Lehigh squad is up next.
12 UVA LW: 12
9-4
Games: 18-13 L vs. Duke
National Poll: 13
UVA is yet another one of those teams without too many great wins, but almost all of their losses are “good”. Duke is just another one of those. They finish ACC play with a 1-3 record which looks like it may be setting them up for a date with Syracuse in the ACC tournament. But Notre Dame and North Carolina have to officially sort things out first.
13 Notre Dame LW: 14
6-4
Games: 7-6 W vs. Marquette
National Poll: 15
The Irish are 2-3 in their last 5 games, but those two wins are hardly confidence boosters. They need to beat UNC this week to have another shot at Duke to improve upon their two goal outing from last week.
14 Villanova LW: 11
8-4
Games: 13-11 L to Georgetown
National Poll: 16
Two straight losses is not where Villanova thought they would be right now. They should still top St. John’s this week and then have Providence left to end the regular season.
15 Penn State LW: 18
8-4
Games: 14-12 W vs. Hopkins
National Poll: 11
Earlier in the season, Penn State was looking pretty uneasy. Last week’s one goal loss to Maryland provided some optimism, but this Johns Hopkins win was huge. A win over Rutgers this week would easily jump Penn State into the top 10.
16 Navy LW: 17
8-4
Games: 9-8 W vs. Army
National Poll: 14
Last week, I said “I’ll keep this one easy. BEAT ARMY.” And they did. Their only Patriot loss was to Loyola and they now get to see how they can handle Syracuse this week. Navy really has had one of the best turnarounds of the season.
17 Vermont LW: 15
10-2
Games: 8-7 L vs. Stony Brook
National Poll: UR
Dropping Vermont from the top 20 for this loss seems a little harsh, but I can’t blame others for doing it. Vermont still has no real strength of schedule, and this loss was not great. What would be outstanding is a win over UVA, but that may not be in the cards.
18 Penn LW: 19
6-6
Games: 11-7 W vs. Harvard
National Poll: 20
I’m glad this win put Penn back into the national top 20, but thy really are still victims of a brutal schedule. They should win out to finish 8-6 and 3-3 in the Ivy League.
19 Lehigh LW: 16
8-5
Games: 12-10 L vs. Cornell
National Poll: UR
Two straight losses for Lehigh aren’t great, but they are to Loyola and Cornell. That’s enough for me to let them keep their vote for another week. Unfortunately, that means they’ll be facing Bucknell, which is going to be a tall order.
20 Robert Morris LW: UR
9-3
Games: 11-9 W vs. Canisius; 14-5 W vs. Cleveland State
National Poll: 19
I finally brought in Robert Morris. I still don’t love their schedule, but anyone at this spot is going to have a pretty flawed resume. They should win against Wagner this week, and then will have a tough game with St. Joseph’s the week after. The race is on to see if they take home the NEC crown.
Dropped from my Week 10 ballot: Michigan
Dropped from Week 10 national poll: Vermont, Lehigh
Also considered for Week 10, but not in order: UMASS, Georgetown, Richmond
Who did I leave out from Week 10? UMass and Georgetown. I absolutely considered both of these teams. Georgetown does have a February win over Robert Morris this week’s win over Villanova. But they still have lost four of their last six and confidence is low. For the Minutemen, they are trending in the right direction, but really lack any good wins.
