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Duke vs Notre Dame Men's Lacrosse Highlights super duper serious
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Seriously, No Poll? Poll Says Otherwise

There is no Media Poll this week because not that many teams have played games, and it would be unfair to change anything when so many teams still haven’t played any meaningful lacrosse. That might not be why there is no Media Poll, but I’m just assuming that’s the reason. It’s as good as any, and since polls are just for fun, it doesn’t matter.

So instead of supplying a real poll, Ryan Conwell and I will just give you our ever diverging votes, as they would have been, had there been a poll. Prepare yourself for some of the most meaningless lacrosse polling of all time!

Bye Week D1 Lacrosse Poll

Rank | Ryan’s Team | Connor’s Team | RC, CW comments

1 | UNC | UNC | RC: Did UNC beat someone they were supposed to? Sure. But it should be noticed that they not only tied for the most points scored in a game this weekend with 17, but they also had the second lowest points allowed. That combo game them the biggest margin of the weekend. Not too bad for the defending champs. Chris Cloutier only scored two goals though. *Yawn*. CW: Not only did UNC win big, but they went up 10-1 relatively early on, and showed early dominance. It looks like the 2016 culture has carried over to 2017. It’s early, but that’s a good sign. Someone buy me a thesaurus, I can’t stop saying “early”.

2 | Denver | Maryland | RC: Denver didn’t play, so they are just going to hover here still. CW: I’m not moving the Terps down for not playing yet. That would be crazy.

3 | Notre Dame | Notre Dame | RC: Did not play, not moving. CW: Samesies. This will get old. Let’s abbreviate it to DNPNM. Done.

4 Yale | Brown | RC: An Ivy team? Not even close to playing. CW: Ok, that was funny. Abbreviation forgotten already.

5 | Syracuse | Denver RC: Nope. No game. CW: How does Conwell keep coming up with original ways to say that? He must own a thesaurus.

6 | Brown | Yale | RC: Connor, read any good books lately? CW: I can’t believe you just asked me that, because I have! Some of them are old, some new but here they are: Gravity’s Rainbow (Pynchon), Hitman Anders (Jonasson -thanks to Artjom Merjasch for that one), A Brave New World (Huxley), and Homage to Catalonia (Orwell). I’d recommend them all highly. What were we talking about again? Oh, right lacrosse rankings. Back to the serious stuff.

7 | Maryland | Syracuse | RC: How about the weather? How’s the weather? CW: It’s pretty mild, but I was in Utah last week and there was a ton of snow. I have lacrosse goal proof. That’s a full sized goal, not a box goal by the way.

snow lacrosse poll8 | Loyola | Loyola | RC: Best bagel place in NYC: Go! CW: the ones that also serve milkshakes. Don’t ask. 

9 | Navy | Navy RC: Crab cakes vs. steamed crabs with Old Bay. Which is better? CW: So, Navy is going to be good this year, huh? When it comes to crabs, I don’t really care how they are prepared. Sea spiders are delicious.

10 | Villanova | Johns Hopkins | RC: And we’re back to teams not playing. Got a preferred cheese steak place in Philly? CW: Are we just going to skip the fact that you had Duke at #10 last week and they lost to Air Force? *Reads ahead* Ok, you do get into that. Sorry, Ryan. Hopkins DNPNM. See? I knew I could work that abbreviation in there.

11 | Johns Hopkins | Army | RC: What other schools can compete with the Hopkins band? I submit Cornell for exhibit A. CW: I had Duke at #11 and dropped them below Air Force because AFA won that game. But since I can’t have AFA leapfrog teams that haven’t even played, I can only move them up so far, as I had them at #17 last week. That seems unfair, and it is! But if AFA keeps winning, and Duke starts winning, that win looks awfully good, and it will raise Air Force’s stock quickly, at least for me. It feels good to talk about lacrosse again. Also, the Princeton band needs to be in there because of their terrible orange plaid jackets. Terrible, but in a good way.

12 | Penn State | Harvard | RC: Penn State was much closer in their game than I would have liked, but they still pulled out a four point win. That’s not enough for me to move them around much in my rankings yet, either higher or lower. They did move up one, but that’s because I knocked Duke back. CW: A reasonable argument by my colleague. Harvard DNP, but jumps over Duke, so they did move.

13 | Duke | Villanova | RC: Someone else played a game! And a good one! Duke came out strong on D and was really limiting the looks that Air Force was getting. While they finally got things going in the second, they could never pull away. You’ll see plenty of talk about Duke always starting slow, but this is the first time they’ve had their first loss to a team not named Denver, Maryland, or Notre Dame in their Championship era (2009 to Harvard). CW: That’s why I’m dropping Duke a little further for now. It’s like you know me. 

14 | Albany | Rutgers | RC: How sad is it that Dhane Smith didn’t play here? Thoughts? CW: I had never asked myself this question before today, and now I am depressed. Thanks a lot, Ryan.

15 | Air Force | Marquette | RC: Now that was a game! Winning their opener on the road against Duke is a great start to the season. They have a huge test against Denver next, which will also test their young goalie who really was impressive in his debut. Paxton Boyer’s 14 were making an impact from the first whistle. CW: I’d like to move AFA up here, but I can’t because I made rules with myself. Don’t knock teams who haven’t played yet. It’s hard, and I’m sure I’ll break this promise eventually, but for now I’m sticking with it. Also, I can’t rank Duke above Air Force. Just can’t. Not right now.

16 | Rutgers | Air Force | RC: There was a team from Jersey who played this week, but it wasn’t Rutgers. CW: It’s as high as I can move Air Force for now, but if they keep winning, they’ll keep climbing, especially as others lose.

17 | Army | Virginia | RC: They’re getting great use out of their new practice facility, eh? CW: Many teams are. Call me crazy, I like the snow.

18 | Harvard | Penn | RC: Nope. No game here. CW: Move along, please.

19 | Marquette | Penn State | RC: Nothing to see here, folks. Keep moving. CW: I’m not dropping Penn State down, and I wouldn’t move them up if I could. Not yet antway. They look like Top 20 material, but aren’t climbing right now. That could still change quickly.

20 | Virginia | Vermont | RC:  No movement here. Sorry Vermont, BU, Ohio State, et al. CW: See I dropped Duke out, which was probably unfair, but I did it and I’m okay with it. I think they’ll work their way back in. For now, I want to reward a team that wins early with the 20 spot, and with two OT wins to kick off the season, you have to give love to Vermont. I mean you don’t have to, but I am. Congrats Cats, but don’t take one truly meaningless Top 20 poll vote as any indication of future success. That’s all on you. Good luck, make me look smart. Someone has to. Want to watch UVM play vs Furman? Here’s a full game link. Know what UVM stands for? It’s Latin.

Ryan’s Others: I’m still watching Cornell, Ohio State, Providence, and BU. Vermont also owned opening weekend with two OT wins, so they’re on notice as well.

Connor’s Others: Um, Duke, Towson, and every single other team out there. I’m prepared to be entertained.