Our weekly rankings are in!
This was quite a week to do some rankings. There were upsets and decisive wins pretty much everywhere from No. 3 through No. 20. And it seems like it’s the case every week, but pretty much any spot from No. 14-25 is up for grabs at the moment.
Public ballots and weekly rankings are nothing without praise and shame, so here is our scoreboard:
Ryan Conwell’s picks aligning with the national poll: 5
Nick Zoroya’s picks aligning with the national poll: 7
Everyone agreeing: 3.
If you’d like to see our previous polls, you can find them here:
Week 0 | Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6 | Week 7 | Week 8 | Week 9
Key
RC’s Ballot – NZ’s Ballot
National Poll
2021 NCAA DI Men’s Weekly Rankings – Week 10 Top 20
Note: The following are the official Inside Lacrosse Media Poll ballots are from Lacrosse All Stars’ Ryan Conwell and Nick Zoroya.
1 Maryland (RC) – Maryland (NZ)
National Poll: Maryland (9-0)
Another week, another dominant win for the Terps. While there are still three national voters who don’t have Maryland at No. 1, the rest of them are like Nick and myself in realizing that despite not being able to play the rest of the country, this team is incredible.
2 Notre Dame (RC) – Notre Dame (NZ)
National Poll: Notre Dame (6-1)
The Irish were idle this week, and nobody played their way ahead of them.
3 Rutgers (RC) – Duke (NZ)
National Poll: Duke (11-1)
Am I insane for having Rutgers this high in my rankings? Maybe. But I still feel that this team is right up there with the top ACC teams. But given its only setbacks are Maryland, it’s hard to hold it against Rutgers too much. The Scarlet Knights are still handling the rest of the league. Nick is more in line with everyone else in having Duke back up here. But for me, Duke’s lapses scare me more than Rutgers’, even though the Blue Devils’ ceiling is higher.
4 Duke (RC) – North Carolina (NZ)
National Poll: North Carolina (9-2)
I have Duke just a spot behind Nick and the country, and they have UNC here after its demolishing of Syracuse. That UNC performance was nothing short of impressive.
5 Virginia (RC) – Georgetown (NZ)
National Poll: Virginia (10-3)
I dropped UVA down to No. 5 from No. 3 in my weekly rankings after its loss to Duke, slotting the Cavs just behind the Blue Devils and ahead of UNC. Those three teams feel like a virtual coin flip right now (overtimes don’t help that much, either). Nick pulled the Hoyas up to No. 5 in his rankings all the way from last week’s No. 10 spot following their big upset over Denver.
6 North Carolina (RC) – Lehigh (NZ)
National Poll: Lehigh (8-0)
I have UNC at No. 6, which still feels a little wrong, but I don’t feel bad about who I have ahead of the Tar Heels right now. There are some really good teams right now. Nick and the national poll are liking Lehigh at this spot, which I’m not far off from.
7 Lehigh (RC) – Rutgers (NZ)
National Poll: Georgetown (9-1)
This is the first spot where we all have something different. The national poll has the Hoyas up here, and I’m with Lehigh just a spot behind them and Nick. But Nick has Rutgers here in his rankings, a spot ahead of the national poll, because LAS is loving the Scarlet Knights.
8 Army (RC) – Virginia (NZ)
National Poll: Rutgers (7-2)
I moved Army up a spot after Denver’s loss, and Nick dropped UVA from three all the way to eight for their loss. Brutal. Nationally, Rutgers stayed put at 8.
9 Denver (RC) – Denver (NZ)
National Poll: Denver (9-3)
We all agree! Woohoo! There’s still not going to be much concern following the Georgetown loss, but it is going to make for a fun Big East Tournament with those two splitting their regular season meetings.
10 Georgetown (RC) – Army (NZ)
National Poll: Army (6-2)
I’m still not ready to put Georgetown ahead of Denver after this recent win. Impressive, yes. The Hoyas are deserving of being a top-10 team. Other than me, Army takes this spot in the poll, where it remains from last week.
11 Syracuse (RC) – Richmond (NZ)
National Poll: Syracuse (5-4)
The Orange are officially out of the top 10. Yes, UNC is incredible, and yes, this may have been its best performance of the year. But also, Syracuse did not look great. The Orange are now sitting at 5-4, and unless they can beat Virginia again and Notre Dame, their postseason hopes may be gone.
12 Ohio State (RC) – Syracuse (NZ)
National Poll: Drexel (6-2)
Now is when things are going to get funky. I still think Ohio State gets some credit as the No. 3 B1G team. That may not be the dominant conference of years past, but it is still better than most. Nick has Syracuse, and the national poll throws Drexel up here as Ohio State fell four spots because it lost to Maryland. Let’s agree to disagree, national poll.
13 Richmond (RC) – Stony Brook (NZ)
National Poll: Delaware (8-2)
Richmond goes up a spot in my weekly rankings after handily beating Jacksonville in a battle for SoCon’s first place (and Loyola’s loss). Nick moved Stony Brook up two in his list while the national poll moved the Hens up three following their big Hofstra win.
14 Loyola (RC) – Ohio State (NZ)
National Poll: Stony Brook (8-3)
I only dropped Loyola a single spot in my weekly rankings while nationally (and for Nick) it went all the way to unranked, which I think is crazy. Yes, the Greyhounds lost to Navy, but they also staged one heck of a comeback. It didn’t make me think Loyola is a different team from a week ago, but Navy is much more impressive. Nationally, Stony Brook moves up four spots for beating Binghamton by 14.
15 Drexel (RC) – Drexel (NZ)
National Poll: Richmond (5-4)
Nick and I are both good having Drexel here at No. 15, with both of us moving the Dragons up a spot from a week ago, which was really due to Hofstra’s drop.
16 Delaware (RC) – Delaware (NZ)
National Poll: Ohio State (4-5)
Just like Drexel above, Delaware rose a spot for Hofstra’s fall. I’m still not sure why Ohio State is all the way down to No. 16 nationally, but…*shrug*
17 Stony Brook (RC) – Navy (NZ)
National Poll: Albany (6-3)
Albany didn’t play but rose two spots in the national rankings from No. 19 to No. 17. I put Stony Brook a spot higher after Hofstra’s losses, and Nick introduced Navy here, which I’m not going to fault him for.
18 Hofstra (RC) – Towson (NZ)
National Poll: Villanova (5-3)
Villanova enters the top 20 this week, jumping in at No. 18. I dropped Hofstra to here following its two-loss week, but there’s still a ton of upside for the Pride. Nick introduced Towson to his weekly rankings, which is a nod to how much of a different team the Tigers have been lately compared to how they started the season.
19 Vermont (RC) – UMBC (NZ)
National Poll: Navy (4-2)
Navy re-enters the national poll here following its upset over Loyola. The Mids had a long pause mid-season, but they may have figured things out. Unfortunately for them, all the winning now isn’t going to get them into the Patriot Tournament. For me, I kept Vermont where it was after no games, and Nick brought UMBC into his top 20 following its UMass-Lowell win.
20 Albany (RC) – Vermont (NZ)
National Poll: Hofstra (6-4)
For the final spot, Hofstra is barely hanging on to its status as a ranked team following a bad week. I let Albany hover like Vermont after the two did not play each other head-to-head as planned. Nick dropped Vermont two spots.
RC’s Dropped Out:
Nobody
NZ’s Dropped Out:
UMass (17)
RC’s Next Teams In:
These are the ones with the best shot at making the top 20 in the coming weeks, not in order: Navy, High Point, Towson, UMBC, Villanova.
NZ’s Next Teams In:
Hofstra, Albany, Loyola
RC’s Who Did I Leave Out?
Villanova (18), Navy (19)
NZ’s Who Did I Leave Out?
Albany (17), Villanova (18), Hofstra (20)
