This past weekend of college lacrosse was absolute madness, and the college lacrosse rankings this morning reflected that. The main storyline came from No. 1 Maryland losing in triple overtime to unranked Michigan. Anytime a No. 1 team loses, there’s always a frenzy about who should take that spot. A majority of the media decided that Cornell was worthy of taking the No. 1 position. However, I’ve seen some backlash on Twitter this morning, with many arguing that Ohio State should have jumped to No. 1 following their win over No. 2 Penn State.
That led me down the rabbit hole of speculation—comparing wins, losses, and every other variable to really analyze each team’s schedule.
My goal with this article is to simply list out each team’s resume to better understand who truly deserves to be ranked No. 1. For all of the college lacrosse rankings mentioned in this article, I decided to use last week’s Inside Lacrosse media poll as a baseline. So, all of the rankings mentioned in this article stem from last week’s standings—not the new ones that dropped this morning or what the team was ranked at the time of competition. This made it easier to compare resumes from this past weekend’s slate of games to determine what the rankings should be this week.
Ohio State (9-1)
Coming into this week of play, the Ohio State Buckeyes sat as the No. 9 team in the country heading into Big Ten conference play. After their win against Penn State, the Buckeyes now hold a 9-1 record, with their only loss coming in Week 1 against Utah at home. That loss looks more and more like a fluke as the weeks go by—Utah has yet to win a game since, while Ohio State hasn’t lost since. Very confusing.
The win over No. 2 Penn State pushed the Buckeyes up to No. 3 in the country, behind Maryland at No. 2 and Cornell at No. 1.
Ohio State has not lost since February 1st, riding a nine-game win streak. They have amassed some impressive wins along the way. Their first major win of the season came in a dominant 14-5 victory over Virginia at home. While the Cavaliers have made it clear that they are not the powerhouse they have been in years past, they were still receiving votes in last week’s poll. This was a big statement win for the Buckeyes.
Ohio State followed that up with a road win against Notre Dame, who was ranked No. 7 before this week’s rankings and had just demolished Michigan two weeks ago to bring their record to 4-2. That same Michigan team then turned around and pulled off a win over the No. 1 team in the country, Maryland.
Next, the Buckeyes went on the road again, traveling out west to face Denver, a team that was receiving votes as of last week and had just beaten the No. 8 team in the country, Duke. Ohio State handled the Pioneers 15-11 to extend their winning streak and confidence.
The road streak continued as Ohio State took down No. 2 Penn State in a game they had full control over. 13-9. Prior to that game, Penn State’s only loss prior to this game had come in overtime to Princeton, and their most impressive win was their overtime victory against Cornell.
Cornell (6-1)
Prior to this past weekend’s slate of games, the Cornell Big Red were ranked as the fourth-best team in the country. As of today, they hold a 6-1 record, with their only loss coming earlier this month at home against Penn State in overtime. They won their matchup against unranked Yale this past weekend, defeating them 19-14 on the road. With No. 1 Maryland’s loss to unranked Michigan, Cornell jumped into the top spot in the college lacrosse rankings.
Cornell started the year hot, taking down the Denver Pioneers 15-5 in Ithaca. As of last week, Denver was receiving votes nationally, and this past weekend, the Pioneers handled business against No. 8 Duke.
Cornell’s next big win came two weeks later when they traveled to Richmond and escaped with a one-goal victory, 12-11. As of last week’s rankings, Richmond sat at No. 14 in the country, and that’s likely where they will remain for most of the season. This Richmond team is legit, with their three losses coming against No. 1 Maryland, No. 4 Cornell, and No. 8 Duke.
The Big Red would go on to lose their next matchup at home against Penn State in an overtime thriller. This win for Penn State propelled them up to No. 2 in the rankings and gave the Nittany Lions a strong statement victory.
Cornell followed up that loss with a five-goal win at home against the highly touted Princeton Tigers. The Tigers have looked great all year, sitting at No. 6 in last week’s rankings, with quality wins over No. 2 Penn State, No. 5 UNC, No. 8 Duke, and No. 12 Harvard. Their only losses have come against No. 1 Maryland and No. 4 Cornell.
Main Takeaways
Laying everything out in this manner might not be the most efficient way to do things, but it certainly tells a story. Each individual is going to take away their own thoughts and opinions based on how they interpret the results. Obviously, everything will work itself out as the season moves on and conference play shakes things up even more.
To wrap up this article, I want to conclude with my main takeaways given the results and see if everyone feels the same way about who should be No. 1 in the college lacrosse rankings—or if I am just missing something.
- Ohio State has more ranked wins, all coming on the road, including victories over No. 2 and No. 7. Their only loss of the season came in Week 1.
- Cornell has two highly ranked wins: one at home against No. 6 Princeton and another on the road against No. 14 Richmond in a game they barely escaped.
- Cornell’s only loss of the season came in a one-goal affair at home against Penn State.
- Ohio State’s most recent victory came on the road against the same Penn State team that beat Cornell.
- It is interesting that Maryland can lose a game to an unranked opponent and only drop from No. 1 to No. 2. The Terrapins’ last ranked win came on March 1st.
