The three major polls were released on Monday afternoon. The Syracuse Orange move up to #3 in two polls while stay steady at #5 in the Nike/Lax Magazine Poll.
Three of the top four spots in the NIKE/USILA Coaches' Poll are held by ACC teams this week. After beating Duke 14-12 this weekend, the Denver Pioneers swap spots with Notre Dame and take the top spot. However, both Notre Dame and Denver pulled in 11 first place votes. Syracuse moved up two spots to come into the third position, as North Carolina and Maryland move down from the third and fourth positions.
The biggest winner of the weekend was Hofstra, which took down UNC 10-5 this weekend in a huge upset. The Pride enter the poll at the #12 spot while the Tar Heels fall to #10. After losing to Loyola in week one, the Virginia Cavaliers came back this week to beat Drexel and move up three spots to #11.
Ranked Teams by Conference: ACC (5/5), Ivy (3/7), Big Ten (3/6), Patriot (3/9), Big East (2/6), America East (2/7), Colonial (2/6), Metro Atlantic (0/7), SoCon (0/8), Independent (0/2), Northeast (0/7)
Biggest Movers:
Hofstra enters at #12, Penn State +5
Albany -6
Exiting the Poll:
Cornell, Ohio State
Syracuse Opponents in the Poll:
Albany (18), UVA (11), Johns Hopkins (8), Duke (3), Notre Dame (2), UNC (10)
Rank |
School |
Points (1st place votes) |
Last Week |
1 |
Denver Pioneers |
429 (11) |
2 |
2 |
427 (11) |
1 |
|
3 |
369 |
3 |
|
4 |
Syracuse Orange |
366 |
6 |
5 |
365 |
4 |
|
6 |
Loyola Greyhounds |
346 |
8 |
7 |
Yale Bull Dogs |
303 |
9 |
8 |
Johns Hopkins Blue Jays |
267 |
7 |
9 |
248 |
10 |
|
10 |
203 |
5 |
|
11 |
Virginia Cavaliers |
189 |
14 |
12 |
145 |
N/A |
|
13 |
133 |
15 |
|
14 |
132 |
17 |
|
15 |
131 |
20 |
|
16 |
108 |
16 |
|
17 |
99 |
13 |
|
18 |
87 |
12 |
|
19 |
85 |
19 |
|
20 |
33 |
N/A |
Also Receiving Votes: Rutgers Scarlet Knights, UMass Minutemen, Ohio State Buckeyes, Villanova Wildcats, Penn Quakers, Lehigh Mountain Hawks, Boston University Terriers, Army Black Knights, Marquette Golden Eagles, Hartford Hawks
The top two positions in the Cascade/Maverik Media Poll hold steady with Notre Dame and Denver at one and two respectively. Syracuse moves up two spots to #3 following its decisive win over Albany. It wasn't just that Albany lost that sent the Great Danes down to #18, it's that this team showed ineptitude on the defensive side of the field and couldn't get its offense going against Syracuse. The voters punished Duke for its close loss to Denver by moving the program down two positions to #5.
After three straight wins, Loyola has solidified itself as a top ten team and move up two spots to #6. The Greyhounds will have another significant test against Villanova this week.
Ranked Teams by Conference: ACC (5/5), Ivy (4/7), Big Ten (3/6), Patriot (3/9), Colonial (2/6), Big East (2/6), America East (1/7), Metro Atlantic (0/7), SoCon (0/8), Independent (0/2), Northeast (0/7)
Biggest Movers:
Albany -6
Hofstra enters at #13, Penn State +6
Exiting the Poll:
Villanova, Ohio State
Syracuse Opponents in the Poll:
Albany (18), UVA (10), Johns Hopkins (T8), Duke (5), Notre Dame (1), Cornell (19), UNC (1)
Rank |
School |
Last Week |
1 |
Notre Dame |
1 |
2 |
Denver Pioneers |
2 |
3 |
Syracuse Orange |
5 |
4 |
Maryland Terrapins |
4 |
5 |
Duke Blue Devils |
3 |
6 |
Loyola Greyhounds |
8 |
7 |
Yale Bull Dogs |
9 |
T8 |
Johns Hopkins Blue Jays |
6 |
T8 |
Brown Bears |
10 |
10 |
Virginia Cavaliers |
13 |
11 |
North Carolina Tar Heels |
7 |
12 |
Penn State Nittany Lions |
19 |
13 |
Hofstra Pride |
N/A |
14 |
Towson Tigers |
17 |
15 |
Harvard Crimson |
18 |
16 |
Navy Midshipmen |
16 |
17 |
Georgetown Hoyas |
14 |
18 |
Albany Great Danes |
12 |
19 |
15 |
|
20 |
Bucknell Bison |
N/A |
Also Receiving Votes: Ohio State Buckeyes, Stony Brook Seawolves, Marquette Golden Eagles, Villanova Wildcats, Rutgers Scarlett Knights, Princeton Tigers, UMass Minutemen, Lehigh Mountain Hawks, Penn Quakers, Richmond Spiders
It appears the voters in the Nike/Lacrosse Magazine Poll have seen the error of their ways and finally put Loyola in the top ten. The top five didn't change in this poll this week, and I have no issues with that. I don't think you need to punish Maryland for beating High Point 15-10, and it's hard to justify dropping Duke after losing to Denver.
In fact, it wasn't just the top five that didn't move, most of the Lax Magazine poll is very similar to last week's poll. Hofstra enters at #11 while Penn State comes into the poll at #16.
As for ACC teams, UVA re-enters the top ten after beating Drexel 14-7 while UNC falls from #7 to #12. It's been a rough start to the year for the bottom two teams in the ACC, but I think this poll got these two teams ranked more accurately than the two other polls.
Ranked Teams by Conference: ACC (5/5), Ivy (3/7), Big Ten (3/6), Big East (3/6), Patriot (2/9), America East (2/7), Colonial (2/6), Metro Atlantic (0/7), SoCon (0/8), Independent (0/2), Northeast (0/7)
Biggest Movers:
North Carolina -5
Hofstra enters at #11, Loyola +5
Exiting the Poll:
Cornell, Ohio State
Syracuse Opponents in the Poll:
Albany (17), UVA (10), Johns Hopkins (7), Duke (3), Notre Dame (1), UNC (12)
Rank |
School |
Last Week |
1 |
Notre Dame Fighting Irish |
1 |
2 |
Denver Pioneers |
2 |
3 |
Duke Blue Devils |
3 |
4 |
Maryland Terrapins |
4 |
5 |
Syracuse Orange |
5 |
6 |
Loyola Greyhounds |
11 |
7 |
Johns Hopkins Blue Jays |
6 |
8 |
Yale Bull Dogs |
8 |
9 |
Brown Bears |
9 |
10 |
Virginia Cavaliers |
13 |
11 |
Hofstra Pride |
N/R |
12 |
North Carolina Tar Heels |
7 |
13 |
Towson Tigers |
15 |
14 |
Georgetown Hoyas |
10 |
15 |
Navy Midshipmen |
16 |
16 |
Penn State Nittany Lions |
N/R |
17 |
Albany Great Danes |
17 |
18 |
Marquette Golden Eagles |
18 |
19 |
Stony Brook Seawolves |
19 |
20 |
Harvard Crimson |
20 |
Also Considered (listed alphabetically): Bucknell Bison, Cornell Big Red, Hartford Hawks, Lehigh Mountain Hawks, Ohio State Buckeyes, Penn Quakers, Princeton Tigers, Rutgers Scarlet Knights, UMass Minutemen, Villanova Wildcats