Syracuse Lacrosse: The Orange elevate into the top five

What a difference a week makes.

Notre Dame is now first in two of the polls this week after a five goal win against Ohio State. The Syracuse Orange are next up in the ACC, sitting in the top five of each poll as high as three and as low as five. SU also picked up two first place votes in the Maverik Media Poll. The Blue Devils are either at the 11 or 12 position depending on which poll you look at. UVA, meanwhile, is between 14 and 16 in the three polls. Then there is North Carolina which are 18^th in the Maverik Media Poll, not ranked in the US Lacrosse rankings, and tied for 16^th in the USILA Coaches Poll.

All of the pollsters seem to reward Penn State for its undefeated schedule. What about 8-0 Hofstra though? Does everyone believe PSU’s biggest win over Penn is better than Hofstra’s wins over UNC and Princeton? Four of State’s nine wins have come over teams with winning records while Hofstra has five of eight wins against teams with winning programs. Personally, I believe Penn State is better than Hofstra, but it’s hard to rationalize how the Coaches poll gives PSU the two spot and Hofstra the six spot.

Take a look at the US Lacrosse poll, which I think is flawed.

· The undefeated Penn State Nittany Lions are ranked first, but have not beaten a ranked team all year. The best win for State is a 14-13 edge over Penn. Best team in the country? Not in my book, but it is hard to argue a top five ranking given nine wins and zero losses.

· 8-1 Army Black Knights have one loss to Rutgers and a big win over Syracuse. Other than that though, no wins over any team even given consideration in any of the polls. That being said, I can get behind Army being placed above Syracuse.

· North Carolina is not ranked. The Tar Heels are 5-4 with a big win at Denver. UNC got smoked by Hopkins and Maryland, and has a two goal loss to Hofstra and one goal loss to Richmond. In my mind UNC is a ranked team, but it has been so inconsistent all year so I can rationalize an unranked Carolina assuming you have a better team in front of them.

· One of those better teams is Marquette according to the US Lacrosse Magazine voters. I listed off the Golden Eagles’ schedule below. I cannot buy a 4-2 Marquette with no quality wins ahead of Carolina. Why is Marquette in the poll? I mean, at least put BU in there. Instead the poll rewards a one goal win over Georgetown and moves the Golden Eagles up a spot. Doesn’t make any sense in my mind.

17-1 W @ Jacksonville

2-9 L @ Richmond

6-12 L vs. Ohio State

8-6 W vs. Detroit Mercy

14-7 W @ Robert Morris

11-10 W @ Georgetown

· The US Lacrosse rankings gave Yale the highest ranking out of the three polls, #13. Losing to UMass and Bryant is bad. Losing to Maryland is fine. Overall, the Bulldogs are 4-3 with its biggest win against Princeton. Hard for me to see Yale at 13.

Maverik Men’s Division I Media Poll

Ranked Teams by Conference: ACC (5/5), Big Ten (6/6), Patriot (2/9), Ivy (2/7), Colonial (2/6), Northeast (1/7), Big East (1/6), SoCon (1/8), America East (0/7), Metro Atlantic (0/7), Independent (0/2)

Biggest Movers:

Johns Hopkins +4

Rutgers Scarlet Knights -9

Exiting the Poll:

Loyola

Entering the Poll:

Yale

Syracuse Opponents in the Poll:

Albany (8), Johns Hopkins (13), Duke (12), Notre Dame (1), UNC (18), Virginia (14), Army (7)

Also Receiving Votes: Delaware Blue Hens, Villanova Wildcats, Loyola Greyhounds, Binghamton Bearcats, Pennsylvania Quakers, Marquette Golden Eagles, Providence Friars

Nike/US Lacrosse Division I Men’s Top 20

Ranked Teams by Conference: Big Ten (5/6), ACC (4/5), Patriot (2/9), Colonial (3/6), Big East (2/6), Ivy (2/7), America East (1/7), SoCon (1/8), Metro Atlantic (0/7), Northeast (0/7), Independent (0/2)

Biggest Movers:

Rutgers -5

Maryland, Albany +3

Exiting the Poll:

North Carolina

Loyola

Entering the Poll:

Yale

Delaware

Syracuse Opponents in the Poll:

Albany (10), Johns Hopkins (16), Notre Dame (2), Duke (11), Virginia (17), Army (4)

Also Considered: Air Force, Binghamton, Boston University, Brown, Loyola, North Carolina, Penn, Villanova

USILA/Nike Division I Coaches Poll

Ranked Teams by Conference: Big Ten (5/6), ACC (5/5), Patriot (3/9), Colonial (2/6), Big East (2/6), Ivy (1/7), America East (1/7), SoCon (1/8), Metro Atlantic (0/7), Northeast (0/7), Independent (0/2)

Biggest Movers:

Rutgers -4

Johns Hopkins +5

Exiting the Poll:

Michigan

Marquette

Loyola

Entering the Poll:

Villanova

Yale

Boston University

Syracuse Opponents in the Poll:

Albany (8), Johns Hopkins (13), Notre Dame (1), Duke (11), UNC (16), Virginia (16), Army (10)

Also Considered: Michigan, Loyola, Delaware, Bucknell, Air Force, Marquette, Penn, Providence, Binghamton