Third Div. A Poll due Wed, March 22nd...

[benji]

Gordie,

How do you justify Chapman not changing at all and Texas Tech falling out of the polls entirely (not to mention being replaced by Texas) ?

[WaterBoy]

Chapman not moving might be in error, but I think the part about Texas Tech dropping out and Texas climbing in might be a plausible outcome to this poll.

Tech unfortunately has no wins against ranked opponents- so while they may be a good team might have a tough time clinging to the back end of the top 25.

[steveperry]

This should start some talk

1 Colorado State
2. Sonoma State
3. Oregon
4. Lindenwood
5. Michigan
6.UCSD
7. UCSB
8. BYU
9. Florida State
10. Georgia Tech
11. Colorado
12. Duluth
13. Virginia Tech
14. Utah
15. Arizona
16. Northeastern
17. Cal Poly
18. Arizona State
19. Chapman
20. Michigan State
21. Illinois
22. Oakland
23. Texas
24. UCLA
25. Chico

Not sure how you figured out a lot of this. Questioning some of this:
1.Colorado State- well deserved

2.Sonoma - same

3. Oregon - Weak schedule - only beat 2 teams in top 25, #18 Duluth and #19 Chico State, a team that may not even see the top 25 this time around. Putting them at #3 is a stab to any team that plays a tough schedule. BYU, Sonoma and Cal Poly are their only real competition this yea.

4. Lindenwood - very weak schedule up to this point. #15 notheastern(a 2-1 team with a very weak schedule), #17 Oakland (a team that is 5-2 with no wins over ranked opponents). How could they be #4 when they have a schedule that only includes one top 10 oppoinent.

5. Michigan - seems about right. Tough schedule, and some key wins against UCSD and UCSB so far

6.UCSD - wins over Cal Poly, UCSB and Chapman make this spot deserved.

7. UCSB - after loses to CSU, Michigan and UCSD, they should probably be between 7-9

8. BYU - I would put them a bit lower, maybe at 10. Big win over an untested Florida State and also a victory over Michigan, might still be overshadowed to loses against UCSB, Cal Poly, Arizona. They still have big games left against Oregon, Colorado and Colorado State.

9. Florida State- loss to BYU should move them back, and they are still fairly untested. Yet, this is a solid team that is certainly a top ten contender.

10. Georgia Tech - Again, a fairly weak schedule. Only wins in top 25 were against #21 Michigan State, (a team that may bump back to an even lower ranking now), and #24 Boston College, another team that may or may not stay in the top 25. They lost to Florida State and only have one ranked team left, BYU. They do not deserve a #10 ranking.

11.Colorado - Only ranked game so far was against #22 Texas Tech. Ranked games left are against teams such as#23 ASU, #5 UCSB, #16 Utah, Colorado State, and BYU. If they win some of these, then they will deserve a ranking in the top 12.

12. Duluth - Big wins over Utah and cal Poly helps, but this is a team with a fairly week schedule. They lost badly to Oregon, and only have one big game left against Michigan. Oakland is the only other ranked opponent that they play, a team that may or may not be in the top #25 during the time of the game.

13.Virginia Tech - One of the weakest schedules of anyone in the top 20. They were beat by Sonoma, and were beat badly by UCSD. Florida State is their only ranked game left out of 3 total. They do not deserve a ranking in side the top 20!

14. Utah - Big one goal wins against Arizona and Cal Poly help their case, but remember a 1 goal loss to Chico State, a 7 goal loss to Chapman, and a one goal loss to Duluth. Their one points wins are wins, but they arecommandingnding. This ranking seems too high.

15. Arizona - this is a hard one to understand. They beat BYU by two, a huge when, but then lose by one to Utah and by 8 to Chapman. How they could be ranked soin frontfront of Chapman is not clear at all.

16. Northeastern - only win in top #25 is against Oakland, again, a team that mabumpedumbed from the top #25. losesossed to Lindenwood, and only have one more ranked game against a lowly Boston College. Very, very weak schedule not deserving of a top 20 ranking.

17. Cal Poly - Wins over BYU and Chapman really boosted their team. Since then, they have lost to Utah and Duluth, not to mention an earlier loss against UCSB. Big games against Oregon and Sonoma to come. This ranking seems about right.

18. Arizona State - One goal wins against Chapman and Michigan State should not put you in the top 20. Their ranking will be earned if they can beat CSU, Colorado, UCSD, UCSB or Arizona.

19. Chapman - A team with a very tough schedule and very young players. They have lost in overtime to two 2 top 8 teams, USCB and USCD, but were also beat by Cal Poly, UCLA and ASU. loses that were reflected by the last poll. But, their wins against 5 ranked teams, all of which were between 5-9 goals, should not be overlooked. This includes big wins over Utah (by 7) and Arizona (by . Ranking them behind both of those teams does not make much sense, certainly not after big wins against 3 ranked teams in the last week. I would place them more in the #12-14 range. No question that they need more consistency, but there is not a huge amount of teams in the top 25 that have beat 5 ranked appoinents so far. Big test will be against FSU in April, bushouldhoudl not count them out, nor should they not move up.

20. Michigan State - One win against UCLA may not be worthy of a top 20 ranking. They have lost to FSU, Georgia Tech, ASU and Chapman. I would put them more like 22 or 23 if anything.

21-25 not too much of an argument. Maybe a couple of these teams should be bumped out, but not too much movement.

Overal, this is a VERY TOUGH poll. I think that we need to start looking more at strength of schedule. Top ranking should not be held by teams that have not yet proven themselves. Going 10-0 and beating one or 2 teams in the top 13-25 does not deserve a top 10 ranking.

Just my two cents. Happy voting. I would pick up a couple more cases or beer...

[WaterBoy]

I didn't see lindenwood at #4- I guess I didn't look too carefully.

That... might be... a smidge.... high...

[CATLAX MAN]

It's more than just a smidge. There is no way Lindenwood should be #4 and Colorado #11. Now perhaps if they flip flopped those 2, it would be more plausible.

[Woda]

It's more than just a smidge. There is no way Lindenwood should be #4 and Colorado #11. Now perhaps if they flip flopped those 2, it would be more plausible.

Are you kidding me!?!! I agree Lindenwood hasn't proven a ranking of #4, but what has Colorado done to deserve anything near a top ten ranking???

[lionslaxfan]

Lindenwood plays Michigan on Saturday.... maybe that poll with LU above Michigan is an Omen.

LU fields an amazing team that is very deep this year. They were fielding their bottom 10 guys and beating upper end B division teams.

Watch for LU to be in the Top 10 soon, this weekend will make or break them.

1 Colorado State
2. Oregon
3. Michigan
4. Lindenwood
5. Sonoma State
6.UCSD
7. UCSB
8. BYU
9. Florida State
10. Georgia Tech
11. Colorado
12. Duluth
13. Virginia Tech
14. Utah
15. Arizona
16. Northeastern
17. Cal Poly
18. Arizona State
19. Chapman
20. Michigan State
21. Illinois
22. Oakland
23. Texas Tech
24. UCLA
25. Chico

[FredaFelcher]

Colorado is 5-0, beat Texas Tech, A&M, UT, Florida, and Missouri. They started ranked # 8 and have bumped up one spot b/c of BYU's tough start. That is why they are seven in the last poll. What in the sam beans has Lindenwood done to be in the TOP FIVE????? I bet it'll be more like this.

1.CSU
2.Sonoma
3.Michigan
4.UCSD
5.Oregon
6.Colorado
7.UCSB
8.BYU
9.FSU
10.Lindenwood
11.Utah
12.UMD

[Bluevelvet]

Freda-
Your poll is the most realistic that I've seen. Some of the other ones with Sonoma St @ #5 and Lindenwood @ #4, are just absurd. Lindenwood will not crack the top 5 even in the unlikely event that they beat Michigan.
The only quarrel that I might have with your poll is that I would flip-flop Colorado #7 and UCSB #6 based on SOS to date. UCSB's 3 losses have been by 1 goal to CSU and UCSD in OT, and by 3 to UMich (all certain top 5 teams). They could easily be 7-1 right now with the #2 Laxpower SOS (BYU is #1).

[benji]

Chapman not moving might be in error, but I think the part about Texas Tech dropping out and Texas climbing in might be a plausible outcome to this poll.

Tech unfortunately has no wins against ranked opponents- so while they may be a good team might have a tough time clinging to the back end of the top 25.

Texas lost to unranked Oregon State.

[steveperry]

I still feel like the point is not getting across. If a team is 5-0 like Colorado, but has only beat one ranked opponent that may be out of the top 25 this poll, why should they be in the top ten. Winning alone should not be the most important reason to be one of the top teams in the country. There has to be more to be in the top 12. Quality wins should play a bigger part.

Colorado is a very good team, and as I said before, if they win one of their next games, they will prove that. Lindenwood has not proven anything as of yet, and is very hard to even place in the top 10. This is the same for Oregon. No question that they too are a good team, but that is not yet proven. There is an argument for them being between maybe 6-12, but how have they proved they should be in the top 5? Certainly not by beating any top 5 or top 10 teams. Let Oregon, like everyone else that started high in the polls, EARN THEIR SPOT. This is not done by beating Stanford, Boise State, Idaho, etc.

[CATLAX MAN]

It's more than just a smidge. There is no way Lindenwood should be #4 and Colorado #11. Now perhaps if they flip flopped those 2, it would be more plausible.

Are you kidding me!?!! I agree Lindenwood hasn't proven a ranking of #4, but what has Colorado done to deserve anything near a top ten ranking???

No, I'm not kidding and apparently the pollsters agree with me. Check the last few polls and you will see that. Colorado should not be penalized for starting their season late and the same goes for NorthEastern and other teams that start late but deserve rankings. If I can remind you, Colorado showed that they can play with the elite of the MDIA last year at the tourney and have returned almost everyone from that team. We will find out about them soon enough as they have games scheduled against other top 10 teams, which Lindenwood does not.

[Woda]

It's more than just a smidge. There is no way Lindenwood should be #4 and Colorado #11. Now perhaps if they flip flopped those 2, it would be more plausible.

Are you kidding me!?!! I agree Lindenwood hasn't proven a ranking of #4, but what has Colorado done to deserve anything near a top ten ranking???

No, I'm not kidding and apparently the pollsters agree with me. Check the last few polls and you will see that. Colorado should not be penalized for starting their season late and the same goes for NorthEastern and other teams that start late but deserve rankings. If I can remind you, Colorado showed that they can play with the elite of the MDIA last year at the tourney and have returned almost everyone from that team. We will find out about them soon enough as they have games scheduled against other top 10 teams, which Lindenwood does not.

OK Fair enough, Top ten yes, even though they havent earned it yet, but no reason for them to be a top 5 as of now.

[wheelz33]

i think polls should be done like the following. if team A plays team B at a neutral field, who would win? if you say team A, A gets ranked ahead of team B. so maybe Colorado or whomever hasn't beaten anybody yet, but i think they would, id rank them ahead of somebody who has played a few tougher games. now future results may show me something else, and i would change my next poll accordingly. just a thought..

[DG]

I'd have CSU, SSU and Michigan 1,2,3. So who goes to #4? Oregon, CU, UCSD and, Lindenwood are the logical candidates for that spot. I can make a case for/against every single one of those teams. But none of them are really compelling. It seems like they all benefit from having played well this year, and being ranked pretty high in the pre-season poll. Who has "Earned" the #4 spot? No one has, IMO...and that's the problem with the poll this time around.

DG