4/18/07 Division B Poll is out!

[Andy Sharp]

Am I missing something here?

Yes, you and others are missing something, the top 6 in the CCLA are much better than they are given credit for.

[warri0rlax22]

wow i had unc @ #8 i guess that losing to only teams in the top six all year means you drop to 11 i dont understand this at all. We are yet to lose to any team at home and all of our games except the westminster game were close into the fourth Quarter

i dont get it either

[btriley01]

Hey, we haven't lost since st. thomas, yet we keep losing our spot. We've moved between 6 and 7 twice now. Its ok. Come nationals, all will be sorted out.

[scooter]

this poll should be a note to many teams: spread out OCC competition so you don't lose poll spots even though you continue to win

[LaxZac02]

As I predicted, Salem breaks the top 25

[bulax6]

i think there are alot of factors as to why the wcll doesn't have a ranked team. firstly, i don't think the wcll is as strong as it has been in the past. this is because san diego and claremont have recently moved up to division A. next, it seems alot of the teams in the conference are evenly matched this year, providing for a lot of records near .500 and caused a three way tie in the south division that came down to goal differential (absolute joke). A team like oxy has always been strong, but they were hampered with injuries the second half of the year. UCI started great, but then went through a cold streak and have now regained their fire and could be dangerous come tourney time. Pepperdine ran away with the North division, but lost to both Biola and UCI and seems inconsistent at times. Biola was the favorite going into the season, but their east coast goalie disappeared after the fall semester and failed to tell the team. After sticking a first time lax player in goal for 5 games, someone else decided to join the team and they have gone 7-2 since he came along. Unfortunately, their best attackman broke his leg after only three games and he has been missed the rest of the season. The WCLL still carries very good team, but bad luck or incosistency seems to have struck them this year. They will regain their form.

[bjlaxman16]

Can someone explain the resoning behind UNC/FLC rank?
UNC beat FLC earlier this season, though UNC lost to UVSC and FLC beat them. Is that the only deciding factor there or are there factors I'm un-aware of?

Well they both lost to Westminster, but Fort Lewis only lost by 2, and UNC by 8.

We are yet to lose to any team at home and all of our games except the westminster game were close into the fourth Quarter

Fort Lewis hasn't lost at home either. And I don't think being home or away should matter unless there is a significant advantage for the home team (i.e. going from grass to astro turf or from the northern snowy cold to southern heat).

And you have to be able to play four good quarters, not just the first 3 1/2. If UST would've beat SJU 11-6, it wouldn't have mattered that SJU was up 6-1 going into the 4th.

[unclaxman23]

I am not making excuses at all we did lose to westminster by eight but we played them in an indoor facility and without some of our best players. I don't think that ft should pass us we beat them 13-7. That is bigger in my eyes then comparing scores from other games. We played all the other teams in then top 5 very hard. Our loss to montana was the morning after a very physical game against a montana st team that never gave up.

[bjlaxman16]

I am not making excuses...but we played them in an indoor facility and without some of our best players...Our loss to montana was the morning after a very physical game

Those sound like excuses to me. And correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think the pollsters look too hard at that kind of information.

[bigstickmid]

Some of you guys are taking this poll stuff a little personal. Quit whining and just keep on winning your games and it won't matter where you are in the polls. Eh?

[Dr. Jason Stockton]

Our loss to montana was the morning after a very physical game against a montana st team that never gave up.

I think UNC is an excellent team and deserves to go to nationals. . .but this is the most ridiculous things you've posted yet. . .

You say the reason Montana beat you was because you had a hard game the day before? Montana also played a top-20 team the day before. . .and then after beating your team handily they won another game 2 hours later.

UNC deserves a trip to nationals based upon their body of work. . .and if the favorites win their tourneys, you're in line for a trip to nationals. You can take all of the chance out of the equation by winning a couple games in your own tournament. You do that and you will be assured a trip to Texas.

[Kyle Berggren]

UNC is ranked as highly as they are because of your total body of work. After you beat Fort, there was quite a gap in the rankings... over the past few polls they've been playing elite teams well & winning the games that they should. They ended up on your heals & you guys faultered against Montana. You dropped & pollsters couldn't drop the Fort team simply because UNC did. It can't be as clean as we'd like because of how much parity there is in the B. UNC beat Fort, Fort beat UVSC, & UVSC beat UNC, it can't be clean. What happened most recently was the Fort Lewis win over UVSC & the Montana win over UNC. They are some of the last things to effect this poll.

If UNC comes out & wins their next game while someone ahead of them loses, you could see UNC moving right up the poll. You guys are obviously very competitive, you've scheduled some of the best teams in the country to prove it, & you've got a great conference tournament to prove you belong in Dallas. I wouldn't worry too much about it right now.

[Brew26]

I feel UNC should be in nationals, but you cannot make excuses. Teams play back to back games all year round. Instead of saying that could be a reason for losing, think of it as a way of preparation for nationals. The teams in nationals are going to play day after day against the best competition. There are no excuses there.

[gibertjs]

has anyone in the MCLA ever considered using a laxpower type computer formula? I realize it's not very accurate until the middle/third quarter of the season, but the polls really don't matter much until the seasons over and the seedings for nationals take place. This would eliminate things like the pollsters missing games or information, or not paying attention to a certain conference. Also with something as important as a first round bye at stake in nationals, it would be a much fairer system, eliminating the opinions of pollsters.

[TheRev34]

sounds too much like the BCS to me and we all know how much we love that system