2008 Lax World MCLA Division 2 Top 25 Poll (4/16/08) is out!

[Gvlax]

Plus #3Dayton is playing #6Emory POST-SELC Championship. Very Unusual, and I don't believe it was scheduled untill midway through the season. Maybe Emory decided it was a nice safety net if they fall in conferance play and still want to make the tournament. On the topic of OOC sheduling, does anyone know the rules? I know you are not suppossed to schedule Conferance games until your respective conferance meetings in the fall, but are there rules about OOC scheduling?

This does seem odd to play after the regular season, but I do not believe their are any rules that say two teams can not play each other when ever they want too.
When and where is this game taking place? Since this is a post-regular season game, will this even matter in the final poll vote? Why not wait till next year to play them? Why risk possible injuries before the national tournament?

Laxpower has it listed the 27th @ Dayton

The SELC has the earliest conference championships. There is over a month between those championships and Dallas. Two T10 teams going head to head is a good for both teams. Also, this game was cancelled in February due to a snow storm - so it's being replayed. Emory never looked at the SELC championships as our last game. Whether we won or lost the championships, we agreed to make up this scheduled game. Conference finals do not end a team's season, only mandatory Divisional matchups must be played before Conference playoffs. Emory still could even play a third game against Elon in a scheduled match up next week or the week after, hypothetically. It just becomes another MCLA game with no bearing on the already decided conference champion.

Why is the SELC so early? If they beleive it will hinder them so much then why does it have to be so early? Also, i think what emory is doing is smart. If they did not play this game then who knows if they would receive an AL bid (Still a lot more top 10 teams have games left). I think many voters are very interested to see what emory can do compared to dayton. UST beats Emory 4-3, UST destroys Dayton 18-9, should be a good game. I know who i'm rooting for.

[dgr01002]

Why is the SELC so early? If they beleive it will hinder them so much then why does it have to be so early? .

We have an SELC fall meeting and decide on two specific weekends, put to a vote. It was offered to do the SELC Champs this coming weekend also, but we voted. Weather is good enough in the South to start our season in the last week of January so, we don't deal with snow for the most part - rain, another issue. What I can say is that the time between the SELC's and Dallas is a long idle time. So, again, I think for SELC teams they would want to keep playing regardless. CCLA teams go longer due to weather hindering the start of their schedule, so, it kinda works out nicely. Also, again, this was a game scheduled to be played in February.

[Gvlax]

Why is the SELC so early? If they beleive it will hinder them so much then why does it have to be so early? .

We have an SELC fall meeting and decide on two specific weekends, put to a vote. It was offered to do the SELC Champs this coming weekend also, but we voted. Weather is good enough in the South to start our season in the last week of January so, we don't deal with snow for the most part - rain, another issue. What I can say is that the time between the SELC's and Dallas is a long idle time. So, again, I think for SELC teams they would want to keep playing regardless. CCLA teams go longer due to weather hindering the start of their schedule, so, it kinda works out nicely. Also, again, this was a game scheduled to be played in February.

I was curious as to why people voted for this weekend. For teams who dont schedule games like Emory between, this could hinder them come next time votes are counted. I could see voters forgetting about the importance of the Elon win when the GVSU vs Dayton game (possible match up in the CCLA finals) and the UST vs SJU game (Another possible match up) plus the RMLC finals all happening around each other. It just seems to me a better idea to have it around the same time as everyone else. I am just looking for some reasoning as to why people voted last weekend rather than this one coming up. I could see reasons such as Teams can now fund raise for nationals. I could also see negatives such as teams might not practice as much since the finals are over and might take a relaxed approach to it.

SELC is very nicely placed for weather, many CCLA and UMLL teams received snow into April so CCLA has to make it close to nationals (making funding a bit more difficult if you have to tell parents that we might get an AL bid a week and half before finals).

[dgr01002]

I was curious as to why people voted for this weekend. For teams who dont schedule games like Emory between, this could hinder them come next time votes are counted. I could see voters forgetting about the importance of the Elon win when the GVSU vs Dayton game (possible match up in the CCLA finals) and the UST vs SJU game (Another possible match up) plus the RMLC finals all happening around each other.

You gotta trust the poll voters. Most are veteran coaches. They usually get it right, or close enough. Any coach voting based on week-to-week versus body of work probably has no business being a pollster and is not doing the proper research. Coaches are weighing entire body of work - including championship and playoff games, how many Top 20, how many Top 10 games a team has played the entire season. Injuries, adversity is also weighed in key games, etc. At least, that's how it should be done.

[Gvlax]

I was curious as to why people voted for this weekend. For teams who dont schedule games like Emory between, this could hinder them come next time votes are counted. I could see voters forgetting about the importance of the Elon win when the GVSU vs Dayton game (possible match up in the CCLA finals) and the UST vs SJU game (Another possible match up) plus the RMLC finals all happening around each other.

You gotta trust the poll voters. Most are veteran coaches. They usually get it right, or close enough. Any coach voting based on week-to-week versus body of work probably has no business being a pollster and is not doing the proper research. Coaches are weighing entire body of work - including championship and playoff games, how many Top 20, how many Top 10 games a team has played the entire season. Injuries, adversity is also weighed in key games, etc. At least, that's how it should be done.

I wasnt trying to say they would forget all together but the other games will be more fresh in their mind. Im excited to see the outcome of the Emory Dayton game as well as the possible second match up of SJU vs UST