Nike / IL MCLA Division I Poll - 3/26/2013

[LaxTV_Admin]

1. Colorado State 674 (26)
2. Colorado 633
3. Stanford 627 (1)
4. Arizona State 593
5. Chapman 548
6. Brigham Young 541
7. UCSB 517
8. California 444
9t. Michigan State 426
9t. Boston College 426
11. Oregon 412
12. Sonoma State 396
13. Texas 328
14. Georgia Tech 282
15. Minnesota-Duluth 261
16. Georgia 236
17. Oregon State 212
18. Virginia Tech 187
19. Grand Canyon 166
20. Cal Poly 160
21. Connecticut 155
22. Pittsburgh 137
23. Arizona 104
24. Davenport 96
25. Simon Fraser 90

Others Receiving Votes
Northeastern (59), Florida State (14), Texas State (13), Wisconsin (10), UNLV (9), Southern Methodist (3), Buffalo (2), Richmond (2), Illinois (1), Auburn (1), San Diego State (1)

[bhsvideodad]

Not clear why Chapman is ranked above BYU. Chapman has three losses including one to BYU. True they beat ASU, but what else?

[LaxTV_Admin]

How is it that Stanford is continuing to be punished for winning every game?

[Ravaging Beast]

How is it that Stanford is continuing to be punished for winning every game?

How have they been punished? They are ranked #3. They have not beaten a team ranked ahead of them and have not crushed the teams below them. Colorado on the other hand has won game against both UCSB and Chapman. Similar resumes but I give CU the edge with the win over Chapman and win on the road against UCSB.

If Stanford remains undefeated with wins against BYU, SSU, and Cal, I think that puts them at #1 or #2 depending on what the Colorado teams do.

[Ravaging Beast]

Not clear why Chapman is ranked above BYU. Chapman has three losses including one to BYU. True they beat ASU, but what else?

7 points separates these two teams. Three voters did not vote. Maybe those voters were from the RMLC or from teams that played BYU. Three voters makes a difference.

[LaxTV_Admin]

How is it that Stanford is continuing to be punished for winning every game?

How have they been punished? They are ranked #3. They have not beaten a team ranked ahead of them and have not crushed the teams below them. Colorado on the other hand has won game against both UCSB and Chapman. Similar resumes but I give CU the edge with the win over Chapman and win on the road against UCSB.

If Stanford remains undefeated with wins against BYU, SSU, and Cal, I think that puts them at #1 or #2 depending on what the Colorado teams do.

That same argument could have been made for Stanford when BYU was ranked ahead of them at #2 and they were #3, but I didn't see anyone complaining. Guess, I just won't punish a team for winning unless the SOS is crazy different. In this case, I think they are similar and Stanford should not be moved down for winning all their games. Perhaps I have just become a WCLL homer....

[OAKS]

That same argument could have been made for Stanford when BYU was ranked ahead of them at #2 and they were #3, but I didn't see anyone complaining. Guess, I just won't punish a team for winning unless the SOS is crazy different. In this case, I think they are similar and Stanford should not be moved down for winning all their games. Perhaps I have just become a WCLL homer....

West Coast Bias.

I think it's more "what have you done for me now" Stanford's big wins were at the very beginning of the season. Colorado has two top 10 wins in the past two weeks.

SOS as it currently stands by Laxpower is:
CSU: 18
Colorado: 21
Stanford: 39

If the rankings hold, CSU will play five top 10 teams, CU will play six top 10 teams, and Stanford will play 3. I think CU is just as deserving of some #1 rankings as CSU currently.

I think the top 3 will sort itself out before the tournament.

[WCLLPREZ]

The three missing Div poll voters were not from the RMLC

[Ravaging Beast]

The three missing Div poll voters were not from the RMLC

It is just tough to go week to week not knowing if the changes in the poll are due to missing voters or what the teams have done. As long as they all show up to the last one, it's alright with me.

[bhsvideodad]

As much as I would like to see Stanford roll, I think BYU will dispose of them tomorrow, just as they did the Ducks and the Bears in the last 3 days. Stanford just hasn't played any top 5 teams. On the other hand, having seen BYU play, I don't think they compare with some of their teams in the past. After all, they only have about 3 or 4 assistants, down from the about 8 they used to travel with.

Their pressure defense is still good, but the offense wasn't as dynamic as in the past.

[LaxTV_Admin]

Making a prediction now.

Stanford 12
BYU - 9

BYU has solid defense, but I think Stanford will go 50/50 or better on face-offs and I think Stanford's offense is tough to stop.

[Ravaging Beast]

I have sort of kept my mouth shut about Stanford because the better ranking they have, the better UCSB looks after losing to them. But Stanford did not look very good against UCSB until the end when the Gauchos seemed to forget that they still had to play a game. I think UCSB was up by 5 goals or something like that when they let Stanford get back into.

I'm basically saying that I agree with BHSvideodad. I would not be surprised if BYU beats Stanford. They are definitely a top 7 team, but I don't know if #3 will be their position when the season ends. I think Panchito just wants them to be ranked high when Sonoma plays them because he thinks they have a shot at knocking them off. Just two more weeks!

[LaxTV_Admin]

I have sort of kept my mouth shut about Stanford because the better ranking they have, the better UCSB looks after losing to them. But Stanford did not look very good against UCSB until the end when the Gauchos seemed to forget that they still had to play a game. I think UCSB was up by 5 goals or something like that when they let Stanford get back into.

I'm basically saying that I agree with BHSvideodad. I would not be surprised if BYU beats Stanford. They are definitely a top 7 team, but I don't know if #3 will be their position when the season ends. I think Panchito just wants them to be ranked high when Sonoma plays them because he thinks they have a shot at knocking them off. Just two more weeks!

No doubt I want Stanford to be high. Helps our SOS and of course I think we will win. Otherwise I should retire from coaching.

Look, everyone can make excuses all they want, but Stanford is 8-0 with wins over quality opponents, Oregon, UCSB, and Northeastern (will prove by end of the year). I think they will do well today. We will see what happens in a few hours. Hoping I can get down to the game.

[Ravaging Beast]

I am not saying that they won't do well or that they are not good. They have two of the best players in the country and an awesome goalie. Also, Drew Virk has shown that he knows what to do, even with limited talent on the field. I'm just saying that I would not be surprised if BYU wins. They are the lower ranked team, so they will not take Stanford lightly. They want to win this game to move up in the rankings and they have a great chance at doing that.

[Ravaging Beast]

And BYU won 13-7. Not surprised. Stanford will drop to #6.