Undefeated teams and Bottom 3

[Bluevelvet]

UNDEFEATED TEAMS
*Lindenwood was dropped from the ranks of the undefeated by Michigan. The good news for Lindenwood was that the score was not that bad 14-10. The bad news was that they were outshot by a staggering 61-26. It could have been alot worse. Then they lost to Arizona 12-9 to go 1-2 in Ann Arbor.
*Colorado lost to Williams College, a so-so D3 team 12-10.

That leaves Oregon as the only undefeated team in the MDIA A division.
CSU and Colorado join Oregon as undefeated in MDIA play.

Oregon plays Sonoma St. and BYU from the top 10
Colorado plays UCSB, CSU and BYU
CSU plays Colorado and BYU
But, in my opinion, Michigan has the best team in the MDIA.


BOTTOM 3
3 WCLL: SSU AQ, UCSD, UCSB
3 RMLC: CSU, BYU, Colorado
1 CCLA: Michigan AQ
1 GRLC: Lindenwood AQ
1 SELC: FSU AQ
1 LSA: Texas AQ
1 UMLL: UMD AQ
1 PNCLL: Oregon AQ
1 PCLL: Northeastern AQ

That takes care of 13 out of 16 tournament spots.

If there are no conference championship upsets;
Utah, Va Tech, Ga Tech, Cal Poly, Chapman and Arizona are fighting it out for (at most) the last 3 spots in Texas.

[lil lady lax fan]

Utah's come a long way from where they were at the shootout in Irvine. A much better team and more disciplined, IMHO.

[Bluevelvet]

Games vs. Ranked teams remaining:

4 Utah (7-3) #14- Colorado, CSU, Sonoma and BYU
0 VaTech (4-3) #12- None
0 GaTech (7-2) #16- None
2 Cal Poly (7-4) #13- Oregon, Sonoma St.
1 Chapman (7-5) #17- Florida St.
3 Arizona- (7-3) #15- UCSD, UCSB, ASU

Arizona and Utah have the most opportunity. But there is a downside with that opportunity....chance of failure.

Va Tech 4-3 with no wins v. ranked opp. and no ranked opponents left. How is this team ranked #12?

Wins vs Ranked opponents:

2 Utah- #15 AZ and #13 Cal Poly OT
0 Va Tech- None
1 Ga Tech- #21 Mich St.
3 Cal Poly- #23 Chico, #17 Chapman and #8 BYU
5 Chapman- #23 Chico, #12 Utah, #21 Mich St., #25 Texas Tech and #15 Arizona
3 Arizona- #8 BYU, #22 UCLA and #10 Lindenwood

Cal Poly, Arizona and Chapman have the most wins vs. ranked teams. With Arizona and Cal Poly being the only teams with top 10 victories.

[LAXFAN]

Win vs. Lindenwood in progress? Does that mean they are beating them right now?

[Bluevelvet]

Yes, it was in progress. It's over now. AZ won 12-9. I will edit my post to delete words "in progress" for AZ v. Lindenwood.

[scoot88]

Bluevelvet- this is a very thorough and thought provoking post. It really shows how strength of schedule favors the teams in the WCLL.
1) I agree that V Tech is ranked too high and they have a soft schedule.
2)Lindenwood is ranked way too high and even though the scores from their past two losses seam relatively close, the stats indicate otherwise. Against AZ they hardly had possession and the shots against Michigan were extremely lopsided.
3)Michigan may very well be the best team, but the top 5 teams don’t really matter much right now-they’re all going to Texas and the regional playoffs will sort out the top 5.
4)Chapman may not have a top 10 win but they had OT losses to UCSD and UCSB. Also, margin of victory for Chapman’s 5 wins against top 25 teams is pretty convincing.
5) Georgia Tech’s schedule is way too soft and they don’t deserve an AQ with no wins against a top 20. Same goes for V. Tech.
6)Utah seems to be much improved since Irvine-but the rest of their schedule will determine if they are for real. No one seems to think they will do any damage in the RMLL playoffs, but I think they can. While the RMLL doesn’t get an AQ, the playoffs can shake up the polls.

Strength of schedule and total games played varies by region. Thanks for the good post.

[CATLAX MAN]

But, in my opinion, Michigan has the best team in the MDIA.

I think CSU might have an argument about this.

[Sonny]

As I noted before, your above schedule information is skewed because it fails to note any ranked teams that these so-called bubble teams may face in their respective conference playoffs.

[Bluevelvet]

As I noted before, your above schedule information is skewed because it fails to note any ranked teams that these so-called bubble teams may face in their respective conference playoffs.

It turns out that they will all play 2 possible addional ranked teams in their respective conference playoffs except:
*Arizona has a possible 3 additional ranked opponents.
*Chapman will not be in the WCLL playoffs so, they will have zero additional ranked opponents.
*Since VaTech and GaTech will probably play each other, one of them will get only one additional ranked opponent.
The most likely outcome is that they will all lose in the first round or to higher ranked teams, but all in all, the playoffs only magnify what the regular season has shown.

[steveperry]

It will be interesting to see what happens the next couple of weeks with these teams. Arizona, Chapman, Utah and Poly have some huge chances for victory and failure coming up:

Arizona - UCSD and UCSB. If they lose both of these, they drop to five wins, just like Chapman. But, Chapman beat them by 8, which should propel them in front of 'zona. They win one, it would show certainly make for an interesting situation in the polls.

Cal Poly - Oregon and Sonoma this weekend. If they lose both of these, that means that they have lost 4 out of their 5 last games, meaning 0/4 against ranked teams during that time, including two teams ranked below them. Yes, they beat Chapman earlier, but they did lose to Utah who Chapman beat. One of those situations that we have seen so much of this year. If they win one of these games, it would really help their position.

Chapman - FSU last big game. If they lose this, they really would need all four of these teams to lose all of their ranked games to have a shot. A win would make this a very tight race

Utah - Toughest part of their season left. Colorado, CSU, Sonoma and BYU. Lose all four and they have a 7 loss season. I think even if they win one, they have good position over Arizona and Poly who they beat, but it is hard to forget that Chapman beat them by 7 earlier this year.

I will not even talk about Virginia tech and Georgia Tech. These teams have done NOTHING to show that they belong in the TOP 20. I sure hope pollsters figure this out by the next poll. Lindenwood should also get the boot from inside the top 15 or so showing that they cannot beat teams inside the top 18 this year. They will most likely get that AQ anyway, so we have no need to inflate their ranking.

[CATLAX MAN]

Arizona is a tough team to figure out. They beat BYU & Lindenwood, but lose to Chapman & Utah. I have a hunch that these guys probably will fall below the cut line for the tourney if they don't beat one of the 2 ranked teams they play.

Chapman is easy. For them to have any shot, they must beat FSU and hope that will be enough to get them to about 12 or 13. Even then, it's not for sure that they get in, even if they make it there. A loss to FSU and it's all over for them IMO.

Poly's OT losses in WA hurt them. They probably need a win in one of these games or at least a good showing and perhaps one win in the WCLL playoffs. Again, it's not for sure for them either.

The only thing that is helping these teams is that other teams are falling around them also. It will be interesting to see what happens.

[scoot88]

Catlax-
What's your opinion of Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech? Do they deserve a possible at large bid based on who they played? And what do you think about Lindenwood? I can just imagine Lindenwood losing in their regionals but getting at-large bid over one of these WCLL teams.
Arizona beat Lindenwood pretty handily and Chapman beat Arizona by 8. It's too bad AZ and Poly don't play each other this year.

[CATLAX MAN]

Lindenwood will drop in the next poll after this last weekend's results, but in the end, it really doesn't matter that much because I think they will win the AQ out of the GRLC. I don't think their ranking matters that much.

I wish VA Tech played a tougher schedule, but they don't have one this year. They've lost to all the rated teams that they've played. They managed to have a close game against FSU, but I'm not sure if that says something about VA Tech or FSU. My sense is that they should be in the 14 -17 range.

I don't see how GA Tech rises in the polls or makes it to the tourney without winning the SELC. They only have 2 games against top 15 teams on their schedule and they've lost them both. They're at #16 now, so I don't see how they advance beyond that.

Right now, I would think that Arizona is also on the outside looking in, but there is still a lot of lacrosse to play and they have opportunities to change their position - - - -both for the good and bad.

[yourmom]

Arizona beat Lindenwood pretty handily

12-9? I will be the first to tell you that the score was not that close the whole game but still...

Lindenwood will drop in the next poll after this last weekend's results, but in the end, it really doesn't matter that much because I think they will win the AQ out of the GRLC. I don't think their ranking matters that much.

While the ranking may not seem to matter as far as getting into nationals, it still determines your first game which can set the tone for a teams whole performance. And also while the GRLC isn't the strongest conference I still believe there is at least one other team that should be in the top 25 IMO.

[Sonny]

I wish VA Tech played a tougher schedule, but they don't have one this year. They've lost to all the rated teams that they've played. They managed to have a close game against FSU, but I'm not sure if that says something about VA Tech or FSU. My sense is that they should be in the 14 -17 range.

You know CatLax, it's arrogant blanket statements like these where you really lose credibility. Frankly I'm tired of it.

In addition to their mandatory SELC conference schedule, VT went to WCLL land and already played Sonoma State, UCSD, and SDSU. They have played (or are scheduled to play) additional teams from the CCLA & UMLL.

They may not have beaten a ranked team at this point in the season, but to suggest they don't have a tough schedule is comical.

Maybe the Hokies can get Hopkins, Cornell, or Virginia next year? Oh yeah, that's right - varsity games don't count for MDIA teams in your eyes.