May 2nd Poll

[bullhighutewoozgriffclam]

It's awesome when teams schedule tons of top 10 talent (see: Utah) but at some point you gotta pull off some W's to get rewarded for it (see also: Utah).

you're totally right. W's against ucsb and umd don't count since they lost to csu and byu and oregon and u of a and asu and cu.

you're totally right.

batting .250 against the top ten should not be rewarded.

great point.

[Beta]

It's awesome when teams schedule tons of top 10 talent (see: Utah) but at some point you gotta pull off some W's to get rewarded for it (see also: Utah).

you're totally right. W's against ucsb and umd don't count since they lost to csu and byu and oregon and u of a and asu and cu.

you're totally right.

batting .250 against the top ten should not be rewarded.

great point.

Im not trying to make a case against Utah, or their schedule. But trying to get credit for losses just doesn't make sense to me. Look at college football, Miss State and Vandy push teams like Auburn and Florida every year...and do they get credit? Definitely not.

I mean it's great that teams play the top opponents and battle hard...but at some point you gotta get on base once or twice to make the all star team.

[TrainerDan]

It's awesome when teams schedule tons of top 10 talent (see: Utah) but at some point you gotta pull off some W's to get rewarded for it (see also: Utah).

you're totally right. W's against ucsb and umd don't count since they lost to csu and byu and oregon and u of a and asu and cu.

you're totally right.

batting .250 against the top ten should not be rewarded.

great point.

losing to div. b westminster should definitely bring the utes down and, plain and simple, no team with a losing record should be in the tournament unless they are an AQ. I know you have crimson colored glasses on but try to be logical here, how can a team with a losing record get an at large berth over a team that won their games. Eventually it has to come down to Wins and losses and it doesn't matter who they were to.

[Huskies16]

If we are going to use it for other purposes we might as well take a look at how laxpower ranks it, Not saying it is right, but should be considered. Afterall, the ranking only gets more accurate as the season goes on.

Power SOS
Rank Poll Team Rating Rank W L T

1 1 Brigham Young 84.90 1 14- 2- 0
2 3 Oregon 84.57 14 17- 2- 0
3 2 Colorado State 83.80 2 12- 2- 0
4 7 Minnesota - Duluth 82.17 47 11- 3- 0
5 4 Michigan 81.46 12 10- 3- 0
6 11 Northeastern 80.85 62 16- 2- 0
7 8 Arizona 80.57 6 14- 5- 0
8 5 Colorado 80.17 4 12- 4- 0
9 9 UC Santa Barbara 80.13 8 14- 4- 0
10 6 Sonoma State 79.52 11 10- 4- 0
11 Chapman 79.23 3 8- 7- 0
12 10 Arizona State 79.22 7 10- 4- 0
13 15 Boston College 78.90 50 15- 1- 0
14 23 Simon Fraser 78.83 29 9- 2- 0
15 12 Georgia 78.32 37 11- 2- 0
16 18 Utah 77.92 9 7- 8- 0
17 17 Florida State 77.47 32 14- 5- 0
18 Loyola Marymount 76.89 17 8- 6- 0
19 13 Lindenwood 76.84 25 11- 5- 0
20 16 Texas A&M 75.72 46 13- 2- 0
21 14 Florida 75.72 24 12- 3- 0

[Ravaging Beast]

Huskies16. Where did that SOS come from? It is a little different from the laxpower one I posted a few posts ago.

[Huskies16]

http://www.laxpower.com/update07/binmen/rating05.php

It is just the general ranking

[PSLguy]

Huskies16. Where did that SOS come from? It is a little different from the laxpower one I posted a few posts ago.

Those are just the PR numbers if I'm not mistaken, if you are using SOS numbers based on PR you might also use the PR's themselves. I believe that's what Huskie16 was saying.

[ritzy]

...I know you have crimson colored glasses on...

Pot or kettle?

[x1dschm]

...I know you have crimson colored glasses on...

Pot or kettle?

This post has kept me laughing for hours. Well done Ritzy.

[TrainerDan]

...I know you have crimson colored glasses on...

Pot or kettle?

It might be pot or kettle if BYU wasn't sitting on top but they are so how can you say I'm wearing tinted glasses. Besides, where in my previous post did I even mention BYU. I was meerly commenting on the fact that I believe that no team with a losing record should be given an at large berth. That same feeling would apply to BYU if in that situation. You gotta win games to earn the right to be there.

The Cougs have their weaknesses, just look at the 1st quarter of the game against Utah for proof of that, but they get the job done. I'll call the Cougars out when it's deserved just like I'll call out other teams. Call me a homer all you want but I'm going to be more impartial then most on here.

[laxalum16]

i still say UMD should be top 5.....

thank you for agreeing that UMD is legit this year and shouldn't fall in the polls. i don't know if they should crack the top 5 at the end of the year (that Utah loss kills me), but a 6 or 7 makes more sense to me than a 9. Especially since i think both UCSB and Michigan are ranked too high.

[wingman3227]

Laxalum,
I want you to make a case for bases on wins and losses, for UMD to be ranked ahead of teams like UCSB, CU, Arizona, or ASU, ...I am not saying they don't deserve to be there, but here is what I see...
UMD
Wins:
Cal Poly
Lindenwood

Losses
BYU
CSU
UTAH

those don't look like top 7 or 8 quality wins, I am sorry they just don't to me...I don't agree that a one goal loss is any better than a four or five goal loss, to me that still means the better team won, teams cannot be ranked based on a close loss, the loss has to be looked at for what it is...maybe UMD is a team that is really good at keeping the game close, that is how it looks to me, losing to the three best teams they played all by one gaol...sounds like a trend...UMD is lucky to hang on to the top ten...all of the other teams I listed have quality wins...please understand I am not saying UMD is bad, by no means, just that these other teams have proven throughout the year that they can win big games, not just keep them close....
Again, that is just my opinion....I could be wrong

[scooter]

UMD loses 3 games all year- 2 of them to the #1 and #2 teams in the country, teams they are supposed to lose to. And what is the goal differential in all their losses? 3 goals......3 losses by 3 goals.

Tell me with a straight face there are 5 other teams that look better on paper than them. BYU, CSU, Oregon....that's all. There aren't 2 other teams with a better resume than UMD. I know many voters don't like to reward losses, but they lost by a combined 2 goals to 2 teams they were supposed to get smoked by

[laxalum16]

you have to give some credit for a close loss though. a one goal loss is better than a 5 goal loss is better than a 10 goal loss. Given that they lost those games by one goal means that they can play with the best in the nation. The wins over Poly and Lindenwood were not that close of games(i attended both). And with the lack of SOS within their own league going out and playing one goal games against top 3 teams is quite an accomplishment. albeit without the loss to Utah i think you would agree with me.

[Champ]

those don't look like top 7 or 8 quality wins, I am sorry they just don't to me...I don't agree that a one goal loss is any better than a four or five goal loss, to me that still means the better team won, teams cannot be ranked based on a close loss, the loss has to be looked at for what it is...maybe UMD is a team that is really good at keeping the game close, that is how it looks to me, losing to the three best teams they played all by one gaol...sounds like a trend...UMD is lucky to hang on to the top ten...all of the other teams I listed have quality wins...please understand I am not saying UMD is bad, by no means, just that these other teams have proven throughout the year that they can win big games, not just keep them close....
Again, that is just my opinion....I could be wrong

Keeping in mind that they had 1 or maybe even 2 disallowed goals against CSU (crease in the final minutes of play, and maybe a stick penalty if my memory serves me?), and if you take away the 3 quick goals that BYU had while UMD's keeper had the sun in his eyes (shots he was making saves on later in the game, and credit where it's due to BYU for picking the correct side first quarter - true home field advantage knowing it's going to be bad for just the first quarter), the games have a different outcome.

Of note on a more statistical level, if you have one match of two teams, and the outcome is within 1 goal... to me that looks more like a coin flip. If those teams were to play each other 10 times, maybe the win/loss would be 50%. Maybe it wouldn't. But you definitely can't say that about beating a team by 5+ goals.