Lax’s own March Madness
And just like basketball, after a weekend of action, everyone is quick to crown a champion and dismiss “unworthy” teams. Below is an excerpt from a poster discussing Johns Hopkins:
“Jays are my pick for most over-rated team in D1 this year. When will the pundits stop ascribing the previous year’s performance to THIS year’s teams.”
Following three OT losses – has this ever happened before??? – and this week’s UNC loss, whispers surrounding Hopkins are now turning into bold questions. Is Rabil overrated (no way), is Petro a bad coach because he lost three OT games in a row (absolutely not), will JHU even make the playoffs with a tough schedule of opponents remaining (yes)? The above quote stands as particularly ironic because the 2007 National Champion John Hopkins team actually stood nearly in this exact position last year: mid-season questions, struggling for wins and an identity. Will they win another National Championship this year? They are not my favorite but I certainly would not count out the Jays.
Thus far, the only absolute truth in college lacrosse is that there are no guaranteed wins. And the margin of victory has been extremely slim. Almost every Top 10 team has played in an overtime game or game in which they needed a 4th quarter rally to win. Hopkins (vs Albany, Syracuse, UVa), UNC (vs Denver), Syracuse (vs Gtown, UVa), UMD (vs UMBC), UVA, Georgetown and Cornell (vs Navy) and Notre Dame (vs Loyola, Albany). In other words, Hopkins is very close to being a one-loss team and likely in the Top 5. Conversely, Syracuse could easily have dropped the Georgetown game and be sitting in the Top 10 rather than No. 1. Schools like Siena, Hofstra, and Yale have also complicated matters with some interesting upsets.
So what does this all mean? At this point, it is virtually impossible to predict who will win respective league play, let alone the final four or national champion. In the ACC, it may come down to who is having a good weekend; Virginia lost its only ACC game, and it doesn’t get easier. The American East is wide open with UMBC, Stony Brook and Albany all playing well. Georgetown established itself as the ECAC favorite but Loyola lurks as a legit threat. Cornell is the clear favorite in the Ivy but after a narrow victory over Yale, Princeton’s tough loss and a seesaw of other Ivy victories in the Ivy, it appears to be anyone’s game. I still like Army to win the Pat but Navy just continues to win games. And the GWLL will be interesting as always with OSU, Denver and Notre Dame all about to hunker down for league play.
The tourney doesn’t start till May but playoff lacrosse is already here.
3 Responses to “Lax’s own March Madness”
By TheJman on Apr 2, 2008 | Reply
Culver,
Did you just say “Go Vols”? I didn’t know if you knew it but there’s also a men’s tournament going on right now too. You should check it out.
By tom foolery on Apr 2, 2008 | Reply
great article well written!!!
By NNC on Apr 2, 2008 | Reply
Well-written and interesting perspective. Go Lady Vols indeed!