Men's Lacrosse is #15 in Latest Poll
After a big week with wins over #4 Notre Dame and UMBC, men's lacrosse is now rated #15 in the latest Maverick Top 20 Media Poll. Michigan also is 13th in RPI. If they can go 2-3 in Big Ten play, an at-large berth could be in play, but most likely they will need 3 wins. Here's the top 10 and other noteables:
#1 Albany
#2 Maryland
#3 Denver
#4 Yale
#5 Duke
#6 Johns Hopkins
#7 Notre Dame
#8 Villanova
#9 Rutgers
#10 Syracuse
Penn State (receiving votes, 21st)
Penn (receiving votes, 22nd)
Ohio State (receiving votes, 30th)
Marquette (receiving votes, 31st)
If so, book it!
Getting to Foxborough with a team that has won only one Big Ten conference game in team history, now that would be a cinderella story!
they do! Memorial Day weekend. I won't lie - that scenario ran through my head yesterday. Odds of that are incredibly long though. Gettin' ahead of myself. I can dream can't I?
Is this the first time we've been ranked in Lacrosse?
absolutely. This is the 1st time the team has been objectively good since elevation to varsity status
They were ranked briefly last year after they beat #9 Penn and were still undefeated. Didn't last long though - schedule got tough after that and they lost the next week if I recall correctly.
It sucks they have to play Maryland this week. Likely headed towards a similar scenario. But if they can pull that upset as well, holy shit, look out.
The fact that UM is ranked this year is a huge step for the program. I loved JP but there were clearly some hurdles that had to be overcome and it appears coach Conry has gotten them to another level early on. Lax recruiting starts really early compared to hoops and even football, so the long term effects of this on the talent coming into A^2 won't likely be seen tomorrow (though tbf I don't know what the status is of their upcoming classes) but their focus on D and smart play will keep them in a bunch of games with top opponents like MD which should make them that much more competitive in the meantime.
They have 7 Top 100 recruits coming in in the next two years (3 next year, 4 the next). That's more than Penn State and Rutgers combined, but less than Ohio State, let alone Maryland or Johns Hopkins.
March 26th, 2018 at 10:15 AM ^
March 26th, 2018 at 10:42 AM ^
Do you know if they are JP's or coach Conry's recruits? In any case it's a great foundation to build on.
This Saturday at noon, Michigan hosts #2 Maryland. A win here seems unlikely, but I really don't know how high Michigan's upside will be, after that road win against #4 (now #7) Notre Dame.
But the big game of the season will be on Saturday, April 21, at noon against Johns Hopkins. I think that will be the game where a win could put Michigan in the NCAA tournament.
The Maryland game is on BTN.
I agree either the JHU game or the Rutgers game would put Michigan in the tournament if Michigan beats PSU and OSU.
March 26th, 2018 at 10:16 AM ^
YES! I would love to see a great crowd for that one. Hopkins may have finally awoken from its 3 year slumber and is playing well.
The critical games for this team are Penn State and Ohio State. Those teams are way down from last year and if Michigan can poach wins in those games, that likely gets them to 2 wins in the conference which should be enough to get them in the conference tournament (which is in Ann Arbor this year!). That would be a huge step.
March 26th, 2018 at 10:24 AM ^
Agreed on those target games. Unfortunately they are both away. But we all just dreamed of a Notre Dame upset so...... I am making plans to be in Ann Arbor on May 3rd!
March 26th, 2018 at 10:56 AM ^
If they go 3-2 in conference, they'll get another game via conference tournament, so a 3-3 record would leave them at 10-5 for the year. Assuming that meant wins against PSU, Rutgers and OSU we likely would only have 2 quality (ranked) wins, so tough to get an at large with that. Just ask Rutgers, who at one point was ranked #1 in the country last year and didn't get an at-large. Maybe need to steal another one in the conference tourney.