This week's updated college lacrosse polls are out -- and to nobody's surprise, Virginia is no longer the top dog after falling to Johns Hopkins this past weekend in overtime. The Hoos fall to No. 2 in the media poll and drop to a surprising No. 3 in the coaches poll. Hopkins, of course, comes in at No. 1 across the board. Here are the updated lacrosse rankings:
NIKE MEDIA POLL
Rank | Team | Points |
1 | Johns Hopkins University | 360 |
2 | University of Virginia | 339 |
3 | University of Massachusetts | 311 |
4 | Cornell University | 310 |
5 | Loyola University | 292 |
6 | University of Notre Dame | 277 |
7 | Lehigh University | 223 |
8 | Duke University | 221 |
9 | University of Maryland | 197 |
10 | University of Denver | 194 |
11 | Princeton University | 190 |
12 | University of North Carolina | 178 |
13 | Villanova University | 158 |
14 | Syracuse University | 146 |
15 | Fairfield University | 81 |
16 | Bucknell University | 79 |
17 | Colgate University | 65 |
18 | Penn State University | 60 |
19 | Navy | 30 |
20 | Georgetown University | 20 |
USILA COACHES POLL
Rank | Team | Points | 1st Place |
1 | Johns Hopkins University | 218 | 10 |
2 | University of Massachusetts | 199 | 0 |
3 | University of Virginia | 195 | 0 |
4 | Loyola University | 189 | 1 |
5 | Cornell University | 187 | |
6 | University of Notre Dame | 165 | |
7 | Lehigh University | 144 | |
8 | Duke University | 137 | |
9 | University of Maryland | 125 | |
10 | University of Denver | 112 | |
11 | University of North Carolina | 111 | |
12 | Villanova University | 106 | |
13 | Princeton University | 95 | |
14 | Syracuse University | 74 | |
15 | Fairfield University | 62 | |
16 | Bucknell University | 53 | |
17 | Colgate University | 51 | |
18 | Penn State University | 33 | |
19 | Georgetown University | 12 | |
20 | Hofstra University | 8 |
Hopkins is deservingly the unanimous No. 1 in the media poll. But among the voting coaches, one person decided to throw their vote behind (undefeated) Loyola. Questionable, though they have taken down No. 8 Duke, No. 10 Denver and No. 19 Georgetown.
The bigger question for me is, why is UMass No. 2? The Minutemen, at 7-0, have defeated Army, Bucknell, Ohio State, Brown, Albany, Hartford, and Penn State.
Of those teams, precisely zero are in the top 15 of the coaches poll. Only Bucknell (16) and Penn State (18) crack the top 20. UMass won those two games by a combined three goals. Can anyone give a logical explanation for why UMass, then, is ranked ahead of Virginia?