11-04-2014, 12:26 PM
(This post was last modified: 11-04-2014, 12:41 PM by Viking_Guy.)
WiM--
They dropped MSoc because they vaulted up Creighton and C.al, and didn't drop UCLA below us. Don't know why Creighton vaulted up so much; they only beat RPI #46 Marquette and #131 DePaul, yet jumped over both North Carolina and Stanford, who both won 1 (against Depaul-like competition) and tied 1 against far superior competition (UCLA and UVa). Better indicator will be a game against #19 Providence this week. And C.al beat the Bruins in LA, albeit on a soft goal, and San Diego.
The larger question for men's soccer - they need a WIN over top flight competition. They've lost to Creighton and UW and tied C.al once and UCLA twice. Other than that, their best win is probably either Oregon State (#41 in RPI), USF (#45) or UCSB (#48). I hope they can take out both the Beavers and the Huskies this weekend, but that's a tall order.
One other ranking note: yep, the field hockey coaches did it. They dropped Stanford below UConn - you remember, the team we beat 3-1 in Storrs? The Huskies beat #14 Temple 4-3, while Stanford had to work far too hard to put away a bad (#64 out of 78 teams) UC Davis team 2-1. But still, um, head-to-head?
More worrisome, the win dropped Stanford to #5 in the RPI. I'm hoping if they win two games this weekend, they can make it back up to #4, but none of their possible opponents is a ratings boost. And they very well could have to play Pacific on their home turf in their first game, as UoP plays UC Davis for the right to play the Cardinal. Talk about a no-win game - play the host, who is #48 in the RPI, or play a team that beating actually hurts your cause. Have to hope for some upsets in other tourneys and attrition.
But I'm betting no matter where they end up, the NCAA will seed them so that they have to travel at least once before the final four, and likely play an East Coast power on their home turf at 8 AM Pacific time to advance.
VG
They dropped MSoc because they vaulted up Creighton and C.al, and didn't drop UCLA below us. Don't know why Creighton vaulted up so much; they only beat RPI #46 Marquette and #131 DePaul, yet jumped over both North Carolina and Stanford, who both won 1 (against Depaul-like competition) and tied 1 against far superior competition (UCLA and UVa). Better indicator will be a game against #19 Providence this week. And C.al beat the Bruins in LA, albeit on a soft goal, and San Diego.
The larger question for men's soccer - they need a WIN over top flight competition. They've lost to Creighton and UW and tied C.al once and UCLA twice. Other than that, their best win is probably either Oregon State (#41 in RPI), USF (#45) or UCSB (#48). I hope they can take out both the Beavers and the Huskies this weekend, but that's a tall order.
One other ranking note: yep, the field hockey coaches did it. They dropped Stanford below UConn - you remember, the team we beat 3-1 in Storrs? The Huskies beat #14 Temple 4-3, while Stanford had to work far too hard to put away a bad (#64 out of 78 teams) UC Davis team 2-1. But still, um, head-to-head?
More worrisome, the win dropped Stanford to #5 in the RPI. I'm hoping if they win two games this weekend, they can make it back up to #4, but none of their possible opponents is a ratings boost. And they very well could have to play Pacific on their home turf in their first game, as UoP plays UC Davis for the right to play the Cardinal. Talk about a no-win game - play the host, who is #48 in the RPI, or play a team that beating actually hurts your cause. Have to hope for some upsets in other tourneys and attrition.
But I'm betting no matter where they end up, the NCAA will seed them so that they have to travel at least once before the final four, and likely play an East Coast power on their home turf at 8 AM Pacific time to advance.
VG