Lax 2014 - who to chop to fix SOS

Poll

Who to chop so Cornell lax can add 1-3 more powerful lax opponents

Only registered users are allowed to vote for this poll.
35 votes were received.

Canisius (CU W18-7) RPI 57 of 63	24		69%
Binghamton (W11-6) RPI 49	2		6%
Siena (W17-9) RPI 38	8		23%
Hobart (W19-11) RPI 39	1		2%
Colgate (W19-3) RPI 31	0		0%

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Cornell's weak lacrosse strength of schedule almost kept the Big Red out of the NCAAs. (That and losing to Bucknell, Syracuse and Princeton.) We played non-league teams with power ratings (RPI) of 6, 17, 18, 31, 38, 39, 49 and 57 of 63 teams. (The worst Ivy, Dartmouth, has an RPI of 37.) The NYS teams we didn't play this year included Albany RPI 12 (scrimmaged Albany), Army RPI 23, Marist RPI 34, Stony Brook RPI 35, St. John's RPI 22, Manhattan 61, and Wagner RPI 63 of 63.

Wish the poll let you pick 3 not just 1. Early voting suggests the poll should be "Who to chop along with Canisius?"

I have several issues with this. First, I do not mind some of these weaker scheduled games with Upstate opponents. It throws a boon to some of these lesser programs who otherwise would not get to play opponents of Cornell's caliber (for the record both Syracuse and Albany also played several of these schools, also doing their part as the lacrosse powers in the region). Second, funny how easy it is to schedule good teams after the season is already played.

To wit: Yale finished #7 in the RPI and was our best win. They came into the year having finished at 14, 25, 18, and 30 the last four years. Princeton finished 16th in RPI after finishing the previous 4 years at 12, 21, 7 and 6. Colgate finished last year with the #6 RPI and returned a good portion of their team, including reigning Tewaaraton winner Peter Baum. They finished with an RPI of 29 this year. Virginia has been a perennial powerhouse and has had the #8, 2, 1, and 2 RPI's the last 4 years. They finished with an RPI of 19 this year.

Conversely, we dropped from our schedule Army and Denver. Denver would have admittedly been an excellent opponent to schedule, but that matchup has been sporadic and they were not on the schedule in 2010. Army finished this year with an RPI of 32, which was worse than any finish for them in the past 4 years.

I'm not saying we can't and shouldn't schedule some better teams, but I don't think it's as easy to make a difficult schedule, that will be reflected as such in the eyes of the committee, as some people make it seem.

semsox
... funny how easy it is to schedule good teams after the season is already played.

Are we in violent agreement and want to say it differently? No question that some teams do better or worse than their norm of recent years. There's also little question that some teams haven't done much and won't for a while. The polltakers cite three teams whose best years are borderline at best. Siena came 1 OT goal shy of the NCAAs and even so it would have finished about midway down the RPI index.

Canisius by the numbers. This is why two-thirds of poll respondents said Canisius should be the first casualty if Cornell needs to toughen its SOS.

2	Canisius winning years under current coach: 2 of 15 (2001, 2008). 
2	Winning years in program history: 2 (started 1990). 
2	D1 lax schools closer than Canisius (2:40) (Syracuse, Binghamton; Bucknell is same distance) 

Canisius last 5 years:
4-9	2009
6-7	2010
3-9	2011	
6-8	2012
3-10	2013