When they were scheduling, Princeton would have been thought to be the next best along w Pacific. Not sure the conspiracy theory holds because they got plenty of games scheduled w the big 4.
I think it was a heavy lift for Pacific to have jumped to the #1 seed (while they were first in the RPI, I thought they would get jumped eventually by UCLA there) and as much as I love Fordham, I do not see a realistic scenario where that happens.
When you examine the NCAA seeding criteria and the remaining schedules, the real question is can Fordham jump to the second or third seed. That being said, I think this has a chance to be the best overall field I have ever seen at NCAAs. It is highly likely every team seeded 2-7 has a chance to win multiple games. There is no real benefit as there may have been in years past to have a seed line one slot higher.
Good point! At any rate, I am pulling for Fordham this year, they look to have endless energy and hustle.
Love the Fordham, UOP, Princeton , UCI WP programs and their progress this year and hope they continue to get better, and bring more competition and perhaps parity to the game but in my opinion and logic dictates, no one should be ranked higher than top 3rd even perhaps 4th spot unless they play and defeat any one of the big 4 programs!
undefeated season should not give any school auto top 2 ranking if they have not faced any big 4 schools.
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I agree on the Top 3 holding their spots, nothing so far suggests they shouldn’t be there. but Cal lost enough games and by enough margin outside the big 4 that I think they’re ranked about where they belong at 6-7th. Especially with inconsistent goalie play.
So the question going forward is what if Stanford or USC lose an upcoming game to the #7 team in the country? Is that enough to drop them below Fordham?
They skipped it last year in a very down year. I had no problem with it as they were obviously way down. They skipped in 2014 or 2015 when they were ranked 2 in the country and they missed the tournament because of that. You are correct, he is always trying to game the system. That’s fine but don’t expect to gain many allies in the coaching community. They are in a very easy conference and should have an easy path to NCAAs. Who cares if tournaments aren’t your best format. It’s the experience against the tougher teams that will benefit your team at NCAAs. Dusty doesn’t care about losses, he is playing chess out there knowing his team will be hardened when it counts. I think Graham did his team a disservice
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The rankings are meaningless. Cal should be preparing for the MPSF tournament as they need to win it to make NCAAs.
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Well the seedings are not meaningless
They really are. You need to win your conference tournament to get an automatic bid. Thats all that matters. We all know the Big 4 will get the at large bids.
Season starts now for college polo with MPSF and conference titles! Should be exciting finish! Surprises are waiting around the corner and it’s anyone’s title (if Bruins cough it up).
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Lecari was great at Palos Verdes
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I won’t fault anyone strategizing, the big 4 have all the advantage just being the schools that they are and in prime locations. Pacific has done a lot from a place no one really wants to be. That said I am hoping the rise of the Ivy schools continues, it makes the sport more interesting than the same handful of California dynasties taking turns winning it all.
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There is meaning to the seedings. The #1 seed will be the only team with an easy game in the first round, and #3 is going to have their hands full with Princeton. Coming at it from the other point of view, I’m sure Fordham, Pacific, and Princeton would prefer to avoid being 6th and playing USC or Stanford in the first round.
Dusty is prepping his team better for the NCAA tournament with this tough schedule, but it could be wasted if he lands in the 6th spot and has to beat a Big 4 just to advance past the first round. From #6 he probably has to win all 3 of his games vs a Big 4 opponent to achieve his goal. I assume Graham was hoping for everything to break right and get a #1 seed to avoid playing any Big 4 teams until the finals
I misread your post sorry. Yes the seedings matter. I meant the rankings don’t have any part of the formula for the seedings or who makes the field
Do you think if Cal beats USC/Stanford either of those teams drop below #3 seeding?
Interesting. Pacific still has the #1 RPI after their loss to Fordham. It looks like their lead over UCLA got slightly larger.
Maybe because they pick up an undefeated team in their SOS calc?
What is interesting about the RPI is how razor close 1-2 (Pacific & UCLA) are and then 3-5 (USC, Stanford and Fordham). A couple observations:
-I think Pacific’s stay at #1 likely ends with the next rankings as they play Santa Clara, Cal Baptist and Air Force. Just playing these games is going to drop them.
-Fordham is clearly getting penalized by having to play their conference schedule. They have multiple games on their slate, that they cannot avoid playing. These games are keeping them out of the third spot.
-This weekend should help us truly shake out the top five as UCLA and USC head up north to play Cal and Stanford. Cal is clearly lurking as a spoiler. RPI is obviously not going to take into account having improved goalie play later in the season.
Fordham will probably end up as a 4 seed if they win out, and they should (but stranger things have happened). UCLA, Stanford, and USC likely end up in the top 3 spots. UOP probably ends up 5 assuming they win their tournament. RPI won’t make much difference. Its winning percentage and strength of schedule. The other criteria comes into play if necessary.
Fordham tied at No.2 in the latest CWPA poll…