2020 IWLCA Division I Coaches Poll – January 27, 2020
The Maryland Terrapins, 2019 National Champions, narrowly edged out North Carolina to claim the top spot in the preseason IWLCA Division I Coaches Poll. Maryland garnered 15 first place votes, while the Tar Heels collected the other 10. Northwestern landed in the third spot, followed closely by Syracuse and Boston College, to round out the top five. The ACC landed seven teams in the top-25 rankings, the most of any conference, while the Big Ten had four schools listed and the Ivy League and Pac-12 each had three. Fans won’t have too long to wait before Maryland and North Carolina square off in a February 28 matchup in Chapel Hill.
Rank Institution Points FPV 2019 Record Final 2019 Rank
1 Maryland 608 15 22-1 1
2 North Carolina 605 10 17-4 3
3 Northwestern 556 0 16-5 4
4 Syracuse 546 0 16-5 5
5 Boston College 539 0 22-2 2
6 Princeton 471 0 16-4 6
7 Notre Dame 429 0 14-5 9
8 Virginia 425 0 13-7 7
9 Michigan 417 0 16-4 11
10 Denver 382 0 16-4 8
11 Loyola 359 0 16-5 10
T-12 Penn 329 0 12-6 14
T-12 Stony Brook 329 0 16-5 12
14 Florida 302 0 14-7 13
15 Navy (USNA) 256 0 16-5 16
16 Southern California 253 0 16-4 17
17 James Madison 238 0 16-4 15
18 Colorado 167 0 11-8 19
19 Georgetown 165 0 12-9 18
20 Stanford 146 0 13-6 23
21 Duke 128 0 11-8 21
22 Dartmouth 115 0 11-6 20
23 Virginia Tech 93 0 8-10 25
24 Johns Hopkins 91 0 10-8 22
25 High Point 55 0 15-5 24
Obviously it's early but.... Top 4 look about right.
Team Defense is what wins National Championships.... Northwestern needs to tighten up if they want to be in the conversation.
Has Maryland reloaded?
Is Syracuse really a Final Four Caliber team?
Looks like Boston College might struggle this year, ACC is not a very forgiving conference.
Michigan might be a little overrated.
Hofstra looks like they will be tough.
Denver looks like the Best of the West.
Stony Brook has challenged themselves early. SBU opens with Syracuse, they also have Florida and Princeton and a trip out to USC.
IMHO... North Carolina is the team to beat.
There are a lot of very good teams between 5 - 20 not sure if any can get to the Final Four.
Are there any teams not currently ranked in the Top 25 that can make some noise? Hofstra? Richmond? anyone else???
