Here are the November 19 US Lacrosse rankings of eleven potential HoCo elite teams this spring. Nobody says these rankings are perfect, but it is nice to have some data to reality check the BOTC board.
I will go out on a limb and predict that the final spring HoCo standings will be pretty close to this ranking. But feel free to come back in May and tell me I was crazy.
Pretty amazing to have 7 of the top 25 national teams in one league.
2 - Crabs
4 - DC Express
9 - Hawks
14 - Looneys
17 - MadLax
22- True
24 - VLC
39 - TRW
43 - FCA
46 - NextLevel
54 - Top Caliber
You have to play at least 4 games to be ranked - so you can add 91 to that list in a few weeks after they play in IMCLA in FLA.
Thanks, so just bump Crabs and everybody else down a notch?
Looking at the local(-ish) rankings and the top two levels of the league there is potentially:
2 Baltimore Crabs
4 DC Express Black
9 Annapolis Hawks Green
14 Looneys
17 Madlax Capital
22 True Annapolis Green
24 VLC - VIRGINIA LACROSSE CLUB
33 Zingos Black
34 True Baltimore
36 Coastal Lacrosse Academy
39 TRW Wolfpack
43 FCA MD
46 Next Level
49 Saltwater Mid-Atlantic Lacrosse
51 HoCo Pink
52 Maryland Sidewinders Black
54 Top Caliber Red
63 302
64 Maryland Cannons Black
78 Dark Horse
85 Breakers
94 Roughriders
104 Kaos
Plus there is the Not yet Ranked -- Predators, On-Age Crabs (Hard Shells), Team 91 and rumors of Leading Edge making Sunday drives from New Jersey.
That is up to 27 teams that were either AAA or higher last year or can theoretically lay claim to a AAA or Elite spot based on recent play.. HoCo league managers may need to get creative and do a two division Elite league or maybe there will need to be preseason qualifiers for the league. Top Caliber won AAA so they should be able to move up. TRW was dominant all year and improved in a few key spot. They should be able to move up as well.
As far as how the Fall relates to the Spring Success, It will of course be different when rosters aren't lightened by football and soccer commitments. Roughriders was a playoff team last year despite their current ranking. Kaos was the back end of AAA and there are rumors of a merger with Dark Horse. Saltwater's record last year does not tll the story of team they became over the summer. And for all of the talk on this board about holdbacks, the elite kids that were displaced by the hold backs had to land somewhere, and those rosters can look very different (except of course for True who sent out 45 offer sheets with a 24 hour time limit to accept). Everyone thinks it is Crabs or Hawks to lose, and that may be true; but it is fairly wide open after that.. May be they need to have an early march "play day" to see who belongs where. That way football/futbol are not excuses.
