Schooling Schooler: Helping America’s Youth
by Jac Coyne | Lacrosse Magazine Online Staff | Coyne Archive | Twitter
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| Always offering people a helping hand. That's kind of my motto. Sometimes. |
'Schooling Schooler' is a Men's Collegiate Lacrosse
Association pick 'em competition between LMO's Jac Coyne and Nick
Schooler, a current marine biology Master’s candidate at UC
Santa Barbara as well as a former All-American and two-time
national champion for the Gauchos. Coyne and Schooler will be
picking five games from the MCLA every week during the course of
the season.
Sometimes I’m kind of amazed about how magnanimous I
am.
I could have kept my heel on Schooler’s throat for the rest
of this competition, coasting to a comfortable victory and
displaying my mastery of the MCLA.
But that’s just not the way I am.
I’m a teacher; a nurturer. I try to make people feel good
about themselves. Even if it may cost me a little bit in the end,
I’m all about taking the high road.
As such, I’m reaching out with a helping hand to a youngster
in need and giving him a leg up.
Nick enters this week down by eight games – I’m 27-12
and Schooler is 19-20 – so we’re going to give him a
chance (again) to get back into it by rolling out 10 games to be
selected. The Association has assisted his cause by rolling out one
of the better weekends of competition since the season started in
February, making this whole thing possible.
Obviously, No. 1 Michigan at No. 2 Colorado State is the marquee
event of the weekend, but all told there are seven ranked clashes
for us to choose among. By my count, we’re differing on six
of the games so while Nick can’t tie things up, he can move
within two of me with the right 6-4 week.
On to the games…
No. 21 California (6-4)
at No. 12 Cal Poly (7-4), 1 p.m.
PDT, Saturday
COYNE: Cal needs to treat every game like an
elimination match from here on out because they can’t afford
any more losses, even to a team as good as Cal Poly. The Texas
State loss kills the Golden Bears, even with the opening day win
over UCSB. It won’t matter, however. Cal can’t score
enough goals to stay with the Mustangs. Poly wins by a
half-dozen.
SCHOOLER: This is likely the game to decide the best team
in the WCLL. Both teams started the season strong. Cal opened with
a big win against the Gauchos, but has not done much since. Cal
Poly started with some big victories, but things have started to
slip since their loss in overtime to Florida back in early
March.
As much as I love Cal, they just haven't shown much in the last
month and this game is in San Luis Obispo. If you have never been
to a game at Cal Poly, the fans are ruthless. There is a reason
that you don't see any children at their games. I have seen the
Mustang faithful make grown men cry. Cal Poly clinches the No. 1
seed in the WCLL in this one.
COYNE: This would be Schooler’s second reference to grown men crying at Poly
home games. Methinks Nick is suppressing a bad memory from his
college days. That aside, home field advantage is obviously a big
factor for the Mustangs: they're 3-4 in SLO.
No. 13 Florida (8-3) at
No. 9 Florida State
(13-2), 1 p.m.,
Saturday
COYNE: It’s tough to get terribly excited
about either of these teams from a national championship
perspective because they each have curious losses, but I
don’t think there’s much question this game should be a
good one. I’m interested in getting feedback from this
game, which is being played at Florida State’s football
stadium, about the atmosphere.
This game will be two goals either way, and I’ll give the
‘Noles the nod playing in their own barn.
SCHOOLER: Both of these teams are overrated in my opinion.
It is rare that I get to see two Florida teams play in the same
season, and after their trips to Cali, I was not impressed.
Florida looked like a lost child against UCSB. And Florida State? I
don't even know what happened in the Seminoles' game against Texas.
On paper, FSU appears to have a slight edge, but against some of
the top competition (Cal Poly and Virginia Tech) they each won by a
goal apiece. I'm going to try to make up some ground here. Jac will
likely pick FSU, so I'm going with Florida for the SELC No. 1
seed.
No. 4 BYU (8-2) at No. 17 Utah
(7-2), 7 p.m. MDT,
Saturday
COYNE: Nicky has a mild crush on the Utes,
but their best win might be the triumph over Division II No. 5
Westminster. I’m not sold on BYU at No. 4, but the Cougs win
this one comfortably.
SCHOOLER: I was just in southern Utah a few weeks ago checking
out Bryce Canyon and Zion. What a beautiful area. Freezing though.
I've never experienced such cold weather. That's enough filler. I
don't have much to say about this game. Utah loves to surprise
Colorado State and BYU from time to time, but not this year. BYU
wins easily.
No. 8 Minn-Duluth (6-2) at No. 2
Colorado State
(11-0), 7 p.m. MDT,
Friday
COYNE: With No. 1 Michigan looming on Sunday,
this is the prototypical trap game for the Rams. You can’t
blame the Colorado State players if they had one eye on the
Wolverines, but they better be careful because the Bulldogs would
like nothing better than to solidify a Top 8 seed at nationals with
a win.
Michigan actually benefits greatly from having Duluth as its travel
partner on this Colorado trip (UM plays Colorado on Friday, Duluth
gets the Buffs Sunday), because while I think CSU takes the
victory, 11-10, the Rams are going to be gassed on Sunday.
SCHOOLER: What can I say about Colorado State? They were
given no respect early in the season, but Alex Smith appears to
have brought this team back to its rightful place at the top. They
have taken on everything that has been thrown their way. Jac thinks
they will win the national championship and I actually agree with
him. They are that good. After beating Arizona State in Tempe, I
knew they were for real. Rams by four.
Wisconsin (2-1) at No. 18 Lindenwood
(8-4), 7 p.m CDT, Friday
COYNE: Could the Badgers have been sand-bagging
the first half of the season when they played only three games in
the past seven weeks, and lost one of those to Western Michigan
– a team that bowed to top-ranked Michigan, 29-5 last
week? Or maybe Wisky is just a slow starter?
They better hope so, because the Lions would like nothing better
than to expose their new conference colleagues as pretenders to the
Lindenwood GRLC throne. As a Wisconsin resident, I’d hate to
see that happen, but I’m afraid it will. Lindenwood,
14-7.
SCHOOLER: Not sure why this game is on here. But I'll go
with it. I picked Wisconsin to win their first MCLA game back in
February, but they weren't able to pull it off. They have won their
only two games since, but now they get their first game against a
nationally ranked team. Welcome to the MCLA. Lindenwood cruises to
victory.
COYNE: Not sure why this game is on here? It's to fill out
the five extra games I'm gifting you. Ingrate.
Georgia Tech (9-3) at Tennessee
(7-5), 7:30 p.m. CDT,
Friday
COYNE: Do you know how many victories Georgia
Tech has over teams with winning records this year? I won’t
spoil the surprise, but Tennessee is 7-5, so I’m going with
the Vols, 14-10.
SCHOOLER: Both are leading their respective divisions and
hoping for a chance at the SELC title. I initially wanted to go
with Tennessee in this one, but after looking over their schedules
a little more, I have decided to go against my heart and pick the
Yellow Jackets.
No. 1 Michigan (9-0) at
No. 2 Colorado State
(11-0), 12 p.m. MDT,
Sunday
COYNE: All of the ingredients are there to pick
the upset. Playing on the road against the No. 2 team in the
country at altitude after a Friday night game would prepare just
about every team ready for a loss. It's definitely a logical
pick.
It’s not going to happen, though. When the Wolverines get
upset - this year or next - it’s not going to be by
their most obvious challenger. No, it will come from a
quasi-contender that hasn’t gained Michigan’s full
attention – Oregon is the perfect example and the Ducks
almost pulled it off. Because of the aforementioned equalizers,
it’ll be close, but UM prevails, 12-11.
SCHOOLER: I feel like I need the NFL films guy to read
this out loud. This is the match-up the MCLA has been waiting for
all season. Two unbeaten squads battle for No. 1 in the MCLA. Will
Michigan's epic undefeated streak come to an end? I think it will.
Colorado State wins by one in the best game of the season. If only
they could find a way to televise the game.
No. 6 Oregon (7-3) at No. 16
Simon Fraser (3-6), 1 p.m. PDT,
Sunday
COYNE: So Oregon beats Chapman, which beats Simon
Fraser, which beats Arizona State, which beats Oregon. That’s
quite a weekend quadrangle. It also makes this game – which
looked like it might be a snoozer a couple of weeks ago –
into one of the more interesting games of the weekend. While
they’ll probably meet again in the PNCLL championship game
with an auto-bid on the line, both the Ducks and Clansmen
desperately need this win for at-large purposes. It should be great
theater.
I’m going with the Clan. Something clicked over the last week
or so and they are finally realizing what kind of team they are.
I’m guessing it was probably on the defensive end – an
area where SFU was putrid for the first half of the season. Simon
Fraser, 13-9.
SCHOOLER: Is Simon Fraser for real? I have been arguing
this point on the message boards all week. They put together the
toughest schedule the MCLA has ever seen. According to some, losing
to the top four teams and beating the No. 5 team should keep you
from being ranked.
I think they are the tenth best team in the country. Who cares that
they lost to some of the best teams ranked above them. They also
beat one of those teams by seven at home. But I said I would never
pick the Clan again, so I'm going with Oregon.
Coyne’s pick
Iowa (6-0) at
Kansas (2-3), 12 p.m.
CDT, Saturday
COYNE: Ah, spring in Iowa City. The trees are
budding on the Iowa River before it floods, the Ped Mall bars are
full at 3 p.m. on weekday afternoons, and the Iowa lacrosse team is
undefeated and boasting the leading scorer in the country. Wait.
What?
Are the Hawkeyes now a lacrosse school? We certainly know
it’s not a basketball campus. Lacrosse obviously
takes second place to the Orange Bowl champion gridders,
but it’s a close second. My graduate school alma mater
is currently 6-0 and led by Alex De La Pena’s 7.40 ppg
average. I've got them subduing a gritty Jayhawk squad.
Hawkeyes by three.
SCHOOLER: No one cares about Iowa lacrosse. Coin flip!
Heads=Iowa, Tails=Kansas. Heads it is. Iowa wins this game. Kansas
screwed up my March Madness bracket anyways, so I can't pick
them.
COYNE: Don't be fooled by the heads-tails stuff.
Schooler's on the bandwagon with the rest of America.
Schooler’s pick
No. 10 Loyola Marymount (10-3) at No. 15 UC
Santa Barbara (7-4), 1
p.m. PDT, Saturday
SCHOOLER: Of course I had to pick this game.
I have faith that my Gauchos can pull the upset. I can't believe I
just said that. How can LMU be ranked higher than UCSB? I expect
lots of fans at the game. They are closing all beach access on
campus and in the surrounding Isla Vista area in order to avoid the
environmental catastrophe known only as Floatopia. So hopefully the bikini clad ladies
of UCSB will be distracting enough to let the Gauchos slip past the
Lions into second place in the North Division.
COYNE: Schooler’s Cali-centric picks usually bore
me, but this is actually a good game. I think Loyola Marymount is
in a great spot for the national tournament, so if they can lock
this one down, the Lions should get a relatively decent seed.
UCSB, on the other hand, could use this victory. The Gauchos only
have one win (Florida) against five other likely at-large teams
(BYU, Arizona State, California, Cali Poly) they’d be
competing against for a bid. So if they lose this one, it could
potentially be lights out.
That urgency will go a long way for the Gauchos, but I think the
Lions are the better team. LMU, 12-9.
Previous Schooling Schoolers
Weekend
of Feb. 13
Weekend
of Feb. 20
Weekend
of Feb. 27
Weekend
of March 6
Weekend
of March 13
Weekend of March
20
Weekend of March
27
Weekend
of April 3
