Schooling Schooler: Regular Season Wrap
by Jac Coyne | Lacrosse Magazine Online Staff | Coyne Archive | Twitter
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| It's tough not to stifle a yawn following this snoozer of a competition. Fortunately, the slate is swept clean after this week, opening up a chance at redemption for Nicky. |
'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.
Another 5-0 week. Yawn.
That would push me to 40-14 for the year while Schooler posted
another 2-3 campaign, setting him four games below even at 25-29
and 15 games behind me.
The only good thing is we’re nearing the end of the regular
season, so Nick can wipe the slate clean next week with some
conference tournament action. We might even do a little
pre-tournament predictions on who is going to make the tournament
and what the seeds will be the week after that.
The MCLA national tournament is from May 11-15 in Denver, so a lot
of conference tournaments are wrapping up this weekend and the
remainder should be done by Sunday, May 2. Usually the selection
committee releases its field and seedings on Sunday evening or
Monday morning. We’ll hope for the former.
We’ve got some pretty decent games this week, although
Schooler is continuing his insistance on choosing games that have
at least one sub-.500 team involved. I think he wanted to tab a
program that has a similar winning percentage to what he has
managed this season.
On to the games…
No. 2 Chapman (12-1) at No. 10 UCSB (9-4),
1 p.m. PDT, Saturday
COYNE: This one should be like taking candy from
a baby. After being mealy-mouthed about the Gauchos at the
beginning of the season, Schooler is fully back in his UCSB glory
mode and will undoubtedly take his alma mater. It’s not a
terrible upset pick, but it won’t happen. After the Oregon
loss, Chapman won’t be complacent enough to let UCSB dictate
the pace of the game, which the Gauchos will have to do in order to
pick up the victory. I like the Panthers, 11-6.
SCHOOLER: This game is the final SLC game of the season
for both teams every year for a reason. It's always a battle for
No. 1 in the SLC north, and it always turns out to be a pretty
close game. UCSB has risen to No. 8 on the Playboy Top 10
party schools list, and I smell the Gauchos rising in another
poll.
Santa Barbara dominated this game for so many years, but Chapman
has risen to the top and won the last three seasons. Last time UCSB
won, I was a senior. I think we won in double overtime with an
unassisted goal from a freshman who had only been on the field for
a minute. This Gaucho team is full of talented rookies. I foresee
an overtime victory for the Gauchos.
COYNE: Isn't this the second year of the SLC's
existence?
No. 9 Michigan
State (8-3) at No. 1
Michigan (11-1), 7
p.m., Saturday
COYNE: Everything about this game – the
location, the rankings, the momentum – points to a
comfortable win for the Wolverines. But I’m going to play a
hunch here and take Sparty. This is a big brother-little brother
game and Michigan has already proven it can look past an
opponent.
SCHOOLER: No question in the game. Michigan wins easily.
The Wolverines slipped up against Colorado, but won't lose again
until Nationals.
No. 4 BYU (10-2) at No. 3
Colorado State
(13-1), 7 p.m. MDT,
Saturday
COYNE: BYU has been sleepwalking for the past six
weeks. The Cougars have played a decent schedule and are locks for
Denver, but their slate was front-loaded, leaving them with mundane
opponents for most of the month of March and all of April. Now they
have to ratchet their intensity back up by playing a team in the
title hunt.
The nature of this rivalry will have the team excited enough, but
I’m not sure if they’ll be able to shake the rust off
their game in time to salvage a win. It’ll be close, but the
Rams race out early and hold off BYU in the second half.
SCHOOLER: I think that Colorado State is a solid No. 2
team in the country [they are ranked third]. I don't see them
losing for the rest of the season. Along with Jac, I think they are
a favorite for the National Championship. BYU is good, but they
have not managed to turn any heads this season. They barely beat a
struggling Sonoma team and took UCSB into double OT. They do not
have a signature win yet and will not get that win in this game.
Rams win by a few.
Coyne's pick
No. 18 Lindenwood (12-4) at No. 19
Illinois (9-2), 2 p.m.
CDT, Saturday
COYNE: How annoyed do you think Lindenwood is
right now? They are ranked too low, especially when you consider a
Texas team they’ve beat head-to-head is two spots ahead of
them, and everyone is waiting for another team to finally step up
and take the GRLC away from them. And all the Lions keep doing is
win – they’ve won eight-straight since losing to
Colorado by a goal in mid-March.
Here comes the Fighting Illini, another team ready to take their
shot at the title. And guess what? I think Lindenwood will answer
the call again. By two.
SCHOOLER: I really like this pick. It asks the question we
have been wondering all season. Is this the end of Lindenwood's
reign at the top of the GRLC? I think so. Not even Justin Combs
could stop Illinois in this game. They have rolled through the
season thus far. They have had a few close games, but every team
has. Illinois wins by one.
Schooler's pick:
No. 4 BYU (10-2) at No. 12
Colorado (5-6), 7 p.m.
MDT, Monday
SCHOOLER: I know this game is a little later than
we normally pick, but I had to choose it. I am almost positive that
the Buffs will win this game. I have always thought that Simon
Fraser and Colorado were legit teams even when they were losing.
Both teams have been showing that they can win against the best.
For some reason, SFU has proven their worth while CU has to prove
again that they can beat a top team. I think this is their time. As
I said, I think BYU is good, but not impressive. The Buffs are
looking unstoppable. Colorado wins.
COYNE: Does Colorado have a ton of potential? Absolutely.
They had a lot of key pieces coming back from a national semifinal
run. But potential is a dirty word when you’re sitting at 5-6
with two games left in your regular season. Through the grace of a
tough schedule, the Buffs are still in the conversation, but they
are already into playoff mode. If it loses to BYU, CU will be 6-7
(the Buffs should beat Utah State on Friday), meaning if they are
in the at-large pool for nationals, they’ll still be
sub-.500.
So it’s desperation time, and that kind of urgency is usually
good for a team. But I’m just not sold on Colorado, even at
home. Neither of these teams makes the meter move for me right now,
but I’m going to pick the Cougars on the road.
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
Weekend of April
10
Weekend
of April 17
