Schooling Schooler: Weekend of Feb. 21
by Jac Coyne | Lacrosse Magazine Online Staff | Coyne Archive | Twitter
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| Schooler nearly ruined a perfectly good wine vacation by taking an early lead in the Schooling Schooler competition. There won't be a big swing this week, but Coyne is in his head now by rolling out a Division II contest. How unhinged is Schooler with the advent of D-II pick 'ems? Well, he has let the political genie out of the bottle. |
The weather was perfect for my five-day tour of Sonoma wine
country with my betrothed and the fermented grapes were also in
fine form. However a pall was cast over my vacation with the
realization that I actually trailed Nick after the first week of
action by a game (Schooler: 3-2; Coyne: 2-3).
I pushed through the gloom, purchasing four cases during the
stretch, but there was a hurt inside.
I lost the coin-flip that was the BYU-Chapman game, which I can
deal with (although it made all of the Cougar pimping I've been
doing for the last six months lose a little steam), especially
since Nick's UCSB blinders sunk him against Cal Poly. We both
completely missed the comprehensive beat-down administered by
Oregon against Cal and both hit Arizona over Texas A&M.
The true swing game was the Loyola Marymouth-Santa Clara game. I
went against all of my instincts to pick Santa Clara, and got
burned. The Lions obliterated the Broncos over the final three
quarters for the 15-8 victory.
It's time to regain that old magic and hopefully this wine will
help.
To the games...
No. 15 Lindenwood vs. No. 7 Minn.-Duluth,
11 a.m. CT, Sunday (at
Minnesota)
COYNE: Ever since I started covering the MCLA a couple of
years back, there has always been an undercurrent of disrespect for
Lindenwood. Most of it, I assume, was due to the Lions' annual
appearance in the tourney out of the relatively week GRLC and their
subsequent quick dismissal from the playoffs. Regardless, there's
only one way to shake that label and it's by racking up some big
wins during the regular season followed by a deep tourney run.
Lindenwood may very well achieve both, but Sunday won't be
part of that quest. UMD 14, Lindenwood 11.
SCHOOLER: During my playing days, I would have laughed at the
thought of this as a top game. Both teams would beg for respect
because they ran through a bunch of worthless teams in their
respective leagues. I used to lump UMD into the same category as
Lindenwood, but Duluth has proven themselves over that last few
years (can't say the same about LU). They boosted their strength of
schedule and managed to win games at nationals. The Bulldogs are
returning a lot of starters, and Lindenwood will not come close,
even if they manage to bring Justin Combs back from the real life.
Dogs by a lot.
Western Michigan vs. No. 18
Wisconsin, 7:30
p.m., Saturday (at The Dells)
COYNE: Since I'm a Wisconsite now, I figured I'd give the
new guys a little run. I'm guessing the win isn't in question, but
rather the spread of the victory. Right or wrong, I think the final
score will have a lot of people wagging - perhaps even myself -
about just how good the Badgers will, or won't, be.
SCHOOLER: Not sure why this game was picked, but I'll run with it.
Western Michigan finished at the bottom of their division last
season with no wins. Wisconsin, my grandma's alma mater, is new to
the MCLA, but not new to lacrosse. They seem to have a long history
dating back to the 70's. The team was started and led by the
ferocious Bruce Tully (pictured below). They performed pretty well
in the Maryland tournament earlier this year, so I'll give it to
them. Go Badgers!
No. 13 Boston
College vs. No. 19
Michigan State,
3 p.m., Saturday (at
Florida State)
COYNE: I was able to catch Michigan State play several
MCLA and NCAA teams in Milwaukee in the fall and was mildly
impressed. Scrimmages aren't worth much in terms of outside
evaluation, but I feel like I was able to see enough of the
Spartans to give me a feel for how they'll stack up this year. Will
they be able to compete with the Top 10? Probably not, but I think
they'll beat Boston College early in the year.
SCHOOLER: This is a very good game. I think both teams are on the
same level. Both are returning some key starters and on the road
early in the year. BC plays Florida State and Michigan State plays
Georgia on Friday. Assuming that BC doesn't suffer any major
injuries, I think that they will come away with the victory over
the Spartans just because of a competitive game will have them more
prepared.
Coyne's Pick
No. 3 Davenport at
No. 6 Emory, 1 p.m., Sunday
COYNE: One of my trump cards this season if, heaven
forbid, I actually fell behind Schooler is the combination of
Nick's inattentiveness of, and fundamental hatred for all things
Division II. So what better time to roll out a match-up between a
pair of junior circuit giants than when I'm trailing early? This
will be interesting for a half, maybe, but I think Davenport has
too much fire power and will take this inter-conference friendly.
These two will meet again, however, so file it away.
SCHOOLER: You had to throw a Division II game at me. Does this have
to count against me? I don't know anything about D2, nor do I want
to know anything. So I'm going to do this a different way. Newt
Gingrich, one of the most despicable human being on the face of the
planet, graduated from Emory. So I am going to go with Davenport.
Where is Davenport anyways?
COYNE: Despite his Berkeley wing-nut credentials, Schooler still
marginalizes the downtrodden, blue-collar players toiling in
Division II? Somewhere, Nancy Pelosi weeps.
For the record, Davenport is in Michigan - scenic Grand Rapids, to
be precise.
Schooler's Pick
No. 13 Boston College at No. 6 Florida State, 8 p.m.,
Friday
SCHOOLER: I picked this game because I find these types of
round-robins quite intriguing. It reminds me of the one that
Michigan hosts every year. I think that more top teams should
schedule these, teams from California, Texas and Florida. Why?
1.) It prepares teams for nationals, 2.) it gets high level
out-of-conference games, and 3.) it gets some of those teams out of
the freezing cold.
With the loss of Corey Noonan at FSU, some people might question
where the Seminoles stand. I think they stand in the same
place that they have every year: right there in the top 10. BC
might come into this game a little unprepared. I don't know how
they do it in the Northeast, but I wouldn't be practicing in the
freezing cold. I need sun and blue skies and that is what they have
in Florida. I'm going with Florida State in this one.
COYNE: I eyeballed this game for the contest, but honestly I think
it will be less competitive than the Western Michigan-Wisconsin
game. ‘Noles big.
