Can the PNCLL send two?
Column by Steve Kojima
Graphic by GrizLax.com
Four or the last five years the PNCLL rep has won its first-round game at Nationals, yet in the history of at-large voting, the conference has only received an at-large bid once.
Can the PNCLL send two?
The Pacific Northwest Collegiate Lacrosse League (PNCLL) has always been one of the league’s top conferences in the Men’s Collegiate Lacrosse Association (MCLA). That shouldn’t change in 2008.
Yes, the PNCLL is going to still send another legitimate contender to nationals in 2008, but the question is, who? And can the conference send two?
2007 saw Oregon dominate PNCLL Div. ‘A’ with a 6-0 conference and 17-2 overall record. They made it all the way to the MCLA championship game before BYU captured the title, avenging an earlier loss to the Ducks. It was an impressive run by the boys in “lightning yellow and thunder green.”
Combined with SFU’s second-place finish in 1999, it marked the only time a conference besides the RMLC or WCLL has made it to the final. Hats off to Oregon, particularly their seniors who helped build that program from mediocre to one of the league’s best. The Ducks sit at No. 5 overall in the pre-season Top 25.
Simon Fraser feels they can play with the Ducks, however. Sure they got dummied last year, but Oregon’s performance at Nationals showed just how good the Ducks were in 07, and the Clan think their incoming freshmen can help earn them an automatic or at-large bid in 2008.
Newly added Div. ‘A’ team Montana, who captured the ‘B’ Division National title just a year ago, has to be up there too ’cause their O is explosive. Add in WSU who’s been reinstated for the new year and that’s two new teams to a division that was already extremely competitive. Washington, OSU and Boise State all finished tied for third in the conference with identical 3-3 records in ’07.
Gonzaga thinks they underperformed last year and they’ve made it a goal to get the PNCLL final. Who knows, Idaho could up-set too, reminiscent of PLU’s 02 victory over SFU that ended the Clan’s 63-game conference win streak.
How it all plays out will be interesting, to say the least.
One thing we do know for certain is the PNCLL ‘A’ conference is going to be extremely competitive this year. It should be a great regular season, and exciting PNCLL Final Four in Missoula, Montana, May 4-5.
And winning that automatic qualifier to Dallas, Texas will be big.
Despite the strong showing the PNCLL rep always puts in at Nationals, including first-round wins four of the last five years (implying the conference is stronger than others), the PNCLL has only sent two teams to big dance in the same year once. Seven at-large bids are available each year in the 16-team National tournament.
SFU earned the last available at-large bid in 2004 on the strength of an out-of-conference (OOC) tournament win. Last season, however, the Clan did not play a strong OOC schedule, and that may have cost them. Their only two losses all season were to the national runners-up. Sure they lost by large margins (18-9 and 22-7), but the Ducks also beat up on CSU during the regular season by a score of 19-6. And while the Rams went to Nationals with the No. 2 seed, as an at-large bid, the Clan stayed at home.
With that in mind, SFU has loaded up their 08 schedule and they’ll hope to go to the big dance this year, win or lose the PNCLL. They’re sitting outside that bubble right now ranked No. 24 in the pre-season. Montana and other PNCLL Div. ‘A’ teams have OOC games as well, but their measuring stick will be the Clan and Ducks.
“Our scheduling philosophy this season has been to build the strongest regular season schedule possible so that we are prepared to compete in the PNCLL Final Four Conference Championships and earn a spot in the MCLA National Championships in May,” added SFU co-coach Jeff Cathrea.
Both Oregon and SFU go up again pre-season No. 1 BYU. Oregon will also battle pre-season No. 2 CSU. Between them, the Ducks and Clan play five other Top-25 Div. ‘A’ teams in Lindenwood, Colorado, Sonoma State, Texas A&M and Illinois, plus Chico State and Cal-Berkley.
Montana takes on Northeastern, plus Oregon State has an early set of OOC games against USC, UCLA and Stanford.
Those big-time match-ups should make for some great lacrosse, and will impact the poll voters’ decision as to whether PNCLL Div. ‘A’ will get to send one or more teams to Dallas, Texas, May 13-17.
We’ll preview those key OOC games throughout the year, so be sure to check back in with CollegeLAX on a regular basis. Dr. Jason Stockton and Dan Wishengrad already have your PNCLL preview heading into Week 1.
Do you think the PNCLL should get more love from poll voters? Talk it up on the forums, but be sure to back it up on the fields, too.
Good luck and have a great ‘08.
