Time to be accountable for pre-season picks.
By J.R. EskilsonAccountability is a major part of sports. Players are held responsible for their duties on the field. Coaches are held responsible for their tactical decisions. Well, pundits are no different; so here is the run down of pre-season favorites from every conference and the actual league winner.
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American East Conference: Projected winner: Boston University. Actual winner: New Hampshire
Atlantic 10: Projected: Dayton. Actual: Dayton
Atlantic Coast Conference: Projected: North Carolina. Actual: North Carolina and Wake Forest.
Atlantic Sun Conference: Projected: Jacksonville. Actual: Campbell.
Big East Conference: Projected: Notre Dame (Blue). St. John’s (Red). Actual: UCONN (Blue). Louisville (Red).
Big South Conference: Projected: Winthrop. Actual: Coastal Carolina.
Big Ten Conference: Projected: Indiana. Actual: Ohio State.
Big West Conference: Projected: UCSB. Actual: UCSB.
Colonial Athletic Association: Projected: George Mason. Actual: UNC Wilmington.
Conference USA: Projected: Kentucky. Actual: Tulsa.
Horizon League: Projected: UIC. Actual: Butler.
Ivy League: Projected: Dartmouth. Actual: TBD (Harvard currently in first with a game to play)
Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference: Projected: Loyola (Md.). Actual: Iona.
Mid-American Conference: Projected: Akron. Actual: Akron.
Missouri Valley Conference: Projected: Creighton. Actual: Missouri State.
Mountain Pacific Sports Federation: Projected: Denver. Actual: Sacramento State.
Northeast Conference: Projected: Monmouth. Actual: Monmouth.
PAC-10: Projected: California. Actual: UCLA
Patriot League: Projected: Colgate. Actual: Bucknell.
Southern Conference: Projected: Elon. Actual: Wofford.
Summit League Conference: Projected: UMKC. Actual: Oakland.
West Coast Conference: Projected: San Francisco. Actual: San Diego.
And since journalists should be held to the same level of accountability, time to take a look at my pre-season College Cup picks.
Dartmouth: Currently tied for second in the Ivy League. Likely to make the tournament. Anything is possible from there.
Wake Forest: ACC League Co-Champions with North Carolina. Probably will be a seeded team in the tournament.
California: Started off the season 7-2. Then a couple of league losses turned into a 1-6-1 record over the last eight games. The Golden Bears are out of post-season contention. I still believe a West Coast school will be in the Final Four. (UCSB or UCLA are the odds on favorites.)
Wisconsin: This was my gut pick with no statistical backing. They will need to win the Big Ten tournament to qualify for the tournament. Highly unlikely they will make it.
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Goal.com’s Top 25
Rankings through Nov. 2
1.) Akron 18-0-0 (Next up: MAC Tourney, Nov. 13) Previous Rank:1
2.) North Carolina 13-2-2 (Next up: ACC Tourney, Nov. 11) PR:2
3.) Wake Forest 13-3-2 (Next up: ACC Tourney, Nov. 11) PR:5
4.) UCLA 10-3-3 (Next up: San Diego State, Nov. 14) PR: 4
5.) Maryland 12-4-2 (Next up: ACC Tourney, Nov. 11) PR: 3
6.) UCSB 15-3-2 (Next up: Big West Tourney, Nov. 11) PR: 6
7.) South Florida 13-3-3 (Next up: TBD) PR: 7
8.) Connecticut 11-3-3 (Next up:TBD) PR: 8
9.) Harvard 12-3-1 (Next up: Penn., Nov. 14) PR: 9
10.) Northwestern 10-3-4 (Next up: Big Ten tourney, Nov. 11) PR: 10
11.) Virginia 12-3-2 (Next up: ACC tourney, Nov. 11) PR:11
12.) Louisville 13-2-3 (Next up: Big East Final Four, Nov. 13-15) PR: 12
13.) Butler 12-2-1 (Next up: Horizon League tourney, Nov. 13-15) PR: 13
14.) Monmouth 15-1-1 (Next up: Northeast Conference tourney, Nov. 13-15) PR: 14
15.) Stanford 10-4-2 (Next up: California, Nov. 14) PR: 15
16.) North Carolina State 12-5-1 (Next up: ACC tourney, Nov. 11) PR: 16
17.) Boston College 11-7-0 (Next up: ACC tourney, Nov. 11) PR: 23
18.) Duke 12-5-0 (Next up: ACC Tourney, Nov. 6) PR: 18
19.) San Diego 12-4-1 (Next up: St. Mary’s, Nov. 14) PR: 19
20.) Tulsa 11-4-2 (Next up: Conference USA tourney, TBA) PR: 21
21.) Charlotte 11-3-4 (Next up: Atlantic 10 tourney, Nov. 12) PR: 17
22.) UAB 12-4-1 (Next up: Conference USA tourney, TBA) PR 25
23.)Ohio State 8-4-4 (Next up: Big Ten tourney, Nov. 13-15) PR: Unranked
24.) Notre Dame 10-7-2 (Next up: Big East Final Four, Nov. 13-15) PR: UN
25.) Missouri State 12-3-2 (Next up: Missouri Valley Conference tourney, Nov. 13) PR: UN
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Team of the Week:
GK: Sam Hayden, UCSB. Set the record for most shut outs in a season by a UCSB keeper.
DEF: Aaron Maund, Notre Dame. Game tying goal in the 83rd minute in the Big East Tourney.
DEF: J.T. Murray, Louisville. Winning penalty kick vs DePaul.
DEF: Jordan Graye, UNC. Game tying goal vs Clemson.
MID: Matt Marcin, Providence. Game winning goal in overtime against UCONN to keep season alive.
MID: Mark Cintron, Providence. Goal and assist vs Villanova.
MID: Levi Houapeu, UMBC. He leads the nation in goals and assists! Plus he had a game winning goal this week.
MID: Nate Robinson, University of Detroit Mercy. Three assists, one goal against UIC.
FWD: Ashley McInnes, Tulsa. One goal, two assists vs UCF.
FWD: Devin Deldo, Cal State Northridge. Two goals vs UC Irvine.
FWD: Billy Schuler, UNC. Game winning goal (and assist) against Clemson.
Television Game of the Week:
Big East Tourney Final, Sunday, Nov. 15th, 12:00 PM (ET) CBS College Sports.
Follow my twitter on Monday for live results on NCAA tournament pairings.
J.R. Eskilson writes a weekly NCAA column on Tuesday for Goal.com. Follow the College Soccer Professor at twitter.com/NCAAsoccer.
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