Loyola of Maryland took a much slower route to the NCAA lacrosse championship game than the Greyhounds are accustomed to.FORT WAYNE – Indiana and Notre Dame appeared headed in different directions in a Dec. 17 meeting.
The Hoosiers topped the Irish by 11 points that day in Indianapolis.
Notre Dame corrected course and entered The Associated Press poll last week. This week, the Irish moved ahead of IU in the rankings.
Winners of eight straight, the Irish are No. 20 in this week’s poll. The Hoosiers are No. 23 after splitting games against Northwestern (win) and at Iowa (loss).
Notre Dame (19-8) rallied from a 20-point deficit to defeat Villanova in overtime Saturday.
“I don’t know if I’ve had more fun with a group, and that’s saying a lot after last year’s group,” Notre Dame coach Mike Brey said during a teleconference Monday. “The students that they were and that they let us teach back in November and December when we weren’t very good I think was really key. It started with guys that wanted to be good, leadership that helped keep selling the message even when you’re losing saying, ‘Hey, we’ve got to get better at this. We’ve got to come back and practice well tomorrow.’ That’s probably the most gratifying thing.
“During this stretch where we’ve won, they’ve stayed hungry and they’ve wanted more.”
I had the Irish at No. 17 and the Hoosiers at No. 20.
Indiana (20-7) dropped five spots in the rankings. Another Big Ten team, Michigan, made a big move up the list. The Wolverines rose to No. 11, up from No. 17 last week, after defeating Ohio State on Saturday. The Wolverines have won three straight and are tied with the Buckeyes for second place in the Big Ten, one game behind Michigan. I had Michigan at No. 10 this week.
Kentucky remains No. 1 in the poll. Syracuse, Missouri, Kansas, Duke, Michigan State, North Carolina, Ohio State, Georgetown and Marquette round out the top 10.
New Mexico beat two top 20 teams (San Diego State and UNLV) to enter the poll at No. 18. Temple is the other newcomer at No. 22.
