Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Women's Poll: Marist (who else?) No. 1

To no one's surprie, the Marist women are the unanimous choice to capture an unprecedented sixth straight regular-season conference crown.

The Red Foxes received all 10 first-place votes in preseason balloting conducted by league coaches. Results were released today (Tuesday) at the conference's annual media day in New York City.

Iona, which finished in a tie for fourth in the regular-season standings last year but has a strong returning group, is the unanimous choice for second place.

Canisius is picked for third with Rider tabbed as No. 4.

Here's the predicted order of finish with total points based on 10 points for a first-place vote to one for a last-place finish:

1. Marist 100
2. Iona 90
3. Canisius 75
4. Rider 60
5. Saint Peter's 55
6. Fairfield 51
7. Loyola 42
8. Siena 39
9. Manhattan 26
10. Niagara 12

Some editorializing?

Not many surprises here. Marist, Iona and Canisius appear clear cut as the top three. Beyond that, the next five are well-bunched. Yours truly is a little surprised that Siena is picked for No. 8. After watching some of the Saints' practices of late ... if Siena finishes eighth, it will be the league's best eighth-place team ever.

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