For seven straight weeks, the Buffalo Bandits ruled the top spot in the Lacrosse-Network.com Experts Poll rankings.

Then the Bandits went to Rochester, where the Knighthawks pounded them, 18-9.

Meet the new boss. Rochester scooped up seven first-place votes and 137 points in all, vaulting from third to first in this week's rankings.

The humbled Bandits dropped to second, with 130 points, managing to maintain the support of three Experts. The idle Toronto Rock also slipped one spot, placing a close third with 129 points and two number-one votes.

The Philadelphia Wings remained in fourth place with 101 points, while Calgary moved back into fifth with 91. The Roughnecks fell to sixth last week after losing two road games, but rebounded with a 26-16 destruction of Ottawa.

Vancouver rounds out the top half of the league, leading seventh-place Colorado by eight points, 84-76.

Albany held on to eighth place (60 points) despite losing at Colorado, 19-16 -- perhaps the Experts were afraid after the Attack's bench-clearing brawl with the Mammoth -- but its lead on Columbus is down to just four points.

At the bottom of the rankings, Ottawa stumbled below New Jersey, 28-25, in the wake of its oh-for-western Canada road trip (10-7 at Vancouver and the 26-16 rout at Calgary). New York remains last, with 19 points.

Our panel of twelve experts (one from each NLL city) includes a wide range of top lacrosse minds, including Outsider's Guide writers, players, and coaches. Scoring is on a 12-11-10-etc. basis, so that the maximum score a team can earn is 144 points and the minimum is twelve points.

The complete rankings from this week's Experts Poll, with comments (win-loss record through Sunday is in parentheses):

WEEK FOURTEEN                                      Pts  Prv
 1. Rochester Knighthawks (11-4)                   137    3
    Huge win vs. BUF, but #1 seed still unlikely
 2. Buffalo Bandits (11-3)                         130    1
    Letdown in ROC; pity the Storm
 3. Toronto Rock (11-4)                            129    2
    Still waiting to play Colorado... 
 4. Philadelphia Wings (8-6)                       101    4
    Big winner if NLL punishes ALB/COL brawlers
 5. Calgary Roughnecks (8-6)                        91    6
    Laid 26 on Ottawa, but what does that prove?
 6. Vancouver Ravens (7-6)                          84    5
    On a nice roll - keep it going
 7. Colorado Mammoth (7-7)                          76    7
    Can lightning strike a few more times?
 8. Albany Attack (6-8)                             60    8
    Still in hunt, but no room for error
 9. Columbus Landsharks (6-7)                       56    9
    Fast start, slow finish, must get moving
10. New Jersey Storm (3-10)                         28   11
    Bandits, Ravens upcoming; could be spoiler
11. Ottawa Rebel (4-11)                             25   10
    Ouch! That's gonna leave a mark
12. New York Saints (2-12)                          19   12
    Warming up the golf cart