The road to the National Lacrosse League Champion's Cup runs through Toronto, and so, too, does the path to the top of the Lacrosse-Network.com Experts Poll.

The Rock, in its fourth straight week atop the weekly rankings, clinched home-floor advantage throughout the playoffs on Saturday, and the Experts rewarded Toronto with 89 out of a possible 90 points, including eight first place votes.

That actually is a small victory for the second-place Buffalo Bandits (82 points, one first-place vote) -- Toronto was the Experts' unanimous selection a week ago.

Two reasons for the switch, the flipped Expert explains: Buffalo played exceptionally well at Calgary (a come-from-behind 14-9 victory), and Toronto played exceptionally soft Sunday afternoon, almost getting trounced by Philadelphia before posting one of the league's greatest rallies ever.

Calgary remains in third place despite the loss, earning a respectable 69 points. The Roughnecks likely would have fallen if not for Rochester's unimpressive 8-7 win at San Jose and Colorado's feeble 15-12 loss at Arizona.

The Knighthawks (58 points) and Mammoth (47 points) each fell a spot, with the Sting riding its victory to second place in the Western Division and fourth place in the Experts Poll, with 60 points.

The bottom four spots were almost completely unchanged, "led" by Philadelphia (36 points). It's the second straight week in which the Wings were the unanimous number-seven team in the league.

Anaheim gained a point, to 25, outpacing Minnesota (16 points) and San Jose (13 points).

Our panel of nine experts includes a wide range of top lacrosse minds, including Outsider's Guide writers, players, and coaches. Scoring is on a 10-9-8-etc. basis, so that the maximum score a team can earn is 90 points and the minimum is nine points.

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

WEEK FIFTEEN                                    Pts  Prv
 1. Toronto Rock (12-3)                          89    1
    Needs a big win vs. CAL to restore mojo
 2. Buffalo Bandits (10-5)                       82    2
    Better, more belligerent than last year
 3. Calgary Roughnecks (9-6)                     69    3
    Could manage to back into first-round bye
 4. Arizona Sting (8-6)                          60    6
    Wow, they can still win the West!
 5. Rochester Knighthawks (9-6)                  58    4
    8-7 win at SJ might as well have been loss
 6. Colorado Mammoth (8-7)                       47    5
    Too many egos, not enough balls
 7. Philadelphia Wings (6-9)                     36    7
    Demoralized by Sunday's loss to Rock
 8. Anaheim Storm (4-10)                         25    8
    Like PHI, must learn how to win close ones
 9. Minnesota Swarm (4-11)                       16    9
    Hosts PHI to end season - more brawlin'?
10. San Jose Stealth (4-11)                      13   10
    Good news: Only lost once this weekend