The Rochester Knighthawks entered the playoffs with a league-best 14-2 record and a perfect score in the weekly Lacrosse-Network.com Experts Poll.

Rochester exited the playoffs a few weeks later with a 17-2 record and its first league championship since 1997.

The Knighthawks also held on to their unanimous first-place ranking in the Experts Poll, scoring 104 points.

While the experts were not obligated to put Rochester first because of the championship, they all did, sticking with a team that will enter 2008 with a fifteen-game winning streak.

Rochester's last two victims, Buffalo and Arizona, took the next two spots, with the Sting leaping four spots after a strong run to the NLL Championship Game.

Buffalo finished with 93 points, one point better than its Week Sixteen total but good enough to break out of a second-place tie with Colorado. Arizona was close behind, with 90 points.

Colorado, which lost to San Jose in the first round of the playoffs, finished fourth, with 78 points. The Stealth, meanwhile, gained nothing from that upset win, remaining in sixth place (62 points).

In an odd development near the bottom of the rankings, Philadelphia moved ahead of Edmonton for ninth place, despite the fact that neither made the playoffs. Perhaps the experts approve of the Wings' coaching changes?

Our panel of eight experts includes a wide range of top lacrosse minds, including Outsider's Guide writers, players, and coaches. Scoring is on an 13-12-11-etc. basis, so that the maximum score a team can earn is 104 points and the minimum is eight points.

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

FINAL                                           Pts  Prv
 1. Rochester Knighthawks (17-2)                104    1
    Finally gets it done in playoffs
 2. Buffalo Bandits (11-7)                       93   2t
    Missed eliminating rival by a whisker
 3. Arizona Sting (11-8)                         90    7
    Excellent run through the playoffs
 4. Colorado Mammoth (12-5)                      78   2t
    Not-so-excellent run out of playoffs
 5. Calgary Roughnecks (9-8)                     71    4
    Final records: Hall 4-4, Dowling 5-4
 6. San Jose Stealth (10-8)                      62    6
    Solid run to second playoff round
 7. Minnesota Swarm (9-8)                        61    5
    Easily overlooked in powerful East
 8. Toronto Rock (6-11)                          42    8
    Better than expected at ROC in East Semi
 9. Philadelphia Wings (6-10)                    40   10
    Who will Lindsay pick to replace Lindsay?
10. Edmonton Rush (6-10)                         33    9
    Five wins better than in 2006
11. Chicago Shamrox (6-10)                       29   11
    Finished well - two wins to end season
12. Portland LumberJax (4-12)                    14   12
    Which Jax in '08 - contender or pretender?
13. New York Titans (4-12)                       11   13
    Good news: Here comes Boston!