I know we are 2-time defending national champions and currently ranked #1 this season. What's the probability of a 3-peat? Will UW + Yale remain our biggest competitors? *Thanks in advance...

The preseason rankings basically mimic the way crews finished at the IRAs last year. Scott Frandsen has built such a strong, deep program that we will likely challenge for the Varsity championship at IRAs again this year, but we don't have a single guy in the Varsity 8+ other than our coxswain who was in the boat last year. We have 5 guys from last year's boat who are off training with their national Olympic teams, 4 of whom I believe have more eligibility and are likely to return next year, so it's really a brand new Varsity boat. I don't believe any of the other top crews (UW, Yale, Princeton) are losing more than 1 oarsman to the Olympics this year, so the three-peat will be more difficult than it would have been if all those Olympians were back this year. But we're going to be very good, and the Washington dual in two weeks at Redwood Shores will tell a lot.

Thanks crewbear...

UW defeated Cal V8+ by 3.7 seconds Sat 4-20 at Redwood Shores...

Huskies got the better of us yesterday, but it was really a "tip your cap" Varsity 8 race -- the Bears beat the course record themselves, and Washington did so as well, but by 3 seconds better. Pac-12's and the IRA will be fun -- it'll be interesting to see how the Bears respond to this.

Who's rated #1 crewbear...?

There are two polls for men's varsity eights, both of which usually come out on Wednesday. My guess is Washington will be #1, followed by Princeton, then the Bears or Harvard at 3 and 4. Just a guess.

April 24 polls:

IRCA/IRA poll (I believe a coaches' poll):

1. Princeton
2. Washington
3. Harvard
4. Cal

cMax Rankings (a computer/comparative results-based poll):

1. Princeton
2. Harvard
3. Cal
4. Washington

This one is weird because the Huskies just decisively beat Cal 4 days ago. Go figure.

Thanks crewbear...