I worked very hard on the rankings this week. I had to pull out comparative evaluations of all the Texas games, since there's no longer going to be any valid comparison between the early Texas squad and the one now. I'd pulled out Iowa previously in the season. That made 6 teams pulled out from the East, since I also pull out weaker teams from evaluations and had the Hitmen, Clowns, Birds and Aces out since the beginning of the season. 6 teams pulled out was too much, so I initially added in the Hitmen, Clowns and Birds, but that skewed the results too much, since some teams like to do more running up scores on weaker teams than others. I settled on only adding the Hitmen in, and keeping the Clowns, Birds, Aces, Hogeyes and Wrecking Crew out. In the process of going through everything, I found a couple of minor errors I had made, so I fixed those too. End result is there will be some movement this week, especially in the East, but I think the rankings are better for the changes. One especially challenging thing about ranking the East's teams in the 3-8 slots is that these teams are all so close that a lucky score could easily be all it takes for any of them to beat another on any given week.
WEST
1) Mentone Beach Assault just jogging in to the finish, nice and easy, like Katrina
2) Corpus Christi Illegal Aliens a bit smaller storm
3) Mighty Chihuahuas recently looking like a 3rd hurricane
4) Long Beach Dub All-Stars doing well of late, like a prosperous port town
5a) Bakersfield Nanananas won last game, but it's been a five games since they put together a top-notch performance
5b) Virginia George Washingtons much improved since their struggles earlier in the season, but still inconsistent
5c) Saginaw Supernovas have proved they belong at this level, with solid games the past few weeks, especially last game's 32 point spanking of Beantown
8a) Dallas Hitmen playoff aspirations are looking a bit better after latest round
8b) Beantown Bastards they're not as good as I thought they might be, but are still a serious playoff contender
10) Big Bear Avalanche looking forward to next season
11) Steel City Sentinels 1-6 the last seven outings
12) Idaho Rex seem to be playing a bit worse lately
13a) Eugene SLUGs showing some improvement
13b) Los Angeles Cobras CPU
15) Pittsburgh Stillers
16) Washington Bow Chicka Brown Cows
EAST
1) Tennessee Fury undefeated, and playing at a high level
2) Boston Bears a fierce team coming off another fine win
3a) Sleepy Hollow Horsemen lost to Boston by 35 last game; would be in a multi-way tie for the 8th spot if they were in the West
3b) Dirty Cheetahs are edging back up the rankings
3c) Louisiana State Tighas playing very competitively
6a) Enghave Evolution Find a way to edge out a lot of games, including ones they should win easily
6b) Phoenix Scorpions still a playoff-quality team, and still dangerous - could they just be waiting to step it up in the playoffs?
6c) Saint Paul Vulcans should round out the playoff teams
9a) Houston Toxins still hoping to sneak into the playoffs
9b) New Jersey Mobsters after six losses, picked up an easy win last game
11) NJ Hitmen improving team has stuck it out and passed another team that gave up
12) Los Angeles Bicycle Clowns
13) Philadelphia Birds
14) Atlantic City Aces
15a) Iowa Hogeyes CPU
15b) Texas Wrecking Crew CPU
WEST
1) Mentone Beach Assault just jogging in to the finish, nice and easy, like Katrina
2) Corpus Christi Illegal Aliens a bit smaller storm
3) Mighty Chihuahuas recently looking like a 3rd hurricane
4) Long Beach Dub All-Stars doing well of late, like a prosperous port town
5a) Bakersfield Nanananas won last game, but it's been a five games since they put together a top-notch performance
5b) Virginia George Washingtons much improved since their struggles earlier in the season, but still inconsistent
5c) Saginaw Supernovas have proved they belong at this level, with solid games the past few weeks, especially last game's 32 point spanking of Beantown
8a) Dallas Hitmen playoff aspirations are looking a bit better after latest round
8b) Beantown Bastards they're not as good as I thought they might be, but are still a serious playoff contender
10) Big Bear Avalanche looking forward to next season
11) Steel City Sentinels 1-6 the last seven outings
12) Idaho Rex seem to be playing a bit worse lately
13a) Eugene SLUGs showing some improvement
13b) Los Angeles Cobras CPU
15) Pittsburgh Stillers
16) Washington Bow Chicka Brown Cows
EAST
1) Tennessee Fury undefeated, and playing at a high level
2) Boston Bears a fierce team coming off another fine win
3a) Sleepy Hollow Horsemen lost to Boston by 35 last game; would be in a multi-way tie for the 8th spot if they were in the West
3b) Dirty Cheetahs are edging back up the rankings
3c) Louisiana State Tighas playing very competitively
6a) Enghave Evolution Find a way to edge out a lot of games, including ones they should win easily
6b) Phoenix Scorpions still a playoff-quality team, and still dangerous - could they just be waiting to step it up in the playoffs?
6c) Saint Paul Vulcans should round out the playoff teams
9a) Houston Toxins still hoping to sneak into the playoffs
9b) New Jersey Mobsters after six losses, picked up an easy win last game
11) NJ Hitmen improving team has stuck it out and passed another team that gave up
12) Los Angeles Bicycle Clowns
13) Philadelphia Birds
14) Atlantic City Aces
15a) Iowa Hogeyes CPU
15b) Texas Wrecking Crew CPU
