Insane. That's the word I'm going to use six games into the season. What's insane you ask (and even if you didn't ask I don't care, I'm gonna tell you anyway)? Insane that if the playoffs were to start today, the Sidewinders would be on the outside looking in. Insane that the only team that doesn't have a better record than O'ahu is the gutted Seattle Rainmakers, and the 2008 Detroit Lions (sorry Lions fans). Insane is the amount of drugs I currently have to memorize for my final on Friday... but that final point has nothing to do with GLB. Week six, here we go.
1.) Sportsrant.com Stalkers
The Stalkers easily handled Cincy and now have an off-week of sorts before their big showdown against MM. Rumor has it Kolpaz (the owner, not the HB) might skip his own team's game to go watch the MM-MCM matchup in order to get some early scouting done. But in all serious, Sportsrant continues to be the big dog in these rankings, and look to easily hold onto that spot for at least another few days.
2.) Minneapolis Masterminds
Finally, MM has a noteworthy game on the schedule, and they take care of business with the Sidewinders. Unfortunately, on the day off between games they will be holding kicker tryouts after Pochmen inexplicably went 0/2 on PATs in the second quarter. Good thing the guy doesn't have a gold kicking bar, or that would just be embarrassing. MM's next two games will determine the top three in these power rankings with a great deal of certainty. MM vs. MCM is clearly the game of the week on Friday afternoon.
3.) Motor City Madmen
Technically, since MCM barely lost to the top team, that means they should be the favorite going into Friday's sim against the team ranked below the Stalkers. However, I'll keep them where they are for the time being and allow them to prove themselves worthy on Friday. The Madmen have two huge games over the next three sims, both of which are against currently undefeated opponents. Definitely something to be keeping an eye on to say the least.
4.) Rutgers Silent Willies
RSW gets one last week off and then hits a rough stretch of schedule. I'm not really sure what to say about this team this time, other than to comment on how they like Rutgers... and I go to Uconn... which means I hate them. No, honestly no hard feelings, but I do look forward to the season progressing and seeing just how long the Silent Willies will keep their record untarnished.
5.) Pensacola Dolphins
Pensacola is happily flying under the radar in these rankings ever since that game 3 defeat at the hands of Rutgers. They handily took care of a flailing O'ahu squad and now are an expected win over Corona away from crusing to a more-than-impressive 9-1 start. Mind you, they do have a number of the big hitters in these rankings (including the top three) at the end of their schedule, but the Dolphins are making things look easy so far in season 9.
6.) Tampa Bay Krakens
The Krakens jump up a spot in my rankings and now enjoy everybody's favorite three-game break before a big showdown against the Sidewinders. I went back and forth over whether or not I wanted to move Tampa over St. Louis, and the margin is still very tight, but I decided that the rankings needed some type of change. Hans Moleman might also be the best returner in the entire league after he put on an absolute show in a dominating win against over Corona. Scary.
7.) St. Louis Sidewinders
St. Louis gets a one-game break and then faces off against ANOTHER undefeated team. the Sidewinders did a very impressive job airing the ball out against MM's secondary, but three INTs and a lost fumble are tough to overcome against a top team. They drop down a spot in these rankings and look to have a tough time getting back up there with Tampa's upcoming schedule (unless, of course, they take down the mighty Silent Willies).
8.) Corona Del Mar Cougars
Unfortunately, the Krakens seemed to show us that their is an enormous gap between the top seven teams and the next tier. Unless that seventy-point embarrassment was a fluke, it now seems as if it's a four-horse (not counting out the Night Marchers just yet) race for the eighth and final playoff spot. Corona must regroup against a tough Pensacola team before it has a big matchup against an O'ahu team looking to take the league by storm in the next couple sims.
9.) Detroit Rampage
The Rampage could really use some type of upset to get themselves back into position to land that final playoff spot, and with some extra time off from scouting against the league's bottom dwellers, they should use the extra time to figure out what St. Louis runs. I just had a sudden realization, and that's almost every team has that easy three-game stretch before the Sidewinders, so not only does their schedule suck, but everyone is more than prepared for them once they faceoff. Ouch.
10.) Cincinnati Norris Ninjas
Cincy's interconference loss puts them at a disadvantage in the standings, so to say that their sim against O'ahu is a "must-win" might actually be an understatement even this early in the season. A loss here projects them at 7-9 at season's end which INCLUDES me giving them Ws over Corona and Detroit (along with the tiebreakers as well). The Norris Ninjas need to avoid giving O'ahu their first win or else things may be over almost before they started.
11.) O'ahu Night Marchers
Good news: Colonel Ka1 leads the league in receiving yards and TDs after playing most of the best teams in the conference. Bad news: if the Night Marchers don't beat Cincy, its tough seeing them sneaking into the final playoff spot. Detroit should actually be rooting for the Night Marchers to win these next two games, since a late run by O'ahu could conceivably result in a three-way tie for the final playoff spot, making Detroit's loss of the head-to-head tiebreaker to Corona basically irrelevant. HUGE playoff implication early on.
12.) Orange County Old Farmers
I'm beginning to see a pattern with OCOF's in-conference games: whoever gets to 100 first (or at all for that matter) wins. Unfortunately for the Old Farmers, my money is on the Krakens getting their first on Friday and coming away with the victory.
13.) North Texas Cowboys
I feel bad for North Texas because by the time I get to them in these power rankings, I'm pretty much tired of typing and wanna just get this thing done. The Cowboys should just start scouting OCOF (if they haven't begun already) and prepare for their one big game of the season.
Rebuilding
14.) San Antonio
15.) Florida
16.) Seattle
1.) Sportsrant.com Stalkers
The Stalkers easily handled Cincy and now have an off-week of sorts before their big showdown against MM. Rumor has it Kolpaz (the owner, not the HB) might skip his own team's game to go watch the MM-MCM matchup in order to get some early scouting done. But in all serious, Sportsrant continues to be the big dog in these rankings, and look to easily hold onto that spot for at least another few days.
2.) Minneapolis Masterminds
Finally, MM has a noteworthy game on the schedule, and they take care of business with the Sidewinders. Unfortunately, on the day off between games they will be holding kicker tryouts after Pochmen inexplicably went 0/2 on PATs in the second quarter. Good thing the guy doesn't have a gold kicking bar, or that would just be embarrassing. MM's next two games will determine the top three in these power rankings with a great deal of certainty. MM vs. MCM is clearly the game of the week on Friday afternoon.
3.) Motor City Madmen
Technically, since MCM barely lost to the top team, that means they should be the favorite going into Friday's sim against the team ranked below the Stalkers. However, I'll keep them where they are for the time being and allow them to prove themselves worthy on Friday. The Madmen have two huge games over the next three sims, both of which are against currently undefeated opponents. Definitely something to be keeping an eye on to say the least.
4.) Rutgers Silent Willies
RSW gets one last week off and then hits a rough stretch of schedule. I'm not really sure what to say about this team this time, other than to comment on how they like Rutgers... and I go to Uconn... which means I hate them. No, honestly no hard feelings, but I do look forward to the season progressing and seeing just how long the Silent Willies will keep their record untarnished.
5.) Pensacola Dolphins
Pensacola is happily flying under the radar in these rankings ever since that game 3 defeat at the hands of Rutgers. They handily took care of a flailing O'ahu squad and now are an expected win over Corona away from crusing to a more-than-impressive 9-1 start. Mind you, they do have a number of the big hitters in these rankings (including the top three) at the end of their schedule, but the Dolphins are making things look easy so far in season 9.
6.) Tampa Bay Krakens
The Krakens jump up a spot in my rankings and now enjoy everybody's favorite three-game break before a big showdown against the Sidewinders. I went back and forth over whether or not I wanted to move Tampa over St. Louis, and the margin is still very tight, but I decided that the rankings needed some type of change. Hans Moleman might also be the best returner in the entire league after he put on an absolute show in a dominating win against over Corona. Scary.
7.) St. Louis Sidewinders
St. Louis gets a one-game break and then faces off against ANOTHER undefeated team. the Sidewinders did a very impressive job airing the ball out against MM's secondary, but three INTs and a lost fumble are tough to overcome against a top team. They drop down a spot in these rankings and look to have a tough time getting back up there with Tampa's upcoming schedule (unless, of course, they take down the mighty Silent Willies).
8.) Corona Del Mar Cougars
Unfortunately, the Krakens seemed to show us that their is an enormous gap between the top seven teams and the next tier. Unless that seventy-point embarrassment was a fluke, it now seems as if it's a four-horse (not counting out the Night Marchers just yet) race for the eighth and final playoff spot. Corona must regroup against a tough Pensacola team before it has a big matchup against an O'ahu team looking to take the league by storm in the next couple sims.
9.) Detroit Rampage
The Rampage could really use some type of upset to get themselves back into position to land that final playoff spot, and with some extra time off from scouting against the league's bottom dwellers, they should use the extra time to figure out what St. Louis runs. I just had a sudden realization, and that's almost every team has that easy three-game stretch before the Sidewinders, so not only does their schedule suck, but everyone is more than prepared for them once they faceoff. Ouch.
10.) Cincinnati Norris Ninjas
Cincy's interconference loss puts them at a disadvantage in the standings, so to say that their sim against O'ahu is a "must-win" might actually be an understatement even this early in the season. A loss here projects them at 7-9 at season's end which INCLUDES me giving them Ws over Corona and Detroit (along with the tiebreakers as well). The Norris Ninjas need to avoid giving O'ahu their first win or else things may be over almost before they started.
11.) O'ahu Night Marchers
Good news: Colonel Ka1 leads the league in receiving yards and TDs after playing most of the best teams in the conference. Bad news: if the Night Marchers don't beat Cincy, its tough seeing them sneaking into the final playoff spot. Detroit should actually be rooting for the Night Marchers to win these next two games, since a late run by O'ahu could conceivably result in a three-way tie for the final playoff spot, making Detroit's loss of the head-to-head tiebreaker to Corona basically irrelevant. HUGE playoff implication early on.
12.) Orange County Old Farmers
I'm beginning to see a pattern with OCOF's in-conference games: whoever gets to 100 first (or at all for that matter) wins. Unfortunately for the Old Farmers, my money is on the Krakens getting their first on Friday and coming away with the victory.
13.) North Texas Cowboys
I feel bad for North Texas because by the time I get to them in these power rankings, I'm pretty much tired of typing and wanna just get this thing done. The Cowboys should just start scouting OCOF (if they haven't begun already) and prepare for their one big game of the season.
Rebuilding
14.) San Antonio
15.) Florida
16.) Seattle
Last edited May 7, 2009 19:20:08
