I admit, going into game 8 I figured we would hit the halfway point with four undefeated teams: Houston, Kingdom, Detroit, and Cagliari. Than out of the blue, The Came Snackers doubled up Detroit 48-24 to leave us with three undefeated teams.
What difference does it make? At Cagliari, our next three games are against Houston, Kingdom, and Detroit. Based on their schedules, I figured we'd go into each game facing an undefeated team, a pretty nasty three game stretch. Obviously that won't happen now, but there are still a lot of good games in Lion the second half of the season. Let's look at some common opponents for Houston, Kingdom, Detroit, and Cagliari.
The Congo Chubby Chasers are familiar with each team, though the results don't tell us a whole lot:
2/16/2010 Kingdom - Congo Chubby Chasers(39) W 255-0
2/10/2010 Cagliari - Congo Chubby Chasers(39) W 255-0
2/14/2010 Houston - Congo Chubby Chasers(39) W 255-0
2/18/2010 Detroit - Congo Chubby Chasers(39) W 255-0
Copenhagen is the only team to play 3 of the 4 and have meaning ful results (not 255-0):
2/12/2010 Houston - Copenhagen Cowboys(60) W 93-0
2/16/2010 Detroit - Copenhagen Cowboys(60) W 121-3
2/14/2010 Kingdom - Copenhagen Cowboys(60) W 80-0
The only other team to have played all 4 is the Camel Snackers:
2/14/2010 Cagliari - Ethiopian Camel Snackers(66) W 105-3
2/18/2010 Houston - Ethiopian Camel Snackers(66) W 66-6
2/20/2010 Kingdom - Ethiopian Camel Snackers(66) W 68-17
2/22/2010 Detroit - Ethiopian Camel Snackers(66) L 24-48
Some other useless tidbits:
- Nairobi Black Mambas, currently sitting at 6-2, have not played Houston, Kingdom, Detroit, Ethiopian, Maseru, Moose,or Cagliari. With 1 gimme left on the schedule, the Mambas and their top ranked passing attack may have an uphill battle to make the play-offs, despite a great start.
- Ethiopian Camel Snackers, currently sitting 5-3, have by far the easiest remaining schedule of any potential play-off team. Only two of their remaining opponents have winning records, the Mambas at 6-2 and The KoP FC at 5-3. It wouldn't be a stretch for the Snackers to win out and hit the play-offs at 13-3 on a 9 game winning streak.
Final Standings Predictions....
1. Houston Space Cowboys - Out-level Cagliari & Kingdom significantly
2. Cagliari Outbreak - Slightly out-level Kingdom, should be close between those two
3. Kingdom Come - Should be a good fight for 2nd with Cagliari
4. Ethiopian Camel Snackers - WIll win out and go 13-3 for the #4 seed.
5. Detroit DopeDealers - Battle Maseru for 5th, have levels on the Boys
6. Maseru Naughty Boys - Will they be able to overcome Detroit in game 12? Could be for 5th.
7. Moose Drool - Big games against Kop FC and Copenhagen. May be 4-6 before winning out to go 10-6
8. Copenhagen Cowboys - Beat Kop FC bad, got beat bad by Maseru. Can they beat Moose for 7th?
9. The Kop FC - Will be tough to swallow, will likely be 8-4 before finishing the sesaon 0-4 to go 8-8 and barely miss the play-offs.
10. Nairobi Black Mamba's - As mentioned before, they'll be hard pressed to finish better than 1-7 for a 7-9 record overall
What difference does it make? At Cagliari, our next three games are against Houston, Kingdom, and Detroit. Based on their schedules, I figured we'd go into each game facing an undefeated team, a pretty nasty three game stretch. Obviously that won't happen now, but there are still a lot of good games in Lion the second half of the season. Let's look at some common opponents for Houston, Kingdom, Detroit, and Cagliari.
The Congo Chubby Chasers are familiar with each team, though the results don't tell us a whole lot:
2/16/2010 Kingdom - Congo Chubby Chasers(39) W 255-0
2/10/2010 Cagliari - Congo Chubby Chasers(39) W 255-0
2/14/2010 Houston - Congo Chubby Chasers(39) W 255-0
2/18/2010 Detroit - Congo Chubby Chasers(39) W 255-0
Copenhagen is the only team to play 3 of the 4 and have meaning ful results (not 255-0):
2/12/2010 Houston - Copenhagen Cowboys(60) W 93-0
2/16/2010 Detroit - Copenhagen Cowboys(60) W 121-3
2/14/2010 Kingdom - Copenhagen Cowboys(60) W 80-0
The only other team to have played all 4 is the Camel Snackers:
2/14/2010 Cagliari - Ethiopian Camel Snackers(66) W 105-3
2/18/2010 Houston - Ethiopian Camel Snackers(66) W 66-6
2/20/2010 Kingdom - Ethiopian Camel Snackers(66) W 68-17
2/22/2010 Detroit - Ethiopian Camel Snackers(66) L 24-48
Some other useless tidbits:
- Nairobi Black Mambas, currently sitting at 6-2, have not played Houston, Kingdom, Detroit, Ethiopian, Maseru, Moose,or Cagliari. With 1 gimme left on the schedule, the Mambas and their top ranked passing attack may have an uphill battle to make the play-offs, despite a great start.
- Ethiopian Camel Snackers, currently sitting 5-3, have by far the easiest remaining schedule of any potential play-off team. Only two of their remaining opponents have winning records, the Mambas at 6-2 and The KoP FC at 5-3. It wouldn't be a stretch for the Snackers to win out and hit the play-offs at 13-3 on a 9 game winning streak.
Final Standings Predictions....
1. Houston Space Cowboys - Out-level Cagliari & Kingdom significantly
2. Cagliari Outbreak - Slightly out-level Kingdom, should be close between those two
3. Kingdom Come - Should be a good fight for 2nd with Cagliari
4. Ethiopian Camel Snackers - WIll win out and go 13-3 for the #4 seed.
5. Detroit DopeDealers - Battle Maseru for 5th, have levels on the Boys
6. Maseru Naughty Boys - Will they be able to overcome Detroit in game 12? Could be for 5th.
7. Moose Drool - Big games against Kop FC and Copenhagen. May be 4-6 before winning out to go 10-6
8. Copenhagen Cowboys - Beat Kop FC bad, got beat bad by Maseru. Can they beat Moose for 7th?
9. The Kop FC - Will be tough to swallow, will likely be 8-4 before finishing the sesaon 0-4 to go 8-8 and barely miss the play-offs.
10. Nairobi Black Mamba's - As mentioned before, they'll be hard pressed to finish better than 1-7 for a 7-9 record overall
