Welcome to GLB's version of week 2 of the college season. Almost everyone's got their FCS money game this week, but there's a few interesting matchups out there, primarily of the "upstart Season 2 team taking on perennial Season 1 powerhouse" variety. On to the matchups!
1. Queen City vs 10. Erkner Razorbacks
- Queen City will probably handle Erkner. Peeti's prone to trying some radical offensive schemes at times, but he's not been as active lately, and I don't think Erkner's defense will be able to stop Queen City in any event. There's a reason Erkner's hovered around the 10th place mark for several seasons now. They might drop from the top 10 if they can't pull the upset. There's a few fast risers in the teens that are angling for top 10 spots. I'm taking Queen City.
2. Portland Ronin vs 14. Glasgow Rangers
- Season 1 powerhouse Portland tackles one of the Season 2 top flight programs in this one. Glasgow's two losses were close to New Jersey and Harrisonburg in games that could've gone either way. This is no easy out for Portland. Glasgow was consistently a top 5 caliber team in the Season 2 tier on the way up the ladder. They've always played excellent defense, but Portland features a top 5 rushing attack in the game right now. Glasgow's been more susceptible to teams that can throw so far this season on defense, so they actually appear to matchup pretty well with what Portland will try to do. I'm taking the upset here and picking Glasgow for the second time in a row.
3. New Jersey Generals vs 22. Dookie Island
- That rascal Corndog, manipulating matchups so he'd get his team mentioned in the top 10 writeup again! New Jersey dips down towards the bottom of their eligible target pool, and shouldn't have any trouble handling Dookie. Pending the Glasgow/Portland result, they may be able to float up into the #2 spot despite not really being able to steal much ranking value from Dookie. Obviously, I'm picking NJ here.
4. Tampa Piranhas vs 15. Louisiana Screaming Pelicans
- Another season 2 team climbing the ladder in the teens facing a top tier season 1 team. Louisiana hasn't lost yet this season, and feature an explosive offense. This is by far their toughest challenge of the season up till now. The two best analogs I could find were Salty and Harrisonburg vs Tampa, but Louisiana still chucks the ball around more than both those teams even. Salty had a rough outing throwing the ball, and Harrisonburg lit up Tampa pretty good through the air. Scheming Lousiana is a bit simpler than Harry though, as they don't go away to other modes of attack as much as Tdiddy can/does. I think Louisiana throws the ball better than Salty though, but also doesn't play defense as well. Give me Tampa in a higher scoring affair. Louisiana takes their first loss of the season.
5. Brisbane Bogans vs 25. Warsaw Wrath
- Brisbane dips down to the very bottom of their target list and gets Warsaw. I think Warsaw is a sound team, with some nasty backs, but it's nothing Brisbane doesn't see regularly in the top 10. I think Brisbane wins on the strength of their explosive screen game.
6. Hawaii Bulls vs 23. Northwest Storms
- Continuing the trend of the top 10 picking on the midranks this week, Hawaii gets to annihilate Northwest. Hawaii wins. Big.
7. The Salty Runback vs 21. Rocky Mountain Reapers
- TSR's defense is too good to lose to Rocky Mountain. The Reaper's probably don't have the horses to effectively slow down the Salty passing game either. Salty wins.
8. Rusty's Ruins vs 13. Air Raid
- Let's not pretend this isn't one of the matchups almost everyone's been waiting to see outside of Hawaii's game with Queen City earlier this season. BHall's operated the best passing attacks of the Season 1 teams ever since launch. I built Air Raid based on inspiration from watching Sunday Funday that first season. The apprentice finally meets the master head-2-head in a meaningful game. In this case, the master is in trouble. Big Trouble. BHall's claimed his WRs were still superior to Air Raid's WRs in the preseason. We'll find out tomorrow. I'm picking my own team to win. We're running better playbooks with better players than Rusty right now, and we can hammer/resist morale damage in a way that Rusty cannot on offense and defense. We can maintain the barrage for an entire game. Air Raid's victory is inevitable, Mr. Anderson.
9. Harrisonburg Bulldogs vs 29. Osprey Orphans
- Another minimum target matchup! Osprey has historically been a trickier matchup, but they're working to overcome some signficant roster turnover early this season. They're probably better than 29th, and have some significant names managing the team. I don't think they're better than Harrisonburg though. Tdiddy should handle this one easily enough.
With some discussion about the rather stable ladder since the matchup changes before last season, here's how I see the real power rankings right now:
1. Hawaii Bulls
2. New Jersey Generals
3. Minnesota Stunners
4. Queen City Brewmasters
5. Portland Ronin
6. Air Raid
7. Harrisonburg Bulldogs
8. Tampa Piranhas
9. Salty Runback
10. Glasgow Rangers
Next teams up: Brisbane Bogans, Louisiana Screaming Pelicans
1. Queen City vs 10. Erkner Razorbacks
- Queen City will probably handle Erkner. Peeti's prone to trying some radical offensive schemes at times, but he's not been as active lately, and I don't think Erkner's defense will be able to stop Queen City in any event. There's a reason Erkner's hovered around the 10th place mark for several seasons now. They might drop from the top 10 if they can't pull the upset. There's a few fast risers in the teens that are angling for top 10 spots. I'm taking Queen City.
2. Portland Ronin vs 14. Glasgow Rangers
- Season 1 powerhouse Portland tackles one of the Season 2 top flight programs in this one. Glasgow's two losses were close to New Jersey and Harrisonburg in games that could've gone either way. This is no easy out for Portland. Glasgow was consistently a top 5 caliber team in the Season 2 tier on the way up the ladder. They've always played excellent defense, but Portland features a top 5 rushing attack in the game right now. Glasgow's been more susceptible to teams that can throw so far this season on defense, so they actually appear to matchup pretty well with what Portland will try to do. I'm taking the upset here and picking Glasgow for the second time in a row.
3. New Jersey Generals vs 22. Dookie Island
- That rascal Corndog, manipulating matchups so he'd get his team mentioned in the top 10 writeup again! New Jersey dips down towards the bottom of their eligible target pool, and shouldn't have any trouble handling Dookie. Pending the Glasgow/Portland result, they may be able to float up into the #2 spot despite not really being able to steal much ranking value from Dookie. Obviously, I'm picking NJ here.
4. Tampa Piranhas vs 15. Louisiana Screaming Pelicans
- Another season 2 team climbing the ladder in the teens facing a top tier season 1 team. Louisiana hasn't lost yet this season, and feature an explosive offense. This is by far their toughest challenge of the season up till now. The two best analogs I could find were Salty and Harrisonburg vs Tampa, but Louisiana still chucks the ball around more than both those teams even. Salty had a rough outing throwing the ball, and Harrisonburg lit up Tampa pretty good through the air. Scheming Lousiana is a bit simpler than Harry though, as they don't go away to other modes of attack as much as Tdiddy can/does. I think Louisiana throws the ball better than Salty though, but also doesn't play defense as well. Give me Tampa in a higher scoring affair. Louisiana takes their first loss of the season.
5. Brisbane Bogans vs 25. Warsaw Wrath
- Brisbane dips down to the very bottom of their target list and gets Warsaw. I think Warsaw is a sound team, with some nasty backs, but it's nothing Brisbane doesn't see regularly in the top 10. I think Brisbane wins on the strength of their explosive screen game.
6. Hawaii Bulls vs 23. Northwest Storms
- Continuing the trend of the top 10 picking on the midranks this week, Hawaii gets to annihilate Northwest. Hawaii wins. Big.
7. The Salty Runback vs 21. Rocky Mountain Reapers
- TSR's defense is too good to lose to Rocky Mountain. The Reaper's probably don't have the horses to effectively slow down the Salty passing game either. Salty wins.
8. Rusty's Ruins vs 13. Air Raid
- Let's not pretend this isn't one of the matchups almost everyone's been waiting to see outside of Hawaii's game with Queen City earlier this season. BHall's operated the best passing attacks of the Season 1 teams ever since launch. I built Air Raid based on inspiration from watching Sunday Funday that first season. The apprentice finally meets the master head-2-head in a meaningful game. In this case, the master is in trouble. Big Trouble. BHall's claimed his WRs were still superior to Air Raid's WRs in the preseason. We'll find out tomorrow. I'm picking my own team to win. We're running better playbooks with better players than Rusty right now, and we can hammer/resist morale damage in a way that Rusty cannot on offense and defense. We can maintain the barrage for an entire game. Air Raid's victory is inevitable, Mr. Anderson.
9. Harrisonburg Bulldogs vs 29. Osprey Orphans
- Another minimum target matchup! Osprey has historically been a trickier matchup, but they're working to overcome some signficant roster turnover early this season. They're probably better than 29th, and have some significant names managing the team. I don't think they're better than Harrisonburg though. Tdiddy should handle this one easily enough.
With some discussion about the rather stable ladder since the matchup changes before last season, here's how I see the real power rankings right now:
1. Hawaii Bulls
2. New Jersey Generals
3. Minnesota Stunners
4. Queen City Brewmasters
5. Portland Ronin
6. Air Raid
7. Harrisonburg Bulldogs
8. Tampa Piranhas
9. Salty Runback
10. Glasgow Rangers
Next teams up: Brisbane Bogans, Louisiana Screaming Pelicans
Edited by Galithor on Nov 4, 2014 11:43:34
Edited by Galithor on Nov 4, 2014 11:38:45
Edited by Galithor on Nov 4, 2014 07:42:13
