First off, thanks to everyone for a great season. We had some quality teams and some up and coming teams. There were the fair share of cupcakes in the league also but hopefully that changes come next season. Big props to the Ironton Tanks....they proved again and again that they were the cream of the crop in AA1 this season. Congratulations Tanks.
1. Ironton Tanks (20-0) - Anyone that has been paying attention will understand when I don't get detailed here....they just crushed people. Their title game performance left no doubt of who was the best.
2. Wallachia Wamphyrii (17-2) - Some may think my ranking of Wallachia ahead of Darfur is fueled by favoritism, but there were a couple of factors that make me feel pretty certain that the Wamphryii were the 2nd best team in all of AA1. Primarily, this spot goes to Wallachia b/c they were the only team to give Ironton any trouble at all, actually leading the Tanks in the conference championship until 26 seconds were left in the first half. They piled up more rushing yards in that game than the Tanks (199.5) gave up collectively all year. Four 1000 yd rushers, three 1000 yd receivers and a defense that gave up only 35 points to the teams on its schedule not named Ironton made this a pretty clear choice for me for 2nd place.
3. Darfur Depopulators (19-1)- The class of Elephant without question. They had a solid running game and a shutdown D. A poor offensive showing in the championship game highlighted their primary area of weakness which IMO was the one-dimensional offense and the Tanks were just good enough to exploit it.....most other teams were not.
4. Fat Jaws Badness (16-3) - They revenged their regular season loss to the Bucs but they had no answers for Darfur. Very solid team and will be the odds on favorite next season in Elephant (assuming Darfur advances as I think the conference champs do).
5. Appalachicola Bay Bucs (16-2) - Solid season and will battle FJB for superiority in Elephant next season. I didn't get the chance to study these guys much but they did give Darfur their tightest regular season game and they appear to be quality game planners.
6. Uganda Stink Apes (13-5) - If they played the first 2/3 of the season they way they did the last part, these guys would have been a home playoff seed. A playoff victory over Luxembourg combined with a respectable showing against the Tanks earns them the the jump in the year end ranks.
7. Luxembourg Lions (13-4) - Sadly this appears to be the last season for a quality franchise. They had a successful regular season but ran into the surging Stink Apes in the playoffs which ended their hopes of pulling a post-season surprise. Good luck in the future Lions.
P.S. Any Lions wishing to explore the possibility of becoming a Wamphyrii please send me a PM
8. Kazan Golden Horde (13-5) - Solid squad that was not quite on level with the top 3 from their conference. They would have been a contender in season 14 but their roster has been wiped so I don't think we'll see them here next year.
9. Serengeti Wildebeest (12-6) - Another up and coming team that peaked late season. They shocked Lion with a sound defeat of the 3rd seeded (but faltering) Devil Bats. Expect them to play a bigger role in setting the hierarchy in Lion conference next season.
10. Johannesburg Gigolos (10-7) - These guys are fairly young and should be a factor in the title chase next season. They demonstrated some nice gameplanning and while not on par with the upper tier teams just yet, they will be a lot closer come season 14.
***Honorable Mention****
Le Thor Devil Bats (14-3) - It appeared they threw in the towel at the end of the season and by the playoffs, these guys were no longer a top ten team, much less one that was cemented at the top of the rankings much of the season.
1. Ironton Tanks (20-0) - Anyone that has been paying attention will understand when I don't get detailed here....they just crushed people. Their title game performance left no doubt of who was the best.
2. Wallachia Wamphyrii (17-2) - Some may think my ranking of Wallachia ahead of Darfur is fueled by favoritism, but there were a couple of factors that make me feel pretty certain that the Wamphryii were the 2nd best team in all of AA1. Primarily, this spot goes to Wallachia b/c they were the only team to give Ironton any trouble at all, actually leading the Tanks in the conference championship until 26 seconds were left in the first half. They piled up more rushing yards in that game than the Tanks (199.5) gave up collectively all year. Four 1000 yd rushers, three 1000 yd receivers and a defense that gave up only 35 points to the teams on its schedule not named Ironton made this a pretty clear choice for me for 2nd place.
3. Darfur Depopulators (19-1)- The class of Elephant without question. They had a solid running game and a shutdown D. A poor offensive showing in the championship game highlighted their primary area of weakness which IMO was the one-dimensional offense and the Tanks were just good enough to exploit it.....most other teams were not.
4. Fat Jaws Badness (16-3) - They revenged their regular season loss to the Bucs but they had no answers for Darfur. Very solid team and will be the odds on favorite next season in Elephant (assuming Darfur advances as I think the conference champs do).
5. Appalachicola Bay Bucs (16-2) - Solid season and will battle FJB for superiority in Elephant next season. I didn't get the chance to study these guys much but they did give Darfur their tightest regular season game and they appear to be quality game planners.
6. Uganda Stink Apes (13-5) - If they played the first 2/3 of the season they way they did the last part, these guys would have been a home playoff seed. A playoff victory over Luxembourg combined with a respectable showing against the Tanks earns them the the jump in the year end ranks.
7. Luxembourg Lions (13-4) - Sadly this appears to be the last season for a quality franchise. They had a successful regular season but ran into the surging Stink Apes in the playoffs which ended their hopes of pulling a post-season surprise. Good luck in the future Lions.
P.S. Any Lions wishing to explore the possibility of becoming a Wamphyrii please send me a PM
8. Kazan Golden Horde (13-5) - Solid squad that was not quite on level with the top 3 from their conference. They would have been a contender in season 14 but their roster has been wiped so I don't think we'll see them here next year.
9. Serengeti Wildebeest (12-6) - Another up and coming team that peaked late season. They shocked Lion with a sound defeat of the 3rd seeded (but faltering) Devil Bats. Expect them to play a bigger role in setting the hierarchy in Lion conference next season.
10. Johannesburg Gigolos (10-7) - These guys are fairly young and should be a factor in the title chase next season. They demonstrated some nice gameplanning and while not on par with the upper tier teams just yet, they will be a lot closer come season 14.
***Honorable Mention****
Le Thor Devil Bats (14-3) - It appeared they threw in the towel at the end of the season and by the playoffs, these guys were no longer a top ten team, much less one that was cemented at the top of the rankings much of the season.
