The final week of the season has arrived, and while the top and bottom seeds are all but decided, there is still plenty of action left as teams fight it out for position. We know who's in and who's out, but which teams will have home field, and who will play whom in the first round? Interestingly, all of Alpha's games this week feature top eight teams playing each other and bottom eight teams playing each other. Nobody in the conference really has the easy "top team versus CPU team" type of matchup.
Alpha Conference:
Warsaw GoW vs Pecs of Steel: I'm sure the Pecs would love to be able to knock the number one Gods of War off of Mount Olympus, but I just don't see it happening. Warsaw will remain at only one loss to start the playoffs, likely facing the Players in the first round.
Stalingrad vs P-burg: The reason the Players will remain in eighth place is this game, against a very disappointed Ironmen team. Stalingrad is just a better team all around, and will have little difficulty taking care of P-burg. A Vilnius loss this week will not help Stalingrad move up, so they will likely come out of the regular season in third place.
Portland vs Tallinn: This game could almost be the game of the week. The implications of this game are pretty huge, with the winner most likely taking over fourth spot and getting home field advantage. Although these teams are very evenly matched, I have to go with the Niners on the strength of a better defense, and the fact that their losses are more recent and have made them really look at their gameplan and tweak the weaknesses away. Tallinn will give them a great game, but in the end, I don't think they will get it done.
Alpha Game of the Week - Vilnius vs Vorkuta: The Yellowhammers have an opportunity to really throw a monkey wrench into the playoff picture. If Vorkuta wins, there will be a four way tie at 13-3, with either Portland or Tallinn being the odd man out at 12-4. There are so many different scenarios for possible playoff positioning depending on who wins the two big games this week, that it is actually hurting my head a little bit. This game will all depend on who has planned better, both with AI and with utilizing tokens to gain an advantage. In the end, Cylon Twill will pound the ball and celebrate with a nice ambrosia aboard the Galactica. Never trust a frakkin' skinjob.
Now for the bottom of the pack:
Saratov vs Warsaw: The Stampede has already lost too much of their roster to be able to compete against the Blaze. They just have too many CPU starters to make anything happen in their favor.
St. Petersburg vs Bayside: Ever see a Piranha attack a Tiger? There's a reason cats hate water. St. Petersburg wins easily, handing the Tigers their 19th loss in a row.
Skopje vs Black Sea: The Kardinals will be riding high with three wins out of the final four games of the season. These guys will be able to compete with the middle of the pack next season, and their coach gets to keep his job at least another year.
Sioux City vs Yugoslavian: The Roid Pushers should be able to squeeze out one more win to finish out the season, particularly if field goals play a major part in the game.
Zeta Conference: Unlike Alpha this week, Zeta really only has two major games, and one of those pits number one versus number eight in a postseason preview, so it really isn't that major.
Bratislava vs Sooner: The Syndicate doesn't have enough juice to take on the top seeded Butchers. Bratislava will roll through Sooner and hang on to their perfect regular season.
Secretville vs Dayton: The Outlaws' only win is against the last place Flames, and Secretville's only loss is against the first place Butchers, so who do you think will win?
South City vs Nizhny: It is the Chiefs' turn to beat on poor Nizhny, an easy win for South City that will do nothing to improve their third place standing.
Dresden vs Sicilia: The Doomsday will end the Warriors two game winning streak right here, right now. They will need a lot of help from Italy to maintain their home field spot.
Berlin vs Gothenburg: The Crusaders will hand the Flames their 16th and final loss of the season, and hang on to the seventh spot.
Chernobyl vs Edinburgh: The Mariners can hang on to the ninth seed and a little bit of pride against the War-pipers. The human team will win out over the CPU, dropping Edinburgh to 11th after Gateshead.
Gateshead vs Southeast: The Gargoyles will wrap up their season with a W against the Silverbacks, and jump over Edinburgh into 10th place.
Zeta Conference Game of the Week - Warsaw vs Italy: A victory against the Guardians can put the Wolfpack into fourth place and home field, but they have to win it first. Italy's defense will need to stand tall against the powerful Warsaw passing attack, but Warsaw won't give up on the run unless they get down early. Both teams have excellent quarterbacks, but neither team has a backup on the roster. The Wolfpack have a stronger offensive line, which will translate to a better running game, helping them to pick up the win against Italy, and move up to the number four seed.
With that we wrap up the regular season, and head into the playoffs. Sunday will be an interesting day, and I will have a full recap of these exciting games, and possibly post the Postseason Preview sometime before the Super Bowl.
Alpha Conference:
Warsaw GoW vs Pecs of Steel: I'm sure the Pecs would love to be able to knock the number one Gods of War off of Mount Olympus, but I just don't see it happening. Warsaw will remain at only one loss to start the playoffs, likely facing the Players in the first round.
Stalingrad vs P-burg: The reason the Players will remain in eighth place is this game, against a very disappointed Ironmen team. Stalingrad is just a better team all around, and will have little difficulty taking care of P-burg. A Vilnius loss this week will not help Stalingrad move up, so they will likely come out of the regular season in third place.
Portland vs Tallinn: This game could almost be the game of the week. The implications of this game are pretty huge, with the winner most likely taking over fourth spot and getting home field advantage. Although these teams are very evenly matched, I have to go with the Niners on the strength of a better defense, and the fact that their losses are more recent and have made them really look at their gameplan and tweak the weaknesses away. Tallinn will give them a great game, but in the end, I don't think they will get it done.
Alpha Game of the Week - Vilnius vs Vorkuta: The Yellowhammers have an opportunity to really throw a monkey wrench into the playoff picture. If Vorkuta wins, there will be a four way tie at 13-3, with either Portland or Tallinn being the odd man out at 12-4. There are so many different scenarios for possible playoff positioning depending on who wins the two big games this week, that it is actually hurting my head a little bit. This game will all depend on who has planned better, both with AI and with utilizing tokens to gain an advantage. In the end, Cylon Twill will pound the ball and celebrate with a nice ambrosia aboard the Galactica. Never trust a frakkin' skinjob.
Now for the bottom of the pack:
Saratov vs Warsaw: The Stampede has already lost too much of their roster to be able to compete against the Blaze. They just have too many CPU starters to make anything happen in their favor.
St. Petersburg vs Bayside: Ever see a Piranha attack a Tiger? There's a reason cats hate water. St. Petersburg wins easily, handing the Tigers their 19th loss in a row.
Skopje vs Black Sea: The Kardinals will be riding high with three wins out of the final four games of the season. These guys will be able to compete with the middle of the pack next season, and their coach gets to keep his job at least another year.
Sioux City vs Yugoslavian: The Roid Pushers should be able to squeeze out one more win to finish out the season, particularly if field goals play a major part in the game.
Zeta Conference: Unlike Alpha this week, Zeta really only has two major games, and one of those pits number one versus number eight in a postseason preview, so it really isn't that major.
Bratislava vs Sooner: The Syndicate doesn't have enough juice to take on the top seeded Butchers. Bratislava will roll through Sooner and hang on to their perfect regular season.
Secretville vs Dayton: The Outlaws' only win is against the last place Flames, and Secretville's only loss is against the first place Butchers, so who do you think will win?
South City vs Nizhny: It is the Chiefs' turn to beat on poor Nizhny, an easy win for South City that will do nothing to improve their third place standing.
Dresden vs Sicilia: The Doomsday will end the Warriors two game winning streak right here, right now. They will need a lot of help from Italy to maintain their home field spot.
Berlin vs Gothenburg: The Crusaders will hand the Flames their 16th and final loss of the season, and hang on to the seventh spot.
Chernobyl vs Edinburgh: The Mariners can hang on to the ninth seed and a little bit of pride against the War-pipers. The human team will win out over the CPU, dropping Edinburgh to 11th after Gateshead.
Gateshead vs Southeast: The Gargoyles will wrap up their season with a W against the Silverbacks, and jump over Edinburgh into 10th place.
Zeta Conference Game of the Week - Warsaw vs Italy: A victory against the Guardians can put the Wolfpack into fourth place and home field, but they have to win it first. Italy's defense will need to stand tall against the powerful Warsaw passing attack, but Warsaw won't give up on the run unless they get down early. Both teams have excellent quarterbacks, but neither team has a backup on the roster. The Wolfpack have a stronger offensive line, which will translate to a better running game, helping them to pick up the win against Italy, and move up to the number four seed.
With that we wrap up the regular season, and head into the playoffs. Sunday will be an interesting day, and I will have a full recap of these exciting games, and possibly post the Postseason Preview sometime before the Super Bowl.
