18 people got back to me, which is a great turnout. the more people that submit polls, the more accurate it is. krakow, stockholm, lyon, and jacksonville were on each ballot. krakow had 15 first place votes, stockholm had 3. lyon had 7 second place votes, stockholm had 6, krakow had 3, and jacksonville and oslo each had 1.
1. Krakow Knights (15) 177 points
"Krakow continues to roll forward like an unstopable force destroying every team in their path. This is clearly the best team in the league at the mid point."
"Not real impressed by Zeta. It's a weaker league from top to bottom and only has a couple legit teams. These guys are one of the legit teams, that puts them at #1. Would have been #2, but the loss by the Magic Dragons and win over the Nomads puts them up here. Game vs. Jacksonville will determine the league championship."
"Probably played three solid teams with hopes of making playoff runs (not just to make the playoffs) and came out as the winner on all three games. Two of them, against the Lyon Winemakers and the Newark Nomads, were close victories. If they can beat the Jackalopes in game 10, the Knights will likely be undefeated going into the playoffs."
"Beat Lyon and The Wall, some of the other top teams in Zeta."
"Clear Number 1...."
2. Stockholm Dynamites (3) 146 points
"The pole sitter in Alpha barely beat the Assasins this last game. Clearly a great team, but are they the best in Alpha? They have a 5 game series comming up that will tell us everything we need to know."
"They are 8-0, but just don't have me jumping on the championship band wagon. The win over the Assassins is nice, but the next 5 weeks (Red Lights, Norseman, Doom, Hell on Turf, Pirates) will really show if these guys are contenders or pretenders."
"Four wins by the total score margin of 11, three of them by a game winning field goal with 12 seconds or less remaining. Mathematically, Dynamites' likelihood to continue to win in such a close fashion will dwindle down, but they have kept it up thus far and gradually climbed up the ranks of Alpha. With the Dynamites now being the only undefeated team in Alpha, they will no longer be able to sneak up and surprise their opponents. They still have a grueling stretch ahead against five tough opponents; three of them currently with a 7-1 record and all five with playoff hopes. Their sixth upcoming opponent, the Helsinki Hitmen, aren't cupcakes either. If they can come out of the stretch with only two losses or less, they will be in a good position to make a playoff run. If their luck runs out during the stretch, they can tumble down to the bottom half of Alpha's playoff bracket."
"Tough to not put them in 2, but i just don't feel they've proven they are it yet. They've beat sme top teams but they've all really close and could easily have gone either way."
"Still Wearing the Glass Slipper in Alpha"
3. Lyon Winemakers 142 points
"The much improved Winemakers have been very impressive this season. I would really like to have seen them play some of the teams in Alpha to get a better guage on them, but right now they leave me no reason to believe they are any less."
"Great team with solid gameplans. These guys could surprise a lot of teams. Have one quality win over Jacksonville and a nice win over the Drunken Potatoes. Haven't had many tough games from there on out. Weeks to come should clear any speculation."
"Winemakers appear to be the biggest challenger standing in front of the Knights' league championship hopes. They had a couple of close games against two tough opponents (the Knights and the Jackalopes) in the early part of the season. Considering the circumstances of their only loss, mainly, keeping up with Knights despite the -2 turnover margin and having better yard average per play in that game, on top of having a new OC and the likelihood of improvement in their offense as the season progresses, lends me to believe that the Winemakers will have the advantage, if there is a rematch with the Knights in the playoffs."
"Lost to Krakow in a 1 score game, Jacksonville by 3. But, other than that they are rolling."
4. Jacksonville Jackalopes 111 points
"The third team in the Triad, this team is making a strong case that they belong at the top. Again I wish I could see them against some tougher competition to get a better guage on them, but thats not their fault."
"These guys have the potential to be really good. I mean championship contenders, we just haven't seen the best of them. No quality wins and a loss to the Winemakers put them at #5. With a win over Krakow or Newark, these guys will fly up the board."
"Lost to Lyon, otherwise they would probably be 2. Pretty easy schedule so far except for The Wall. But, thei mettle will definitely be tested the next 2 games."
5. Tulsa Doom 91 points
"Red Lights and the Destroyers each fell to the Doom, they have only stumbled to the Pirates. This ranking is more based on the loss to the Pirates then the wins. I just have a feeling that the wins were more the fluke then the loss."
"In the ever changing ranks of Alpha, Tulsa Doom appears to be the flavor of the week. Not sure if Madrid Pirates game was an over lapse, but they have since handled the Dresden Destroyers in a relatively close, yet a solid victory, and squeaked past a tough Red Lights squad. Tulsa has some tough opponents left in their remaining schedule, starting with the Magic Dragons coming up next."
"The loss to Madrid really confuses me and kinda muddys the waters a bit."
6. Oslo Norsemen 79 points
"Another team with the meat and potatoes of their schedule comming up. Their loss to the Magic Dragons hurts their standing, but they have beat the teams they were supposed to handily. this will be a playoff team..but will they end up with a home game?"
"No super great wins, but if they are anything like the team they were last year, they have a chance at the title. Chemistry is great at 100/100/100 and should help them in games. Builds and gameplans will determine how far this team goes."
"Good team with tendency to choke"
7. Madrid Pirates 67 points
"Smoke and mirrors? Lost to the Dragons but beat the Doom and the Magpies. This team has got a long road to the playoffs, they may not be here for long. I suspec this team is not as good as their record."
"Only quality win is over the Doom, but seem to know what is going on. Could be higher, but there isn't much space to move. Teams are all very close which drop the Pirates down to #7. Weeks to follow will show how good the team actually is."
"Beat Doom early. Magic Dragons were the only other team with a winning record they have played and they lost."
8. Newark Nomads 59 points
"Another team that could be contenders. No real quality wins and a loss to the Wall hurt. Future games will either make or break the rankings for this team."
"Two losses by the score of 11 and 12 each against tough opponents, but very different losses. Nomads ran into the bricks of The Berlin Wall and had to score three TDs in the fourth quarter to climb to a respectable 11 points loss. Nomads couldn't contain the Berlin's passing attack, despite forcing five sacks. However, they came within five points of the Krakow Knights with 2:33 left on the clock in their last game. In that game, the Nomads couldn't stop the Knights running attack. They will battle the Jackalopes next to regain their footing against the top Zeta teams."
"That loss to The Wall is looking worse and worse."
9. Dresden Destroyers 35 points
"Sorry dresden, you probably belong higher then this on the list, but at this point this is the way I have to rank these. Over the next 4 weeks we will learn a lot more, this league has a lot of good games left way to early to even consider playoffs possitions."
"Either play good teams pretty close or beat them. Just need to make it the latter."
"Two incredibly close games have kept them from perfection"
10. Barcelona Assassins 29 points
"One point Loss to the Dynamites show this team is worthy of playing with the Best, A lost to the Magic Dragons, but so did half of this list.
Tulsa Doom"
"Loss to the Dynamites really hurts. Still a very good team who has a shot to make a run for the title at the end of the year. Future games will determine how good these guys actually are. Should be a Top 5 seed in the Alpha playoffs."
"Hot and Cold, you never know what team will show up"
Others who received votes: Amsterdam Red Lights 27 points, Amsterdam Magic Dragons 25 points, The Berlin Wall 5 points.
1. Krakow Knights (15) 177 points
"Krakow continues to roll forward like an unstopable force destroying every team in their path. This is clearly the best team in the league at the mid point."
"Not real impressed by Zeta. It's a weaker league from top to bottom and only has a couple legit teams. These guys are one of the legit teams, that puts them at #1. Would have been #2, but the loss by the Magic Dragons and win over the Nomads puts them up here. Game vs. Jacksonville will determine the league championship."
"Probably played three solid teams with hopes of making playoff runs (not just to make the playoffs) and came out as the winner on all three games. Two of them, against the Lyon Winemakers and the Newark Nomads, were close victories. If they can beat the Jackalopes in game 10, the Knights will likely be undefeated going into the playoffs."
"Beat Lyon and The Wall, some of the other top teams in Zeta."
"Clear Number 1...."
2. Stockholm Dynamites (3) 146 points
"The pole sitter in Alpha barely beat the Assasins this last game. Clearly a great team, but are they the best in Alpha? They have a 5 game series comming up that will tell us everything we need to know."
"They are 8-0, but just don't have me jumping on the championship band wagon. The win over the Assassins is nice, but the next 5 weeks (Red Lights, Norseman, Doom, Hell on Turf, Pirates) will really show if these guys are contenders or pretenders."
"Four wins by the total score margin of 11, three of them by a game winning field goal with 12 seconds or less remaining. Mathematically, Dynamites' likelihood to continue to win in such a close fashion will dwindle down, but they have kept it up thus far and gradually climbed up the ranks of Alpha. With the Dynamites now being the only undefeated team in Alpha, they will no longer be able to sneak up and surprise their opponents. They still have a grueling stretch ahead against five tough opponents; three of them currently with a 7-1 record and all five with playoff hopes. Their sixth upcoming opponent, the Helsinki Hitmen, aren't cupcakes either. If they can come out of the stretch with only two losses or less, they will be in a good position to make a playoff run. If their luck runs out during the stretch, they can tumble down to the bottom half of Alpha's playoff bracket."
"Tough to not put them in 2, but i just don't feel they've proven they are it yet. They've beat sme top teams but they've all really close and could easily have gone either way."
"Still Wearing the Glass Slipper in Alpha"
3. Lyon Winemakers 142 points
"The much improved Winemakers have been very impressive this season. I would really like to have seen them play some of the teams in Alpha to get a better guage on them, but right now they leave me no reason to believe they are any less."
"Great team with solid gameplans. These guys could surprise a lot of teams. Have one quality win over Jacksonville and a nice win over the Drunken Potatoes. Haven't had many tough games from there on out. Weeks to come should clear any speculation."
"Winemakers appear to be the biggest challenger standing in front of the Knights' league championship hopes. They had a couple of close games against two tough opponents (the Knights and the Jackalopes) in the early part of the season. Considering the circumstances of their only loss, mainly, keeping up with Knights despite the -2 turnover margin and having better yard average per play in that game, on top of having a new OC and the likelihood of improvement in their offense as the season progresses, lends me to believe that the Winemakers will have the advantage, if there is a rematch with the Knights in the playoffs."
"Lost to Krakow in a 1 score game, Jacksonville by 3. But, other than that they are rolling."
4. Jacksonville Jackalopes 111 points
"The third team in the Triad, this team is making a strong case that they belong at the top. Again I wish I could see them against some tougher competition to get a better guage on them, but thats not their fault."
"These guys have the potential to be really good. I mean championship contenders, we just haven't seen the best of them. No quality wins and a loss to the Winemakers put them at #5. With a win over Krakow or Newark, these guys will fly up the board."
"Lost to Lyon, otherwise they would probably be 2. Pretty easy schedule so far except for The Wall. But, thei mettle will definitely be tested the next 2 games."
5. Tulsa Doom 91 points
"Red Lights and the Destroyers each fell to the Doom, they have only stumbled to the Pirates. This ranking is more based on the loss to the Pirates then the wins. I just have a feeling that the wins were more the fluke then the loss."
"In the ever changing ranks of Alpha, Tulsa Doom appears to be the flavor of the week. Not sure if Madrid Pirates game was an over lapse, but they have since handled the Dresden Destroyers in a relatively close, yet a solid victory, and squeaked past a tough Red Lights squad. Tulsa has some tough opponents left in their remaining schedule, starting with the Magic Dragons coming up next."
"The loss to Madrid really confuses me and kinda muddys the waters a bit."
6. Oslo Norsemen 79 points
"Another team with the meat and potatoes of their schedule comming up. Their loss to the Magic Dragons hurts their standing, but they have beat the teams they were supposed to handily. this will be a playoff team..but will they end up with a home game?"
"No super great wins, but if they are anything like the team they were last year, they have a chance at the title. Chemistry is great at 100/100/100 and should help them in games. Builds and gameplans will determine how far this team goes."
"Good team with tendency to choke"
7. Madrid Pirates 67 points
"Smoke and mirrors? Lost to the Dragons but beat the Doom and the Magpies. This team has got a long road to the playoffs, they may not be here for long. I suspec this team is not as good as their record."
"Only quality win is over the Doom, but seem to know what is going on. Could be higher, but there isn't much space to move. Teams are all very close which drop the Pirates down to #7. Weeks to follow will show how good the team actually is."
"Beat Doom early. Magic Dragons were the only other team with a winning record they have played and they lost."
8. Newark Nomads 59 points
"Another team that could be contenders. No real quality wins and a loss to the Wall hurt. Future games will either make or break the rankings for this team."
"Two losses by the score of 11 and 12 each against tough opponents, but very different losses. Nomads ran into the bricks of The Berlin Wall and had to score three TDs in the fourth quarter to climb to a respectable 11 points loss. Nomads couldn't contain the Berlin's passing attack, despite forcing five sacks. However, they came within five points of the Krakow Knights with 2:33 left on the clock in their last game. In that game, the Nomads couldn't stop the Knights running attack. They will battle the Jackalopes next to regain their footing against the top Zeta teams."
"That loss to The Wall is looking worse and worse."
9. Dresden Destroyers 35 points
"Sorry dresden, you probably belong higher then this on the list, but at this point this is the way I have to rank these. Over the next 4 weeks we will learn a lot more, this league has a lot of good games left way to early to even consider playoffs possitions."
"Either play good teams pretty close or beat them. Just need to make it the latter."
"Two incredibly close games have kept them from perfection"
10. Barcelona Assassins 29 points
"One point Loss to the Dynamites show this team is worthy of playing with the Best, A lost to the Magic Dragons, but so did half of this list.
Tulsa Doom"
"Loss to the Dynamites really hurts. Still a very good team who has a shot to make a run for the title at the end of the year. Future games will determine how good these guys actually are. Should be a Top 5 seed in the Alpha playoffs."
"Hot and Cold, you never know what team will show up"
Others who received votes: Amsterdam Red Lights 27 points, Amsterdam Magic Dragons 25 points, The Berlin Wall 5 points.
