With the first round of the playoffs concluded, the field of competitors is cut in half, including the elimination of a few teams that expected to go further. That's the beauty of the playoffs, that a good regular season record is no guarantee of success. Even the mighty Hounds and Arsenal must run the gauntlet before they can have the chance to face each other.
Well, I know I said I would write a recap for the Alpha Conference games, but I didn't really have the time or inclination to spend several hours staring at playoff replays. I'm not going to lie, when I saw that the Butchers lost their game it kinda killed my motivation. No sour grapes or anything like that, just more of a "that sucks and I'm really hungover and I don't feel like staring at goal line because we lost" kind of thing. In all honesty, I probably will not be doing the previews next season. With the weather getting nice again and real life getting busier, I just won't have time to do it any kind of justice. It's been quite fun doing them for the past couple of seasons, and depending on how things go I might pick it up again down the road, but not for now. I will finish the playoff previews as well.
Alpha Conference:
Arkadak Arsenal vs Helsinki Hellrazors: Both conferences number five teams had a great first round, but now both must face the only undefeated opponents in the league. Helsinki took the opportunity to make up for the early season loss to the Bengals, a loss which resulted in the loss of home field for the game. Travelling to Arkadak to play the next victim to the Arsenal is not exactly the best reward for their trouble, but the opportunity to upset an undefeated team and ride that wave to the championship is enough to make any coach drool a bit. When these teams met in the regular season the result was another Arsenal blowout, with the Arkadak defense holding the Hellrazors to less than 100 yards of total offense. Given that no team that has faced the Arsenal this season has been able to keep the score to within 20 points, the task will just be too much for Helsinki. The Arsenal will continue to charge forward in their quest for the league championship.
Vilnius Velociraptors vs Falkirk Wheelies: The number two and three seeds both move up to the second round to face off for the right to compete for the conference championship. The Wheelies gave the Raptors a tough game in their first meeting, requiring some serious fourth quarter heroics to win it in the final seconds. If Falkirk's defense can keep it tight throughout the fourth quarter, they have an excellent chance at winning the game. The Raptors are no strangers to the postseason, however, so it will take a full four quarter game for the Wheelies to get the upset. This is guaranteed to be a fun game to watch, both teams very closely matched and excellent competitors. My prediction is that Vilnius will win it and get the chance at another championship. I would not be the least bit surprised if the game went the other way, but my gut tells me that the Raptors experience in gameplanning for playoff scenarios wins out.
Zeta Conference:
Berlin Hounds from Hell vs Czechoslavakia Mates: The Mates settled any possible argument last week with a convincing defensive stand against the Butchers, who will have to face the long offseason with plenty of questions concerning their late season meltdown. The Mates move on to the second round to take on the Even brothers on their road to Zeta Conference domination. Like Alpha's game of number one versus number five, the Mates didn't do very well in the regular season against the Hounds, scoring only six points on two field goals. Many of the Hounds' competitors have given them close games that they had to fight to win, but the Mates will have to find a weakness that no one else has been able to. I just don't see a way for the Mates to come out of this game with a win without some "playoff sim" shenanigans or Kutzy screwing with the AI again.
Jefferson City Bucks vs Mombasa Wombats: The surprise hit of the postseason Wombats come into this game riding a wave of euphoria after upsetting the number two seed Hill Valley Deloreans. The win proves that they can beat just about anybody at any time, their next challenge coming in Jefferson City just two weeks removed from a major beatdown at the Bucks' hands. I suppose they could have thrown the game in the hopes of fooling playoff opponents with a different AI, but that would have been a pretty big gamble to drop themselves into the seventh seed on purpose. If they were simply outgunned, then this game should be an easy Jefferson City win. So, in picking a winner, I am going to give Mombasa the vote of confidence. Even if they aren't sneaky enough to have thrown the final game of the regular season, I think they are smart enough to learn from the first time out and find an exploitable weakness.
We're all set for four excellent football games, and I am sure at least one or two surprises. Of the remaining teams I would still have to say that is likely to be a Arkadak/Berlin league championship, but you never know what can happen in these final games. Drama could win out over everything in the end.
Well, I know I said I would write a recap for the Alpha Conference games, but I didn't really have the time or inclination to spend several hours staring at playoff replays. I'm not going to lie, when I saw that the Butchers lost their game it kinda killed my motivation. No sour grapes or anything like that, just more of a "that sucks and I'm really hungover and I don't feel like staring at goal line because we lost" kind of thing. In all honesty, I probably will not be doing the previews next season. With the weather getting nice again and real life getting busier, I just won't have time to do it any kind of justice. It's been quite fun doing them for the past couple of seasons, and depending on how things go I might pick it up again down the road, but not for now. I will finish the playoff previews as well.
Alpha Conference:
Arkadak Arsenal vs Helsinki Hellrazors: Both conferences number five teams had a great first round, but now both must face the only undefeated opponents in the league. Helsinki took the opportunity to make up for the early season loss to the Bengals, a loss which resulted in the loss of home field for the game. Travelling to Arkadak to play the next victim to the Arsenal is not exactly the best reward for their trouble, but the opportunity to upset an undefeated team and ride that wave to the championship is enough to make any coach drool a bit. When these teams met in the regular season the result was another Arsenal blowout, with the Arkadak defense holding the Hellrazors to less than 100 yards of total offense. Given that no team that has faced the Arsenal this season has been able to keep the score to within 20 points, the task will just be too much for Helsinki. The Arsenal will continue to charge forward in their quest for the league championship.
Vilnius Velociraptors vs Falkirk Wheelies: The number two and three seeds both move up to the second round to face off for the right to compete for the conference championship. The Wheelies gave the Raptors a tough game in their first meeting, requiring some serious fourth quarter heroics to win it in the final seconds. If Falkirk's defense can keep it tight throughout the fourth quarter, they have an excellent chance at winning the game. The Raptors are no strangers to the postseason, however, so it will take a full four quarter game for the Wheelies to get the upset. This is guaranteed to be a fun game to watch, both teams very closely matched and excellent competitors. My prediction is that Vilnius will win it and get the chance at another championship. I would not be the least bit surprised if the game went the other way, but my gut tells me that the Raptors experience in gameplanning for playoff scenarios wins out.
Zeta Conference:
Berlin Hounds from Hell vs Czechoslavakia Mates: The Mates settled any possible argument last week with a convincing defensive stand against the Butchers, who will have to face the long offseason with plenty of questions concerning their late season meltdown. The Mates move on to the second round to take on the Even brothers on their road to Zeta Conference domination. Like Alpha's game of number one versus number five, the Mates didn't do very well in the regular season against the Hounds, scoring only six points on two field goals. Many of the Hounds' competitors have given them close games that they had to fight to win, but the Mates will have to find a weakness that no one else has been able to. I just don't see a way for the Mates to come out of this game with a win without some "playoff sim" shenanigans or Kutzy screwing with the AI again.
Jefferson City Bucks vs Mombasa Wombats: The surprise hit of the postseason Wombats come into this game riding a wave of euphoria after upsetting the number two seed Hill Valley Deloreans. The win proves that they can beat just about anybody at any time, their next challenge coming in Jefferson City just two weeks removed from a major beatdown at the Bucks' hands. I suppose they could have thrown the game in the hopes of fooling playoff opponents with a different AI, but that would have been a pretty big gamble to drop themselves into the seventh seed on purpose. If they were simply outgunned, then this game should be an easy Jefferson City win. So, in picking a winner, I am going to give Mombasa the vote of confidence. Even if they aren't sneaky enough to have thrown the final game of the regular season, I think they are smart enough to learn from the first time out and find an exploitable weakness.
We're all set for four excellent football games, and I am sure at least one or two surprises. Of the remaining teams I would still have to say that is likely to be a Arkadak/Berlin league championship, but you never know what can happen in these final games. Drama could win out over everything in the end.
