The season is almost over, and four teams remain to battle it out this week for the conference championships. The winners earn the right to play for the big trophy in the League Championship. Last week's playoff games held few surprises, although I at least was incorrect in predicting a Wombats win. I find I am seldom right when I go with my gut instead of the stats, but what can you do?
Alpha Conference Championship - Vilnius Velociraptors vs Arkadak Arsenal: While every team works all season to achieve that first goal of making it to the conference championship game, I find it hard to envy the Velociraptors for this game. Arkadak is not only just winning every game, they are squashing anyone who gets in their way. Hardly anyone has even been able to give these guys a game, let alone find a way to beat them, and Vilnius didn't fare much better. The Raptors are no slouch, however, and the ultimate coup would be for them to win the league championship two seasons running, with the added bonus of the second coming after promotion. Numbers-wise, the Raptors stack up pretty closely in most categories, but they've had to pull out of a few close calls to get this far. They just don't match up in terms of overall dominance that the Arsenal have shown all season long. The winner of this game will go on to win the league, and that winner will be the Arsenal. If the Raptors prove me wrong, which is certainly possible and even sometimes probable, they will have no trouble defeating either of Zeta's remaining teams.
Zeta Conference Championship - Jefferson City Bucks vs Berlin Hounds from Hell: The dominant team in Zeta, Berlin has not shown the same relentless lack of mercy that the Arsenal have. Several games throughout the season could have gone the other way, but somehow the Hounds have always found a way to get it done. One thing for certain is that if the Hounds don't win this game, Kutzy will be facing an angry platoon of trophy-hungry GMs who won't get what they came for. The Bucks were one of the teams that came within a female genitalia's pubic hair of knocking out the undefeated Hounds, holding them to 14 but themselves held to 12. The rematch should be interesting. Berlin has become a little more brutal toward the end of the season, having had enough of close games and near defeats. The Bucks have shown a bit of that most of the season, but not to the same degree. Kutzy and crew have been doing an effective job of revamping their AI to ensure they get to the big game, and I think the tweaks have given them just a little bit more under the hood than Jefferson City can handle. Berlin will win at home to face the Arsenal, a challenge which should daunt even the mighty Hounds from Hell.
There is, of course, always the possibility of playoff sim screwups and other shenanigans, but I think we will be seeing the two number one teams in the league championship. It will be plenty of high drama with someone seeing their perfect season spoiled, to be sure.
Alpha Conference Championship - Vilnius Velociraptors vs Arkadak Arsenal: While every team works all season to achieve that first goal of making it to the conference championship game, I find it hard to envy the Velociraptors for this game. Arkadak is not only just winning every game, they are squashing anyone who gets in their way. Hardly anyone has even been able to give these guys a game, let alone find a way to beat them, and Vilnius didn't fare much better. The Raptors are no slouch, however, and the ultimate coup would be for them to win the league championship two seasons running, with the added bonus of the second coming after promotion. Numbers-wise, the Raptors stack up pretty closely in most categories, but they've had to pull out of a few close calls to get this far. They just don't match up in terms of overall dominance that the Arsenal have shown all season long. The winner of this game will go on to win the league, and that winner will be the Arsenal. If the Raptors prove me wrong, which is certainly possible and even sometimes probable, they will have no trouble defeating either of Zeta's remaining teams.
Zeta Conference Championship - Jefferson City Bucks vs Berlin Hounds from Hell: The dominant team in Zeta, Berlin has not shown the same relentless lack of mercy that the Arsenal have. Several games throughout the season could have gone the other way, but somehow the Hounds have always found a way to get it done. One thing for certain is that if the Hounds don't win this game, Kutzy will be facing an angry platoon of trophy-hungry GMs who won't get what they came for. The Bucks were one of the teams that came within a female genitalia's pubic hair of knocking out the undefeated Hounds, holding them to 14 but themselves held to 12. The rematch should be interesting. Berlin has become a little more brutal toward the end of the season, having had enough of close games and near defeats. The Bucks have shown a bit of that most of the season, but not to the same degree. Kutzy and crew have been doing an effective job of revamping their AI to ensure they get to the big game, and I think the tweaks have given them just a little bit more under the hood than Jefferson City can handle. Berlin will win at home to face the Arsenal, a challenge which should daunt even the mighty Hounds from Hell.
There is, of course, always the possibility of playoff sim screwups and other shenanigans, but I think we will be seeing the two number one teams in the league championship. It will be plenty of high drama with someone seeing their perfect season spoiled, to be sure.
