With just 5 regular season games remaining, the strong teams have established themselves by running over the rest of the competition, the weak teams struggle to remain competitive each week, and the middle of the road teams are fighting for a playoff spot. Not much has changed overall since the last update at the 1/3rd mark but they are still worth mentioning.
The teams to beat:
1. Andromeda Strain (11-0). Without a doubt this is the team to beat in Silver 7. They play in the West, which is the tougher conference, and they have made it look easy. They have only 1 matchup left that has any significance before playoffs, where they will be the ones with the target on their backs. To get to Gold you have to go through the Strain.
2. Final Thought (10-1). I had them just missing the cut earlier, but after beating the Crib Midgets they have demonstrated they belong in the leagues elite class. They should finish the season with just the one loss to Andromeda, which means they are an excellent team that will be a force in the playoffs.
3. Crib Midgets (10-1). The Crib have a big game coming up against Andromeda as they have lost a little swagger with the loss to Final Thought, and a couple scrim losses where they matched up well. This is a team that needs to play the Strain tight to build some momentum going into the playoffs where they should do some damage.
4. UFC Gladiators (11-0). The undefeated UFC team is ranked 4th? Yes, and it all comes down to their schedule. They have their conferences best teams still to play; their last 3 opponents have lost a TOTAL of 4 games all year. If the Gladiators run the table on those last 3 games, they move up but right now they are here.
5. Philadelphia Fuzz (11-0). The Fuzz is in a similar boat in that they are undefeated, but have yet to play the conferences best teams and in fact, they have played even fewer good teams than UFC. We will know a lot more about them in a little over a week. Right now they are a good team with a great record built up playing inferior opponents.
Looking for the upset:
6. Tamriel PW Oblivion (9-2). A very solid team still looking to put together a victory against the league's elite. They have played really well against the above teams but they need an upset win to really establish themselves. Taking this team lightly in the playoffs would be a huge mistake.
7. Elite Proving Grounds (9-2). See above. EPG will finish the season against the best of the best and that will be their last chance to get their AI and gameplanning ready for playooffs and they need a good result.
Playoff bound but that's about it:
8. Mexico City Cougars (9-2). This is an consistent team this season, and their placement here is largely due to the respect they have earned in past seasons. They end the season against their toughest opponents so we'll see what they have. Could turn it on in the playoffs though.
9. Eugene Cobras (7-4). Don't judge this team by their record as 3 of their losses have come against strong teams and they were unlucky to have to play a strong team in the conference crossover game. And all of those losses were very close games and had they beat Gabon (they should have) they would much higher.
10. Four Winds Bar (9-2). Another odd ball team that shows it has some chops but against who? The meat of their schedule is coming up and how they perform will dictate if they deserve consideration as a trophy contender.
11. Bama Rednecks (8-3). A middle of the road team in terms of talent, not record. Their inability to beat opponents that are similar in class (Four Winds) means they aren't ready to do anything in the post season.
12. Belly Ring Bling (9-2). It seems pretty far down to put a team with only 2 losses, but they have yet to play the real difficult teams so they are a bit of an unknown. No doubt they will make playoffs but I don't see them making much noise.
That's about it. I do concede that if the last group of teams finish their season strong they can overcome the odds and potentially make a push for a trophy; the odds are stacked against them however since they all still have a few quality opponents left, that is where they will make or break their season.
Teams that are not mentioned have absolutely no chance of winning their first playoff game, if they somehow manage to grab one of the last spots.
The teams to beat:
1. Andromeda Strain (11-0). Without a doubt this is the team to beat in Silver 7. They play in the West, which is the tougher conference, and they have made it look easy. They have only 1 matchup left that has any significance before playoffs, where they will be the ones with the target on their backs. To get to Gold you have to go through the Strain.
2. Final Thought (10-1). I had them just missing the cut earlier, but after beating the Crib Midgets they have demonstrated they belong in the leagues elite class. They should finish the season with just the one loss to Andromeda, which means they are an excellent team that will be a force in the playoffs.
3. Crib Midgets (10-1). The Crib have a big game coming up against Andromeda as they have lost a little swagger with the loss to Final Thought, and a couple scrim losses where they matched up well. This is a team that needs to play the Strain tight to build some momentum going into the playoffs where they should do some damage.
4. UFC Gladiators (11-0). The undefeated UFC team is ranked 4th? Yes, and it all comes down to their schedule. They have their conferences best teams still to play; their last 3 opponents have lost a TOTAL of 4 games all year. If the Gladiators run the table on those last 3 games, they move up but right now they are here.
5. Philadelphia Fuzz (11-0). The Fuzz is in a similar boat in that they are undefeated, but have yet to play the conferences best teams and in fact, they have played even fewer good teams than UFC. We will know a lot more about them in a little over a week. Right now they are a good team with a great record built up playing inferior opponents.
Looking for the upset:
6. Tamriel PW Oblivion (9-2). A very solid team still looking to put together a victory against the league's elite. They have played really well against the above teams but they need an upset win to really establish themselves. Taking this team lightly in the playoffs would be a huge mistake.
7. Elite Proving Grounds (9-2). See above. EPG will finish the season against the best of the best and that will be their last chance to get their AI and gameplanning ready for playooffs and they need a good result.
Playoff bound but that's about it:
8. Mexico City Cougars (9-2). This is an consistent team this season, and their placement here is largely due to the respect they have earned in past seasons. They end the season against their toughest opponents so we'll see what they have. Could turn it on in the playoffs though.
9. Eugene Cobras (7-4). Don't judge this team by their record as 3 of their losses have come against strong teams and they were unlucky to have to play a strong team in the conference crossover game. And all of those losses were very close games and had they beat Gabon (they should have) they would much higher.
10. Four Winds Bar (9-2). Another odd ball team that shows it has some chops but against who? The meat of their schedule is coming up and how they perform will dictate if they deserve consideration as a trophy contender.
11. Bama Rednecks (8-3). A middle of the road team in terms of talent, not record. Their inability to beat opponents that are similar in class (Four Winds) means they aren't ready to do anything in the post season.
12. Belly Ring Bling (9-2). It seems pretty far down to put a team with only 2 losses, but they have yet to play the real difficult teams so they are a bit of an unknown. No doubt they will make playoffs but I don't see them making much noise.
That's about it. I do concede that if the last group of teams finish their season strong they can overcome the odds and potentially make a push for a trophy; the odds are stacked against them however since they all still have a few quality opponents left, that is where they will make or break their season.
Teams that are not mentioned have absolutely no chance of winning their first playoff game, if they somehow manage to grab one of the last spots.
