Time for the playoffs to get started. I'm going to try something new and just pick the winners of each round right now. When we get to the Championship game I'll do something a little more in depth for those two teams to review their roads to the big game.
Lion Conference
Round 1
The first round of Lion games just seems like mismatch after mismatch. The top 3 teams dominated the rest of the playoff teams in the regular season and it's hard to see that changing much here. The Bandits have an easy start going up against the Zoners. The game won't be much of a contest. Cambridge is impressive but going up against a team they lost to 90-7 doesn't leave much hope for them. Rapid City is equally impressive but when they last faced Sterling they lost by 48 points.
The only game I see being a close contest is the Nigeria/Kalahari game. The big question there will be how much Kalahari has improved since that week 2 loss. If there's going to be an upset I see it happening here in a game between 2 very closely matched teams.
West Yorkshire vs Colonial
Nigeria vs Kalahari
LHC vs Cambridge
Sterling vs Rapid City
Round 2
The Bandits managed to squeeze out the #1 seed and will reap the benefits of that in the second round by avoiding LHC and Sterling. The first matchup against Kalahari wasn't much of a contest and this won't be either. The Bandits always learn from earlier mistakes.
LHC and Sterling will battle it out again just a few weeks after the last game that was decided by 5 points. The Bulldawgs will need to protect the ball a lot better this time around if they want to pull out the win. This could go either way again and it will most likely be a game decided by a defense again. I think the Turtles find a way to squeeze out another win BUT i'm hoping those Sterling boys can pull out some wrinkles to surprise LHC.
West Yorkshire vs Kalahari
LHC vs Sterling
Round 3
The Bandits managed to take away the run game by jumping out to an early lead in the first game. Their defense smothered LHCs MVP caliber QB with relentless pressure and they'll need to duplicate that effort here for another win. They already have the formula for success so it's just a matter of executing it flawlessly again. I happen to think the defense is WYB's strength so I think they can do it again here but it should be a lot closer than last time.
West Yorkshire vs LHC
Elephant Conference
Round 1
The first round in Elephant should have a lot more intrigue. There was a lot of movement in the top 4 through the course of the second half of the season. Teams like Somalia and Blacc's seemed to pick up steam as the season wore on while Barcelona and MMM dropped off a bit. Zimbabwe kicks off with an easy win but after that it's anybody's game. Covington has a rematch with a team they beat by almost 40. The big question with Covington is whether they've had a chance to fix their AI problems. If they have then they are a deadly team. Somalia has a chance to avenge a week 2 loss to MMM. MMM has struggled as of late against playoff teams and their prospects aren't high right now. Blacc's gets to face Barcelona again after beating them 52-9 in the regular season. The Bastards have only lost to the top 2 Elephant teams and are looking like a lock to advance to the next round but anything can happen in 3 of these games. The only definite is a Rebels win.
Zimbabwe vs Warri
Covington vs San Antonio
Somalia vs MMM
Blacc's vs Barcelona
Round 2
The second round sees the Rebels taking on Covington. They won the first game by 45 points and the way they've played they are the favorites to go all the way. Blacc's gets a rematch against Somalia from their week 15 loss. They were shut down in the second half and will need to do everything possible to avoid that again. I think they can come up with some new wrinkles to show why they moved up the rankings so quickly and pull off a close upset.
Zimbabwe vs Covington
Somalia vs Blacc's
Round 3
I think we all know who's going to advance in this one. It would take a flawless game for Blacc's to stay in it much less walk away with the upset win.
Zimbabwe vs Blacc's
CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
Zimbabwe vs West Yorkshire
As perfect as the Bandits have been since that week 3 loss the Rebels have been just dominating everyone. It's hard to see any Lion team keeping up with the pace the Rebels have set.
Lion Conference
Round 1
The first round of Lion games just seems like mismatch after mismatch. The top 3 teams dominated the rest of the playoff teams in the regular season and it's hard to see that changing much here. The Bandits have an easy start going up against the Zoners. The game won't be much of a contest. Cambridge is impressive but going up against a team they lost to 90-7 doesn't leave much hope for them. Rapid City is equally impressive but when they last faced Sterling they lost by 48 points.
The only game I see being a close contest is the Nigeria/Kalahari game. The big question there will be how much Kalahari has improved since that week 2 loss. If there's going to be an upset I see it happening here in a game between 2 very closely matched teams.
West Yorkshire vs Colonial
Nigeria vs Kalahari
LHC vs Cambridge
Sterling vs Rapid City
Round 2
The Bandits managed to squeeze out the #1 seed and will reap the benefits of that in the second round by avoiding LHC and Sterling. The first matchup against Kalahari wasn't much of a contest and this won't be either. The Bandits always learn from earlier mistakes.
LHC and Sterling will battle it out again just a few weeks after the last game that was decided by 5 points. The Bulldawgs will need to protect the ball a lot better this time around if they want to pull out the win. This could go either way again and it will most likely be a game decided by a defense again. I think the Turtles find a way to squeeze out another win BUT i'm hoping those Sterling boys can pull out some wrinkles to surprise LHC.
West Yorkshire vs Kalahari
LHC vs Sterling
Round 3
The Bandits managed to take away the run game by jumping out to an early lead in the first game. Their defense smothered LHCs MVP caliber QB with relentless pressure and they'll need to duplicate that effort here for another win. They already have the formula for success so it's just a matter of executing it flawlessly again. I happen to think the defense is WYB's strength so I think they can do it again here but it should be a lot closer than last time.
West Yorkshire vs LHC
Elephant Conference
Round 1
The first round in Elephant should have a lot more intrigue. There was a lot of movement in the top 4 through the course of the second half of the season. Teams like Somalia and Blacc's seemed to pick up steam as the season wore on while Barcelona and MMM dropped off a bit. Zimbabwe kicks off with an easy win but after that it's anybody's game. Covington has a rematch with a team they beat by almost 40. The big question with Covington is whether they've had a chance to fix their AI problems. If they have then they are a deadly team. Somalia has a chance to avenge a week 2 loss to MMM. MMM has struggled as of late against playoff teams and their prospects aren't high right now. Blacc's gets to face Barcelona again after beating them 52-9 in the regular season. The Bastards have only lost to the top 2 Elephant teams and are looking like a lock to advance to the next round but anything can happen in 3 of these games. The only definite is a Rebels win.
Zimbabwe vs Warri
Covington vs San Antonio
Somalia vs MMM
Blacc's vs Barcelona
Round 2
The second round sees the Rebels taking on Covington. They won the first game by 45 points and the way they've played they are the favorites to go all the way. Blacc's gets a rematch against Somalia from their week 15 loss. They were shut down in the second half and will need to do everything possible to avoid that again. I think they can come up with some new wrinkles to show why they moved up the rankings so quickly and pull off a close upset.
Zimbabwe vs Covington
Somalia vs Blacc's
Round 3
I think we all know who's going to advance in this one. It would take a flawless game for Blacc's to stay in it much less walk away with the upset win.
Zimbabwe vs Blacc's
CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
Zimbabwe vs West Yorkshire
As perfect as the Bandits have been since that week 3 loss the Rebels have been just dominating everyone. It's hard to see any Lion team keeping up with the pace the Rebels have set.
and Somalia for breaking through to the next round. 
