Here we are folks. The big game is finally here and not quite the matchup I think most were expecting to see. For the Lion Conference, we have Franchise making it all the way as expected after an undefeated regular season. Over in Elephant however we saw the heavily favored Sons of Anubis fall to the Black Sea Sunami. With Franchise not having a single loss this season they have to be the favorites logically but there's not much of an edge when you take into account that Black Sea took down the team many thought was not just the top Elephant team but the top APL team.
With that said let's take a look at how these teams made it this far.
Lion Champion
Franchise
Week 1 - We saw this team go out and take an easy win in interleague play over LVA. Nothing less than was expected.
Week 2 - A huge statement early in the season as they crushed CWE to the tune of 70-31.
Week 3 - A week after beating CWE they went out and put on a bigger show against another top team in the Demons. Franchise wins by 70 points.
Week 4 - A huge match-up against Fulham. FFH had been struggling a little and this game would cement Franchise as the top team in Lion. 12 point win for Franchise.
Weeks 5-7 - Hobart, Wheel City and African Mafia fell easily but Hobart managed to put up 45 points which led me to wonder if they had exposed a weakness.
Week 8 - With a 56-23 victory over Somalia, Franchise had to be feeling good about their week 9 matchup against Massawa.
Week 9 - Another step towards 16-0 with the Redhorns falling by 62 points.
Week 10 - Zambezi didn't stand much of a chance and Franchise took home the 94-9 victory.
Week 11 - Franchise had their last big regular season matchup when they faced Canton this week. I expected a bit of a slug fest and in the end we saw Franchise make another big statement with a 29 point win.
Weeks 12-16 - After taking down Canton, Franchise went out and faced Sun City, Lincoln, Philly, Newfoundland and Uganda. None of the games were even remotely close and Franchise went on to finish the regular season undefeated.
Playoff Games
Game 1 - Dominated Philly in a one-sided affair. Won by 91 points.
Game 2 - Anticipated matchup with the Demons falls well short of my expectations as Franchise again dominates another team. Through 2 playoff games this team put up 192 points and gave up 16.
Game 3 - Huge game for both teams and Franchise jumped out to a 10-7 halftime lead. Scoring first in the second half helped give them the edge they needed to stay ahead of Canton the rest of the way and get out of dodge with a 7 point win.
Elephant Champion
Black Sea Sunami
Week 1 - Interleague play forced BSS to go on the road to Somalia where they put on an offensive showcase but left some questions in my mind regarding their defense after giving up 58 points.
Week 2 - Auto-loss week as they faced off against the favorites, SoA.
Week 3 - Another tough game as they went into Windhoek. A close 9 point loss leaves BSS at 1-2 and looking like they have some work to do.
Week 4 - Things get turned around quickly as BSS takes the game over ICB, 27-14. This is the beginning of a 13 game, regular season, win streak.
Week 5 - The improved Guyana squad didn't look terribly improved as they fell 80-14.
Week 6-8 - RAWK, Laos and Kickin all fell by large margins and at this point we start realizing that BSS has passed through the toughest parts of their schedule and outside of 1-2 games shouldn't be tested again this season.
Week 9 - A7 really takes BSS to the limit but falls short by 7 points.
Week 10 - A 14 point win over TDP sets up BSS for at least another 4 game win streak.
Week 11 - ABD comes to town but never shows up as BSS takes this one by 57 points.
Weeks 12-14 - LVA, Zimbabwe and ECS probably didn't have more than 6-7 wins collectively at this point so I think you can all guess how these 3 games went. BSS gives up 33 points while scoring well over 300 points.
Week 15 - The Texans were fighting for a playoff spot and came within 7 points but ultimately BSS took the win.
Week 16 - TAP came to play in the final game of the season but that didn't stop BSS from taking this game by 33 points.
Playoff Games
Game 1 - Another game against the Dead Pres ended in much the same way. BSS advances with a 17 point win.
Game 2 - Everyone expected this to be the end of the Black Sea's playoff run but somehow they toppled the unstoppable Sons and took a 9 point victory to advance to the conference championship.
Game 3 - With the top 2 seeds falling in Elephant, this game matched up BSS against ICB. Early in the season BSS took this game by 13 points. The rematch was on hell of a battle as ICB held a slight 23-21 lead over BSS to kick off the second half. ICB then went on to hit 2 FGs and stretch their lead to 29-21. BSS saw their playoff run ending slowly but then they got their shit together and scored the games final 24 points to advance by winning 45-29.
Prediction
Both teams have been tested in the postseason and it's hard to ignore BSS knocking off the Sons but Franchise has seemed destined to make it this far all season long. I see Franchise taking this one in the end and getting the F out of APL.
Good luck to both teams and see the rest of you guys next season when The Roaring Tusk returns!
E
With that said let's take a look at how these teams made it this far.
Lion Champion
Franchise
Week 1 - We saw this team go out and take an easy win in interleague play over LVA. Nothing less than was expected.
Week 2 - A huge statement early in the season as they crushed CWE to the tune of 70-31.
Week 3 - A week after beating CWE they went out and put on a bigger show against another top team in the Demons. Franchise wins by 70 points.
Week 4 - A huge match-up against Fulham. FFH had been struggling a little and this game would cement Franchise as the top team in Lion. 12 point win for Franchise.
Weeks 5-7 - Hobart, Wheel City and African Mafia fell easily but Hobart managed to put up 45 points which led me to wonder if they had exposed a weakness.
Week 8 - With a 56-23 victory over Somalia, Franchise had to be feeling good about their week 9 matchup against Massawa.
Week 9 - Another step towards 16-0 with the Redhorns falling by 62 points.
Week 10 - Zambezi didn't stand much of a chance and Franchise took home the 94-9 victory.
Week 11 - Franchise had their last big regular season matchup when they faced Canton this week. I expected a bit of a slug fest and in the end we saw Franchise make another big statement with a 29 point win.
Weeks 12-16 - After taking down Canton, Franchise went out and faced Sun City, Lincoln, Philly, Newfoundland and Uganda. None of the games were even remotely close and Franchise went on to finish the regular season undefeated.
Playoff Games
Game 1 - Dominated Philly in a one-sided affair. Won by 91 points.
Game 2 - Anticipated matchup with the Demons falls well short of my expectations as Franchise again dominates another team. Through 2 playoff games this team put up 192 points and gave up 16.
Game 3 - Huge game for both teams and Franchise jumped out to a 10-7 halftime lead. Scoring first in the second half helped give them the edge they needed to stay ahead of Canton the rest of the way and get out of dodge with a 7 point win.
Elephant Champion
Black Sea Sunami
Week 1 - Interleague play forced BSS to go on the road to Somalia where they put on an offensive showcase but left some questions in my mind regarding their defense after giving up 58 points.
Week 2 - Auto-loss week as they faced off against the favorites, SoA.
Week 3 - Another tough game as they went into Windhoek. A close 9 point loss leaves BSS at 1-2 and looking like they have some work to do.
Week 4 - Things get turned around quickly as BSS takes the game over ICB, 27-14. This is the beginning of a 13 game, regular season, win streak.
Week 5 - The improved Guyana squad didn't look terribly improved as they fell 80-14.
Week 6-8 - RAWK, Laos and Kickin all fell by large margins and at this point we start realizing that BSS has passed through the toughest parts of their schedule and outside of 1-2 games shouldn't be tested again this season.
Week 9 - A7 really takes BSS to the limit but falls short by 7 points.
Week 10 - A 14 point win over TDP sets up BSS for at least another 4 game win streak.
Week 11 - ABD comes to town but never shows up as BSS takes this one by 57 points.
Weeks 12-14 - LVA, Zimbabwe and ECS probably didn't have more than 6-7 wins collectively at this point so I think you can all guess how these 3 games went. BSS gives up 33 points while scoring well over 300 points.
Week 15 - The Texans were fighting for a playoff spot and came within 7 points but ultimately BSS took the win.
Week 16 - TAP came to play in the final game of the season but that didn't stop BSS from taking this game by 33 points.
Playoff Games
Game 1 - Another game against the Dead Pres ended in much the same way. BSS advances with a 17 point win.
Game 2 - Everyone expected this to be the end of the Black Sea's playoff run but somehow they toppled the unstoppable Sons and took a 9 point victory to advance to the conference championship.
Game 3 - With the top 2 seeds falling in Elephant, this game matched up BSS against ICB. Early in the season BSS took this game by 13 points. The rematch was on hell of a battle as ICB held a slight 23-21 lead over BSS to kick off the second half. ICB then went on to hit 2 FGs and stretch their lead to 29-21. BSS saw their playoff run ending slowly but then they got their shit together and scored the games final 24 points to advance by winning 45-29.
Prediction
Both teams have been tested in the postseason and it's hard to ignore BSS knocking off the Sons but Franchise has seemed destined to make it this far all season long. I see Franchise taking this one in the end and getting the F out of APL.
Good luck to both teams and see the rest of you guys next season when The Roaring Tusk returns!
E
