(1) Indianola Legends vs (8) Austin Longhorns
Insane, Indianola the renamed Houston have lost none of season past form. They continue to make it look easy and once again arrive to the playoffs undefeated in the regular season, this time know that means nothing. They have not aloud under 10 points a game this season why scoring over 45. Fourth in rushing and sixth in passing they can attack you how ever they please and score points almost at will. Even if you come out and stop that passing game you still have the league leading rusher to contend with and he beats everyone all the time.
The Austin Longhorns are a main stay in the playoffs in the West. They continue to miss the mark as far as contending with the other top teams goes but thats slowly starting to fade and could be gone as soon as next season. They focused on the passing game this season and other than the ridiculous results from the Thunder they made great strides. They do run into problems rushing on the top 7 and thats not going to vanish for this game. If they want to have a shot they need to score first and get some long drives working to keep the ball out of the hands of Cochran and Whaley.
Projection: 37 – 14 Houston
(2) Texas Roughnecks vs (7) Caribbean Sphere
The Roughnecks have had a interesting season. The loss to the Spartans turned a few heads and cleared up the misconceptions they had what it took to knock off Indianola. Now they sit at a cross roads with a real chance of going out in round one to a team they beat by only three points late in the regular season. Campbell had a fantastic first season with the Roughnecks proving to be possibly the best transfer into the CCC in its history, coming out the gates to create over 250 points and over 2,000 yards in his opening season we will be seeing a lot more from him in the future. Roughnecks need to prove they can take down Indianola until then they will never be the favorite for advancing to the AA league.
Sphere lost some of its mojo this season. With a couple crushing defeats handed out by Indianola and the Thunder they proved they could not get the job done anymore. Still hanging strong at the middle of the contenders with three point losses to the Spartans and Roughnecks and a win over the Hitmen. They made a late season switch to a more passing focused attack something new for the unit and its having mixed results so far. Iowa Jones missed the regular season rushing title by under 100 yards something that has him fired up going into the Roughneck game. Plunkett continues to be a steady rock to balance the team around and should be able to preform again in this first round game.
Projection: 27-20 Roughneck
(4) Oklahoma Thunder vs (5) Dallas Horns
After a three game fail fest at the start of the season, the Thunder are rolling. The passing game is sick, 6,100 yards, 70 Tds yes 70 as in 70. If thats not enough they have two just under 1,000 rushers who can run when they need to. You can give up on stopping the Passing attack cold, if you can keep them under 400 yards you might only lose by 20. Of course the defense is top notch as well, 3rd in pass defense and 6th in rushing you better bring your kicker.
The Horns are back and unfortunately it seems they have lost some of the gains they made last season. With losses to Indianola, Hitmen, Roughnecks and the Thunder they do deserve the 5th spot. They set themsevles apart with big wins over Sphere and the Spartans, but they will stand with them on the outside looking into the playoffs until next season. 21st In passing and 2nd in rushing they still have some work to do in finding the right mix that will lead to beating the top 4. Mister Clean had a good season but it was nothing special. Gengr Flash and Cleetus Johnson are coming off two very good seasons and got fantastic results all season with very little attention. They are good at stuffing the run but a lot of problems with the secondary just like all the other middle of the road teams.
Projection: 33-20 Thunder
(3) H-Town Hitmen vs (6) Oklahoma City Spartans
Hitmen, had a major 'Wat' moment with the loss to Sphere in game 12. Knocking them off the unbeaten path and foreshadowing the upcoming Roughneck, Indianola games. With two rushers achieving 2,500 yards on the ground, each, you better get you front 7 in gear. Of course the downside to that is the abysmal passing attack with just 2700 yards this season. But when you to heading rushing attack nets over 100 Tds I guess thats ok. Stop the Rush and you win, or enjoy the dust hitting you in the face as Dasher or Kane smoke you on yet another TD run.
The recently promoted Spartans had a fantastic opening season only losing to the teams in front of them in the rankings. Close wins over Sphere and Austin lead the way the great chance to advance to the second round in the first year of being in the league with a very possible win over the Hitmen who they lost a very close game to in the regular season. Rainey Jr is coming of a sick season, 290 touches for 50+ Tds....wat. The passing attack might not score much but thats not its job, picking up big chunks then watching Rainey dance into the endzone is what this team lives on. Defense might be a problem area giving up a lot more points than some of the other top teams in the league, giving up 1600 rushing yards and 3200 passing yards could lead to a lot of trouble.
Projection: 17-10 Spartans
Insane, Indianola the renamed Houston have lost none of season past form. They continue to make it look easy and once again arrive to the playoffs undefeated in the regular season, this time know that means nothing. They have not aloud under 10 points a game this season why scoring over 45. Fourth in rushing and sixth in passing they can attack you how ever they please and score points almost at will. Even if you come out and stop that passing game you still have the league leading rusher to contend with and he beats everyone all the time.
The Austin Longhorns are a main stay in the playoffs in the West. They continue to miss the mark as far as contending with the other top teams goes but thats slowly starting to fade and could be gone as soon as next season. They focused on the passing game this season and other than the ridiculous results from the Thunder they made great strides. They do run into problems rushing on the top 7 and thats not going to vanish for this game. If they want to have a shot they need to score first and get some long drives working to keep the ball out of the hands of Cochran and Whaley.
Projection: 37 – 14 Houston
(2) Texas Roughnecks vs (7) Caribbean Sphere
The Roughnecks have had a interesting season. The loss to the Spartans turned a few heads and cleared up the misconceptions they had what it took to knock off Indianola. Now they sit at a cross roads with a real chance of going out in round one to a team they beat by only three points late in the regular season. Campbell had a fantastic first season with the Roughnecks proving to be possibly the best transfer into the CCC in its history, coming out the gates to create over 250 points and over 2,000 yards in his opening season we will be seeing a lot more from him in the future. Roughnecks need to prove they can take down Indianola until then they will never be the favorite for advancing to the AA league.
Sphere lost some of its mojo this season. With a couple crushing defeats handed out by Indianola and the Thunder they proved they could not get the job done anymore. Still hanging strong at the middle of the contenders with three point losses to the Spartans and Roughnecks and a win over the Hitmen. They made a late season switch to a more passing focused attack something new for the unit and its having mixed results so far. Iowa Jones missed the regular season rushing title by under 100 yards something that has him fired up going into the Roughneck game. Plunkett continues to be a steady rock to balance the team around and should be able to preform again in this first round game.
Projection: 27-20 Roughneck
(4) Oklahoma Thunder vs (5) Dallas Horns
After a three game fail fest at the start of the season, the Thunder are rolling. The passing game is sick, 6,100 yards, 70 Tds yes 70 as in 70. If thats not enough they have two just under 1,000 rushers who can run when they need to. You can give up on stopping the Passing attack cold, if you can keep them under 400 yards you might only lose by 20. Of course the defense is top notch as well, 3rd in pass defense and 6th in rushing you better bring your kicker.
The Horns are back and unfortunately it seems they have lost some of the gains they made last season. With losses to Indianola, Hitmen, Roughnecks and the Thunder they do deserve the 5th spot. They set themsevles apart with big wins over Sphere and the Spartans, but they will stand with them on the outside looking into the playoffs until next season. 21st In passing and 2nd in rushing they still have some work to do in finding the right mix that will lead to beating the top 4. Mister Clean had a good season but it was nothing special. Gengr Flash and Cleetus Johnson are coming off two very good seasons and got fantastic results all season with very little attention. They are good at stuffing the run but a lot of problems with the secondary just like all the other middle of the road teams.
Projection: 33-20 Thunder
(3) H-Town Hitmen vs (6) Oklahoma City Spartans
Hitmen, had a major 'Wat' moment with the loss to Sphere in game 12. Knocking them off the unbeaten path and foreshadowing the upcoming Roughneck, Indianola games. With two rushers achieving 2,500 yards on the ground, each, you better get you front 7 in gear. Of course the downside to that is the abysmal passing attack with just 2700 yards this season. But when you to heading rushing attack nets over 100 Tds I guess thats ok. Stop the Rush and you win, or enjoy the dust hitting you in the face as Dasher or Kane smoke you on yet another TD run.
The recently promoted Spartans had a fantastic opening season only losing to the teams in front of them in the rankings. Close wins over Sphere and Austin lead the way the great chance to advance to the second round in the first year of being in the league with a very possible win over the Hitmen who they lost a very close game to in the regular season. Rainey Jr is coming of a sick season, 290 touches for 50+ Tds....wat. The passing attack might not score much but thats not its job, picking up big chunks then watching Rainey dance into the endzone is what this team lives on. Defense might be a problem area giving up a lot more points than some of the other top teams in the league, giving up 1600 rushing yards and 3200 passing yards could lead to a lot of trouble.
Projection: 17-10 Spartans