AFL Power Rankings: Week 12
John Hoh
Wednesday April 13, 2005
The playoff races remain tight, although Colorado has strengthened its claim for home field throughout the American Conference playoffs. We also saw only the second tie in Arena history as the Kats and Desperados played a scoreless overtime. Yet Dallas remains on top in the Eastern Division.
Playoff seedings as of the end of week 10:
American:
- Colorado Crush (8-2)+
- Los Angeles Avengers (6-4)+
- Chicago Rush (6-4)
- San Jose SaberCats (6-4)
- Las Vegas Gladiators (6-4)
- Arizona Rattlers (3-8)
- Nashville Kats (2-7-1)
- Grand Rapids Rampage (1-9)
National:
- Georgia Force (8-3)+
- Dallas Desperados (6-3-1)+
- Orlando Predators (7-4)
- Tampa Bay Storm (6-4)
- New York Dragons (6-4)
- New Orleans VooDoo (6-4)
- Philadelphia Soul (5-6)
- Austin Wranglers (4-7)
- Columbus Destroyers (1-9)
+Division Leaders
Herein are the Power Rankings for Week 12.
| Rank | Team | Record | Previous Rank | Next Up |
| 1 | Georgia Force (GA) | 8-3 | 2 | GR |
| Force back on top in the National Conference. Ensures that the season won't be a losing season. Georgia should clinch a winning season hosting Grand Rapids. | ||||
| 2 | Colorado Crush (COL) | 8-2 | 3 | @CHI |
| Crush on a roll. Hope to avenge early season home loss against Chicago by taking a win at Chicago. | ||||
| 3 | Orlando Predators (ORL) | 7-4 | 1 | NY |
| Loses repeat of the "War on I-4;" hosting Dragons next. | ||||
| 4 | New Orleans VooDoo (NO) | 6-4 | 4 | CLB |
| VooDoo should be ready for the Destroyers in disarray. | ||||
| 5 | New York Dragons (NY) | 6-4 | 5 | @ORL |
| Two tough road games in a row. Good news is Dallas could only get a tie against the Kats, keeping the Dragons alive. | ||||
| 6 | Los Angeles Avengers (LA) | 6-4 | 8 | @NAS |
| Must come back and play after the emotional loss of losing a teammate. The good news is LA plays the Kats. The bad news is Nashville has played some tough ball, winning at Grand Rapids and twisting Dallas into a tie. | ||||
| 7 | San Jose SaberCats (SJ) | 6-4 | 6 | DAL |
| Rush stops SaberCats momentum as the San Jose kitties were declawed in the Windy City. Hosts a Dallas team that could only tie the other Kats in the league. | ||||
| 8 | Dallas Desperados (DAL) | 6-3-1 | 7 | @SJ |
| Perhaps the week off put Dallas off-balance? Only being able to garner a tie against the Kats is not a good omen. | ||||
| 9 | Tampa Bay Storm (TB) | 6-4 | 10 | @AUS |
| Not long ago I wrote the Storm off for playoff consideration. Marcum is making me eat those words. Game at Austin could help Tampa Bay in its drive for the playoffs—provided the Wranglers don't come up with another upset special. | ||||
| 10 | Las Vegas Gladiators (LV) | 6-5 | 11 | @PHI |
| Vegas still in contention. Plays at Philadelphia, matching two teams struggling for consistency this year. | ||||
| 11 | Chicago Rush (CHI) | 6-4 | 12 | COL |
| Rush on a roll and must now replicate their act from Mile High. Can they take two from the Crush? | ||||
| 12 | Philadelphia Soul (PHI) | 5-6 | 10 | LV |
| Philadelphia may have seen its playoff chances flicker in loss to the Crush. Could prevail against the Gladiators. | ||||
| 13 | Austin Wranglers (AUS) | 4-7 | 13 | TB |
| Force-d into another loss, must now host the suddenly surging Storm. | ||||
| 14 | Arizona Rattlers (AZ) | 3-8 | 14 | AUS (4/22) |
| Arizona gets a week off. Get rested for tilt against Austin. | ||||
| 15 | Nashville Kats (NAS) | 2-7-1 | 16 | LA |
| Two road games and a 1-0-1 record—not a bad stretch. Can Sperduto's squad keep up the momentum against the Avengers? | ||||
| 16 | Grand Rapids Rampage (GR) | 1-9 | 15 | @GA |
| Kats play re-match of 2001 ArenaBowl with team that used to be the Nashville Kats. After beating Kats in 2001 ArenaBowl, the team moved to Georgia. This time the Rampage won't offer any competition to the Force. | ||||
| 17 | Columbus Destroyers (CLB) | 1-9 | 17 | @NO |
| Destroyers' road doesn't get easier as they must muck through the swamp of the bayou. VooDoo should get back on track with a win. | ||||
John L. Hoh, Jr., is a free-lance writer from Milwaukee who grew up in Appleton, Wisconsin, as an avid Dolphins fan. He followed Arena Football since its inception, at one point watching tape-delayed games on low-powered WAV-TV in Waukesha. His happiest day was when Milwaukee was awarded the Mustangs franchise; his saddest when the Mustangs were contracted out of the league. John is married to his wife Maija (13+ years) and has a young son, Matthew. John pines for the return of the Arena Football League to Milwaukee.
