AFL Power Rankings: 2006 Preseason
John Hoh
Sunday January 22, 2006
From four teams to today’s 18 teams. Denver and Chicago have teams in this 20th season but they are not the original Bruisers and Dynamite. Of the four original teams, only Pittsburgh has survived, although they blew into Tampa Bay as the Storm.
One team from last year (New Orleans VooDoo) will not be in the circuit this year, but two new teams (Kansas City Brigade, Utah Blaze) will expand the Arena Football League family. However, one of the new teams has assumed the players under contract to the suspended New Orleans VooDoo.
And I feel honored that the first league game will be played on January 27—my very own birthday!
Herein are the 2006 preseason Power Rankings.
| Rank | Team | Record | Previous Rank | Next Up |
| 1 | Colorado Crush (COL) | 10-6 | 2 | CHI |
| Defending champs—they get the benefit of the doubt. | ||||
| 2 | Georgia Force (GA) | 11-5 | 1 | ORL |
| Fell just short in ArenaBowl XIX. | ||||
| 3 | Chicago Rush (CHI) | 9-7 | 7 | @COL |
| Chicago hopes to build on last year’s success. | ||||
| 4 | Los Angeles Avengers (LA) | 10-6 | 3 | AZ |
| Is this the year of the Avenger? | ||||
| 5 | Orlando Predators (ORL) | 10-6 | 4 | @GA |
| Predators perennially a strong team. | ||||
| 6 | Tampa Bay Storm (TB) | 10-6 | 6 | @PHI |
| The other Florida team is no slouch, either. | ||||
| 7 | New York Dragons (NY) | 10-6 | 5 | NAS |
| New York gets early test against last year’s surprising Kats. | ||||
| 8 | San Jose SaberCats (SJ) | 9-7 | 8 | @UT |
| SaberCats usually field a competitive team. These Cats will be looking to compete for the division and the ArenaBowl again. | ||||
| 9 | Nashville< Kats (NAS) | 6-9-1 | 11 | @NY |
| Kats looked strong at the end of last season, didn’t sit still in building their team this season. | ||||
| 10 | Grand Rapids Rampage (GR) | 4-12 | 16 | @CLB |
| Rampage made significant moves in the off-season. This could be a precarious pick for me. Does Philyaw still have some left in the tank? Coming off shoulder surgery may be cause for concern. | ||||
| 11 | Dallas Desperados (DAL) | 8-7-1 | 12 | KC |
| Loss of QB Stoerner may set back the Jerry Jones franchise. | ||||
| 12 | Philadelphia Soul (PHI) | 6-10 | 13 | TB |
| Can Philly bounce back after last year’s disappointment? They still have Jon Bon Jovi… | ||||
| 13 | Las Vegas Gladiators (LV) | 8-8 | 10 | @AUS |
| Well, Las Vegas does host the ArenaBowl…. | ||||
| 14 | Austin Wranglers (AUS) | 6-10 | 14 | LV |
| Will the Wranglers wrangle out of the shadows of Dallas? | ||||
| 15 | Utah< Blaze (UT) | None | None | @SJ |
| Of the two new teams, I give the nod to Utah with its signing of former Rattlers and the hiring of head coach Randy White. | ||||
| 16 | Kansas City Brigade (KC) | None* | None* | @DAL |
| Not that Kansas City is suffering. They "inherited" the core of the New Orleans VooDoo since the VooDoo decided to sit out this season (at least) due to Hurricane Katrina. | ||||
| * | New Orleans VooDoo | 9-7 | 7 | |
| VooDoo not playing this year because of Hurricane Katrina damage. I hope they can return for 2007 as they were an exciting team the last two seasons. For now the spirit lives on in the core group that formed the basis of the Kansas City Sizzle, I mean Brigade. | ||||
| 17 | Arizona Rattlers (AZ) | 7-9 | 15 | @LA |
| Too many losses/defections to the new Utah Blaze. | ||||
| 18 | Columbus Destroyers (CLB) | 2-14 | 17 | GR |
| Columbus will have to win over this pollster, Ohio fans. | ||||
This year 12 teams will qualify for the playoffs—two division winners and four wild cards from each conference. The following are my predictions.
National Conference
Eastern Division Winner: New York Dragons
Southern Division Winner: Georgia Force
Wild Cards: Tampa Bay Storm, Orlando Predators, Dallas Desperados, Austin Wranglers
American Conference
Central Division Winner: Colorado Crush
Western Division Winner: San Jose SaberCats
Wild Cards: Chicago Rush, Nashville Kats, Grand Rapids Rampage, Los Angeles Avengers
ArenaBowl XX: Georgia beats San Jose
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.
