Down the Stretch They Come: The af2 Playoff Picture
David Speakman
Thursday June 22, 2006
American Conference
Barring a complete folding of the tents; Florida, Memphis, and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton should all cruise into the playoffs. The rest of the conference is a little more clouded with 7 teams jostling for the remaining three slots.
Florida Firecats (8-2). With the exception of being manhandled in Manchester and Memphis the Firecats look to be the top squad in the conference. With four of six of their remaining games against teams with .500 or above records, they will be tested to maintain their home field edge. Nobody in purple and red wants to go to Memphis for the conference championship and any slips the rest of the way could have the road to the ArenaCup going through the Desoto Civic Center.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers (8-3). The Pioneers have a two game lead in their division but four of their last five games are against some tough customers. If they can take care of the Blizzard this week the division is all but a lock but a loss at Green Bay could cause all sorts of problems for them with Florida coming to town next.
Memphis Xplorers (8-3). Xplorers hold the tie-breaker with Florida based on a 27 point difference in their head to head meetings with the Firecats but still need some help to win the division. Only one cupcake left on the schedule so they will need to get past Coach Barto moving on and focus on taking care of business.
Green Bay Blizzard, Louisville Fire, and Birmingham Steeldogs(6-5). What a mess. I have the tie breaking formula in front of me and I’m getting a headache trying to figure out who has the home field advantage for a first round playoff. Steeldogs might have the easiest schedule of the three but face both Florida and Memphis in their last five games. They must defeat the Vipers, Knights, and Dorados or pull off another upset to have any chance at hosting. Fire won the previous meeting with the Blizzard setting up a potentially huge season finally between the two teams at Green Bay.
Albany Conquest and Manchester Wolves (5-6). The Wolves have four games with teams above them in the standings. With a few wins they could really complicate the final standings. The Conquest face-off against three different division leaders in their last five games. It’s not looking very good for them.
Macon Knights and Quad City Steamwheelers (4-7) Both teams have turned it around a bit after terrible starts but pretty much need to win out and get tons of help for any sniff at the post season.
National Conference
Any of the top six could finish with home field. Every game is absolutely crucial going down the stretch. Get up off the couch and get to the arena.
Spokane Shock (8-2) The Shock are done with both Bakersfield and Central Valley so it will be very difficult to make up the two game deficit they both face in the loss column. Only the Twisters have a winning record of Spokane’s six remaining foes. Look for the Shock to hang on to the division lead and possibly home field throughout.
Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz (8-3). The Dawgz have huge upcoming games with both the Talons and the Twisters. The Midwest race could go down to the final week of the season. Fortunately for the Dawgz, the Battle Wings will be in town that week.
Arkansas Twisters, Bakersfield Blitz, Central Valley Coyotes, and Tulsa Talons (7-4) Where to start? Look for Tulsa and whoever wins the Blitz/Coyotes showdown on July 15th to get a home playoff game.
Rio Grande Valley Dorados (5-6). A long shot at best. Only one game remaining with teams above them in the standings, that’s bad. They do face the Battle Wings and Wildcats. That could help.
I realize the National Conference portion of this is quite a bit shorter. Chalk it up to East Coast bias and get over it.
David Speakman lives in Roswell, GA. He is the owner of Speakman Collectibles and is an inline hockey player/coach/ref when he isn't chasing down an interview. Speakman Collectibles is the exclusive manufacturer of arenafootball2 helmet collectibles. Big Game, Little Helmets.
