2007 AFL Power Rankings: Preseason
John Hoh
Wednesday February 28, 2007
As always I try to rank the teams on a week-by-week basis. Some would say the rankings are in “no particular order,” but part of the fun of this sport is to debate which team is better and which groups of teams would outplay which other group of teams. Besides, how many could have foreseen the Chicago Rush go 7-9 in the regular season—then go on to win the ArenaBowl? Not me—then again, in Wisconsin our genes are predisposed to root against any Windy City team.
The 21st season sees only one new team on the tilt—but that team is not so new. The New Orleans VooDoo is revived in the Crescent City. Otherwise all the teams that played last year are playing this year with no franchises moving. I believe this may be a first in Arena Football League history. The only change is NBC no longer carries the games. ESPN now carries AFL games.
And now the preseason rankings. Feel free to clip and save them to let me know next July how far off I was in my bold predictions. NOTE: Records and Previous Ranks will be the final records and rankings from last season.
| Rank | Team | Record | Prev. | Next Up |
| 1 | Dallas Desperados (DAL) | 13-3 | 1 | @NY |
| Dallas looks to rebound from playoff loss to Orlando with an opening game tilt against division rival. | ||||
| 2 | Colorado Crush (COL) | 11-5 | 2 | GR |
| Crunch still have a dominating team as witnessed by their ArenaBowl victory two seasons ago and last year’s record. | ||||
| 3 | Chicago Rush | 7-9 | 11 | @KC |
| Normally a team with a losing record the season before doesn’t start the season this high. Then again, very few teams win a championship with a losing regular season record, either. Either way, give Chicago its due. | ||||
| 4 | Orlando Predators (ORL) | 10-6 | 3 | @TB |
| ArenaBowl runners-up start season with the War on I-4. Can the Preds weather the Storm? | ||||
| 5 | San Jose SaberCats (SJ) | 10-6 | 4 | @LA |
| San Jose begins the new season at cross-state rival LA. | ||||
| 6 | Austin Wranglers (AUS) | 10-6 | 6 | LV |
| I have a feeling about this team. This could be a break-out year for the Wranglers. | ||||
| 7 | New York Dragons (NY) | 10-6 | 5 | DAL |
| Perennial division favorites host defending division champion to begin 2007 season. Will Aaron Garcia play for the Dragons? | ||||
| 8 | Philadelphia Soul (PHI) | 9-7 | 7 | @NAS (3/9) |
| Philadelphia made strides in ’06; can the Soul keep playing beautiful music in ’07? | ||||
| 9 | Utah Blaze (UT) | 7-9 | 12 | UT |
| Call it the Danny White factor, but I see the Blaze hot for the league. | ||||
| 10 | Georgia Force (GA) | 8-8 | 8 | @AZ |
| The Force made the playoffs last year but saw a sudden exit. | ||||
| 11 | Columbus Destroyers (CLB) | 8-8 | 13 | @NAS |
| This is another team that came on strong at the end of last season. This year they get a taste of the playoffs and help ease the BCS championship hurt Columbus felt in January—even if QB Scott Driesbach is from Michigan. | ||||
| 12 | Arizona Rattlers (AZ) | 8-8 | 9 | GA |
| While the Ratts made the playoffs last year, they still aren’t the same Ratts that made ArenaBowls a regular post-season destination. | ||||
| 13 | Nashville Kats (NAS) | 8-8 | 10 | CLB |
| The Kats were on the prowl last year. Can they take it to the next step in ’07? | ||||
| 14 | Tampa Bay Storm (TB) | 7-9 | 14 | ORL |
| For the first time in franchise history the Storm missed last year’s playoffs. I don’t see that scenario repeating itself in ’07, but the road will be tough. | ||||
| 15 | Los Angeles Avengers (LA) | 5-11 | 17 | SJ |
| The Avengers failed to avenge their division title last year. Can LA rebound? The season gets off to a rough start with San Jose. | ||||
| 16 | Kansas City Brigade (KC) | 3-13 | 18 | CHI |
| The Brigade begin season two hosting the defending ArenaBowl champions. | ||||
| 17 | Grand Rapids Rampage (GR) | 5-11 | 16 | @COL |
| Grand Rapids begins the ’07 season at Colorado. Will the AFL’s smallest market see success this season? | ||||
| 18 | Las Vegas Gladiators (LV) | 5-11 | 15 | @AUS |
| The Glads haven’t improved much year-to-year since moving to the Vegas desert from the Jersey swamp. And they don’t get to host the ArenaBowl this year, either. | ||||
| 19 | New Orleans VooDoo (NO) | NA | NA | @UT |
| VooDoo start over after one-year hiatus recovering from Hurricane Katrina. | ||||
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.
