It's the final week of the regular season where we find out whether the Battlehawks or Sea Dragons fans be pissed that the Renegades or Brahmas got in the playoffs but their team didn't. All season the XFL bragged about being innovative and fan friendly and all that PR BS. So I'm surprised they still doing the divisional way of playoff qualifying instead of just taking the teams with the best record in the league. If they did it like that, both St. Louis and Seattle would get in as they have winning records while Arlington and San Antonio does not. Not very fan 1st is it?
I would hate that method in the NFL because teams winning their division with a losing record doesn't happen that often. And the ones that do, they're still a good team, they just have unlucky breaks. Compare that to here where you can clearly see these 2 Texas teams are mid and don't deserve to be in the playoffs. The fewer number of teams you have in the league, the more likely a team with a losing record gets in the playoffs. Or in the AFL's case, win ArenaBowl XXXI.
THE GAMES
Orlando Guardians 24
St. Louis Battlehawks 27
St. Louis cost themself a playoff spot losing to Seattle. With their overall records 6-3 and head-to-head 1-1, they must win and hope Seattle chokes against Vegas. Good luck with that!
D.C. Defenders 28
San Antonio Brahmas 15
The Brahmas kept their playoff hopes alive with a win over the Guardians. Now they have to pull their own upset over the Defenders and hope the Renegades lose to force a tiebreaker due to both of them becoming 4-6. If it comes to that, it would be the 3rd tiebreaker "Strength of victory in all games – combined record of opponents in wins" that gives San Antonio the edge. Both teams beat Orlando twice and each other but San Antonio's win over D.C is stronger than Arlington's win over Vegas. Of course, this is all for naught if they lose this game.
Houston Roughnecks 21
Arlington Renegades 10
It would also be all for naught if Arlington wins here. They screwed the pooch as well losing in overtime to D.C. Houston doesn't really have anything to play for after beating Vegas so maybe they'll go easy on them. Or maybe they will remind everyone they're the defending XFL champs.
Vegas Vipers 9
Seattle Sea Dragons 25
If both St. Louis and Seattle lose, it would trigger the 2nd tiebreaker "Best win/loss percentage in division games". The Battlehawks would get in due to having only 3 divisional losses to the Sea Dragons 4. If they both win, it triggers the convoluted 4th tiebreaker "Best combined ranking among division teams in points scored and points allowed in all games". Seattle would advance to the playoffs due to allowing less points and scoring more points than St. Louis. Of course, if Orlando does them a solid and upset St. Louis, all Seattle has to do is win and they're in.
LAST WEEK: 4-0
OVERALL: 26-10
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