SUPER 16 – For the fourth consecutive season, the South Division Champion is the #1 seed for the Super 16 playoffs, but for the first time ever, that team is not the Birds of Prey. The expansion Who Dat Saints have finished 9-4-0 and despite tying records with the Northern Fins, have a 67 point total score advantage on the year to secure the overall number one position for them. In an ironic twist, the Who Dats lost to Birds of Prey 184-211 in the season finale, but their seeding was safe when the Fins lost their final game as well. The Birds, who had changed their name to the Tweety Birds thanks to a side wager with the Who Dats, promptly reclaimed their moniker as soon as the match was final. It will be the first S16 playoff ever without the 3-time Champion Birds who were defeated this year by the schedule monster, finishing in 14th place as the 3rd overall scoring team.
The Northern Fins take the S16 #2 seed and the East Division Championship with a 9-4-0 record
Taking the #2 seed and going out with their own loss, The Northern Fins lost their season finale match-up with The Eagle has landed after beating them twice in a rare 3 game slate of games against their division rival. The first round bye, however was never in question and the Fins will have Week 14 to recover from the loss along with the Saints. The Eagle’s victory, propelled them to an 8-5-0 finish and the #5 seed as a 2016 Wild Card. It will be the first League playoff appearance for both teams.
The two other Division Champions each ended the season with necessary wins, The Dawg Pound finishing at 8-5-0 with a 222-184 victory over Motor City, and Los Angeles advancing to 8-5-0 as well with their 149-116 win over SF BowMen. It’s the second playoff appearance for The Dawg Pound, who effectively ended the Motor City Kitties‘ hopes of repeating as Division Champion with the victory, capturing the North Division Championship themselves for the first time, and the #3 seed based on their points advantage over the Super Chargers. It’s the first ever Division Championship for Los Angeles as well, and they wind up with the #4 seed.
The Immaculate Stat Correction? Steel Curtain could supplant 1 Eye Til I Die as the #6 seeded Wild Card if there is a stat correction of +4.5 points costing 1 Eye their Week 13 victory
The final playoff team for 2016 is the only returning team from the 2015 post season as the league’s Raider franchise goes out with a Week 13 win by just a 4 and a half point margin. Finishing 7-6-0 for the #6 seed and the final Wild Card spot, 1 Eye Til I Die will be holding their breath until Thursday ant noon, hoping a stat correction does not reverse the outcome, because that would leave them with a 6-7-0 finish and move the expansion Steel Curtain into the final playoff spot.
In other notable Week 13 action, Geno’s Jaw Breakers lost the week’s only SimulPlay match 114-145 to The Indy-structibles, despite going with the questionable strategy of starting an entire roster of New York Jets players – J-E-T-S-Jets fan to the end.
Steel Curtain annihilated the BEARMINATORS191-127, ending the Chicago season as the BEARS would have qualified for the 6th playoff slot otherwise – and giving themselves a spark of hope as they await a possible 1 Eye stat correction.
WTF Houston defeated BIGDOGINTEX for the second time this season, going up 7-3 all time in the teams’ Lone Star Series.
Looking ahead to the playoff bracket and the Week 14 match-ups, with the Who Dat Saints and Northern Fins enjoying their first round bye, the games will be #4 Los Angeles Super Chargers vs #5 The Eagle has landed and #3 The Dawg Pound vs #6 1 Eye Til I Die – unless a stat correction swaps out Steel curtain for 1 EYe. Los Angeles and The Eagle are pretty evenly matched, each of them with an 8-5 record and averaging 174 and 179 points per game, although the latest Vegas line has The Eagle installed as 37 point favorites; these teams have never faced each other before this meeting.
Should there be no stat corrections, the Dawg Pound vs 1 Eye game should be a spectacularly exciting shootout between the #1 and #2 scoring teams in the league, with both teams averaging over 200 points per game this season and the latest line out of Vegas putting The Dawg Pound as just a 1 point favorite. They have met only once before, in Week 3 of 2015, a game the Raider franchise won by just 21 points.
In round 2 of the bracket, match-ups will be realigned based on seeding. The #1 seeded Who Dats will play the lowest seeded winner, while the Fins will play the higher seed.
SUPER 16 – For the fourth consecutive season, the South Division Champion is the #1 seed for the Super 16 playoffs, but for the first time ever, that team is not the Birds of Prey. The expansion Who Dat Saints have finished 9-4-0 and despite tying records with the Northern Fins, have a 67 point total score advantage on the year to secure the overall number one position for them. In an ironic twist, the Who Dats lost to Birds of Prey 184-211 in the season finale, but their seeding was safe when the Fins lost their final game as well. The Birds, who had changed their name to the Tweety Birds thanks to a side wager with the Who Dats, promptly reclaimed their moniker as soon as the match was final. It will be the first S16 playoff ever without the 3-time Champion Birds who were defeated this year by the schedule monster, finishing in 14th place as the 3rd overall scoring team.
