USAFL Top 20 Poll VII: Austin Soars to Top Spot

Bombers fly high.  But now, the Crows are flying higher.

Last weekend’s Stumpdown Throwdown, despite not involving the Austin club, is what finally catapulted the 2013 premiers into the top spot in the USAFL Top 20 Poll.  The Crows can thank the Golden Gate Roos and the hometown Portland Steelheads, as they knocked off the Orange County Bombers on the way.  The Steelheads were rewarded with their first appearance in the poll, while the Roos got rewarded with… well… staying in the 9th position for another round of voting.

While the Bombers would drop a spot, their arch rivals from Los Angeles would move up one in the shuffle.  Two deadlocks solidified the middle of the pack, as things hot up now in the homestretch of the regular season.

There was great road success during the 7th voting round, something that is quite rare in the USAFL.  It changed some major things, but a lot of teams weren’t as lucky to feel the warm winds of change.

Also receiving votes: North Carolina Tigers 8, Tulsa Buffaloes 8, Des Moines Roosters 3, Ohio Valley River Rats 3, Kansas City Power 2, San Diego Lions 2, Atlanta Kookaburras 1, Baton Rouge Tigers 1.

The panel awarded the majority of their first place votes to the idle Crows, as Austin backed five top nods.  Two voters remained loyal to Orange County, while one still clings to the hobbled New York Magpies.  The final panelist gave their vote to Calgary, which perked up their result in this vote and saved them from falling more than one place.

Orange County definitively were the favorites heading into Portland.  The Steelheads would dispatch of the Western Regional champions 32-19, then Golden Gate was avenge June’s loss in Davis with a 35-16 decision.  The weight of those losses, even on the road, were enough to drop the Bombers back into second in the poll and lift up the Crows, who one would think may be in the driver’s seat for the rest of the year.

#3 New York and #4 Denver were not affected by the shuffle, though the Bulldogs snipped two points of the Magpies’ advantage for the third spot.  Calgary was affected, however; the team is still very much an enigma to the panelists, and their votes ranged anywhere from 1st to 11th.  What wasn’t a mystery was the Los Angeles Dragons, who moved up in the round’s aftermath to fifth place.  John Fragomeni and his charges still have some challenging games left, but they are ready to prove their meddle in Divvy I come October.

Places 7-10 remained unchanged; Dallas, Minnesota, Golden Gate, and Houston, all stood pat.  Golden Gate, who would win the Throwdown on percentage after drawing Portland, amazingly lost ground on #8 Minnesota, falling seven points behind the Freeze.

Though the teams at #11 and #13 also remained the same, the clubs that were behind them drew level to create ties at each position.  Columbus’s win over Chicago saw them draw into a tie for 11th with Nashville, who also lost ground on the team in front of them (Houston) despite defeating Ohio Valley and Baton Rouge in their home tournament.  The Swans, meanwhile, somehow stayed in 13th after losing to Boston the weekend before the loss to the Jacks.  They did drop 29 points behind the 11th place tie, but idle Sacramento picked up enough points to knot the Bloods on points.

15th ranked Boston also got meager reward from the panel for a great victory; in spite of their win at Chicago, the Demons could only pick up four points on Sacramento and stayed where they were.  Another victorious road team, Philadelphia, closed to within one point of 16th ranked Quebec could could not overtake the Saints.

The biggest winner of the poll, arguably, was Portland.  The Steelheads’ unbeaten day over two Division I caliber sides turned the heads of our voters, and they made their first appearance on the poll at #18.  Martin Coventry and company will try to ride that wave of momentum to a Division III title in Austin.  Portland’s appearance on the charts knocked Ft. Lauderdale to #19, Baltimore/Washington to #20, and Des Moines straight off the poll altogether.

Six weeks remain in the regular season, and two polls are left before the seedings for the USAFL Nationals are announced.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR – NEXT POLL: SEPTEMBER 9TH

There are some massive matchups in the two weeks before Labor Day.  It kicks off with the Red River Cup in Dallas on the 22nd, as the top ranked Crows will have their first go at defending their seeding against #7 Dallas and unranked Tulsa, who are always a tough game.  #4 Denver will be at #8 Minnesota, then head down to Austin for their crack at the Crows the following weekend.  OC will take on LA for the third time this year, the Bombers having won both matches in tight contests.

I can smell the barbeque of Austin in the air with two months until Nats.  Hopefully, so can you.  Game on.