Austin Still on Top, Upsets Cause Mass Scramble

So it seems that I included a Game of Thrones spoiler in my first poll recap of the season last week.  Of course, I was under the impression that it was common knowledge, much like the fact that the Austin Crows were going to be the unanimous #1 ranked team to begin 2016.

For that, I apologize, and I’ll try not to do it again.

With that out of the way, we head into the second poll, and the question would be whether the Crows would maintain their stranglehold on the top spot, or whether they would HOLD THE DOOR HOLD THE DOOR HOLD THE DOOR HOLD THE DOOR open for someone else.

(Aw nuts, I did it again, didn’t I?)

The Crows played four Texas Cup matches and smashed their Lone Star brethren to smithereens to pull another Russ Bray (a perfect “ONE HUUUUUUUNDRED AND EIGHTY!”) and retain the unanimous number one standing.  In fact, the top eight teams would remain the same, but after of that, several upsets caused mass chaos to the bottom half of the poll.

*Los Angeles wins 7th rank, beating Dallas 5-4 in head-to-head votes.
**Houston wins 12th rank, beating Boston 5-4 in head-to-head votes.
Also Receiving Votes: Baltimore-Washington Eagles 11, (out) Nashville Kangaroos 9, Des Moines Roosters 6, North Carolina Tigers 2, Seattle Grizzlies 1, Tampa Bay ARFC 1, Tulsa Buffaloes 1.

Kenrick Tyrell’s group is known for travelling well.  They’re also known for bringing an astounding number of players for home matches.  Consider that they had seventy – that’s right, 70 – players at Nationals last season, which I believe is a record.  That depth was apparent in both legs of the Texas Cup played over the past three weeks. 

Christian Merritt and company went into Dallas, and held off the hometown Magpies by 10, before dispatching of a Houston side that has greatly improved by three straight kicks.  Two weeks later in Austin, however, the Crows showed no hospitality to their guests.  In four periods of football this past Saturday, they kicked 24.13.157 to their opponents’ 0.2.2.  No one expected that.

Positions two through eight remained the same.  Orange County and New York remained frozen, being idle aside from playing metro matches.  Denver’s loss to Minnesota in the Des Moines tournament didn’t hurt the Doggies, and in fact their lead over #5 Golden Gate extended from one vote to two.  Denver appears to be primed to do what they did last year; remain solidly in the top five and remain constantly dangerous.

Los Angeles’s two metro teams top the six team SCAFL late in their season, a fact that wasn’t lost on the panelists.  The Dragons remained at number seven, closing the gap on #6 Calgary, edging out surging Dallas in the tiebreaker.  The Magpies went 2-2 in Texas Cup play, their wins coming against Houston, their losses against Austin.  The ‘Pies are still trying to prove they are for real after coming up short in last year’s Nationals.

After that, things get crazy.  I’m talking attack on King’s Landing crazy.  Road victories by Boston, Minnesota, and Columbus threw the middle of the lineup into a tizzy, with every spot from 9-16 changing hands.

Columbus was the biggest mover of the round, jumping up three spots to #9.  Their undermanned performance against Ohio Valley was overlooked in favor of their commanding 60 point win at Chicago, where Mark “Stork” McClure and the Jacks drove away with the victory in the final quarter.  It took until the very end of last season for them to break the top ten, and here they’ve done it after a month.

Quebec, who had previously owned the #9 spot largely based on their Division 2 championship at Nationals last season, fell to Boston at home in Montreal for the first time in three seasons.  The Saints ended up dropping two spots to #11, with the Sacramento Suns being the beneficiary in moving into the top 10 for the very first time.  The Dees, meanwhile, bumped up one spot to #13, who were on the losing side of the head-to-head tiebreaker with fledgling Houston.

The Minnesota Freeze have proven to be a very dicey subject when it comes to our panelists.  One of them voted sixth, another seventeenth, and a host of different numbers fluttered in between.  In the end, their win over Denver in Des Moines got them only one place up the poll into fourteenth spot.  The Swans, smarting from their loss at home to Columbus, fell two spots down to #15, their lowest ever ranking.

Many punters have stated that the Ohio Valley River Rats were overlooked last season in our poll.  Not the case this year.  The D-3 runners up played well at home in Louisville, beating Nashville and Columbus and catching the eyes of a few pollsters in the process.  Their performance leapfrogged them over Portland, the very team that beat them last year in Austin, and into 16th.  The Steelheads stood pat, with Fort Lauderdale being the unexpected victim of the Rats’ triumph, falling to 18th.

Philly, who are just starting their short metro league season, remained in 19th.  Nashville became the first bump from the Top 20, falling out after going 0-2 in Louisville.  But it wasn’t he Baltimore-Washington Eagles, who beat North Carolina on the road last Saturday, who took their place.  Nope, it was the San Diego Lions, who sit third in the SCAFL metro league; a circuit that includes parts of Los Angeles and Orange County, who secured enough votes to take the 20th and final poll spot.  The resurgent Lions have had a good spring, and are gearing up to turn a few eyebrows as they look to return to former glory.

WHAT’S ON TAP – NEXT POLL: JUNE 15th

There aren’t any games Memorial Day weekend, aside from Calgary playing in the Kenmore tournament up North because Canada does their own thing (apparently they're their own country.  Who knew?). 

USAFL action picks up again on June 4th with several important regional matches, including New York heading down to take on a Baltimore-Washington squadron that will have the confidence of their win in North Carolina in their front pockets.

The following weekend is the first of the USAFL Regionals Series tournaments, beginning with the Central regionals in Indianapolis.  Seven of the Top 20 teams will be there, at least, and it should be a good day of footy on the banks of the Wabash.  That Austin and Denver may meet again, just as they did in a classic clash in Racine a year ago, is a mouthwatering prospect.

And that’s another round of number crunching in the books.  Have a great holiday, footy fans and remember… winter is coming.  (Or is it already here?)