Ups and Downs - Regional Results Shake Poll

I’ve only felt an earthquake once in my entire life.

It was August, 2011, and there was a 6.0-mag quake in Virginia that we felt all the way up in Philadelphia.

But while in Salem, Oregon two weekends ago for the Western Regional Tournament, I witnessed another one. 

Not of the physical tectonic variety (thank goodness, because Anthony Lally and I were about ten feet off the ground calling the matches and that would’ve been scary as heck), but rather one that shook the foundations of this poll, rattling two clubs down to some of the largest drops in this thing’s short history.

When the shock subsided, 13 of the teams found themselves in new confines within the below chart representing the fifth iteration of the 2016 USAFL Top 20 Poll, setting the stage for the remaining nine weeks of the regular season.

Chg

Rnk

Club (1st Place Votes)

Points

--

1

Austin Crows (9)

180

--

2

New York Magpies

164

+ 2

3

Los Angeles Dragons

158

+ 2

4

Golden Gate Roos

155

- 1

5

Denver Bulldogs

146

+ 1

6

Dallas Magpies

130

- 4

7

Orange County Bombers

122

--

8

Calgary Kangaroos

116

+ 2

9

Sacramento Suns

96

- 1

10

Houston Lonestars

93

- 1

11

Columbus Jackaroos

89

--

12

Boston Demons

82

--

13

Quebec Saints

73

--

14

Minnesota Freeze

68

--

15

Chicago Swans

57

--

16

Ohio Valley River Rats

47

+ 1

17

Ft. Lauderdale Fighting Squids

21

+ 1

18

Baltimore/Washington Eagles

20

in

19

Seattle Grizzlies

18

- 3

20

Portland Steelheads

17

Also receiving votes: Nashville Kangaroos 15, Philadelphia Hawks 9, North Carolina Tigers 7, San Diego Lions 5, Indianapolis Giants 1, Tulsa Buffaloes 1.

Austin again got the first place vote of all nine panelists for the fifth consecutive poll.  The view of New York Magpies stature in light of the Western Regional results was varied among the panel, but out of all of that was only a loss of one vote (down from 165 last poll) and another solid second place ranking.  None of this was terribly unexpected.

The Orange County Bombers were not so lucky, however.  With their struggles to maintain the form of the last two years now tangibly apparent, it seemed likely that they would drop from their third spot in the last poll.  They went 0-3 in the Western Regional and lost heavily to the Dragons the week before. The panel’s reckoning?  A record four slot fall down to seventh.  They still have matches against Los Angeles and San Diego as part of the SoCal Cup series, a three legged round-robin similar to the Texas Cup, so movement up or down is still possible.

Denver was also the casualty of a losing record in Salem, dropping a spot down to fifth.  Casey Robertson and company are still a dangerous side, but their bite may not have the same sharpness that it once had.

With OC and Denver dropping, the two teams that had the most success in Salem two weekends ago moved up.  Despite going 3-0 at regionals and moving up two clicks, however, the Golden Gate Roos still found themselves behind Los Angeles, who they had drubbed 54-15 during the tournament.  In fact, six of the nine panelists picked Golden Gate ahead of LA on their ballots.  So how are the Roos only fourth while the Dragons moved up to third?  The proof is in the three panelists who voted for L.A. several spots higher than GG that their weight offset any advantage given to them by the six friendly panel members.

There’s still two months left in the season.  How much that too will change is anyone’s guess, as will how this will sway the committee in terms of seeds in Division 1 when we get to Sarasota too will be left of father time.

The Dallas Magpies, meanwhile, were an idle beneficiary of the shuffling, as they moved up one notch to number 6.  The ‘Pies began the year in eighth, and they seem to be settling into the middle of the D1 pack nicely.

Another big winner of the Western Regional sweepstakes were the D2 winners in Salem, the Sacramento Suns.  They moved up two spots into 9th position, their highest spot of the season, pushing Houston and Columbus each down a spot.  That the Suns leaped over the Lonestars and Jackaroos was a bit of a surprise considering that their victory two weekends ago was slight; a 24-8 win over Portland was followed by a last second, controversial 15-14 decision over Seattle.  The three teams are relatively even on votes and skill, and those the Suns currently have the pollsters’ backing, the top of the D2 heap is close to call.

Positions 12-through-16 stood pat.  Boston, Quebec, Minnesota, and Chicago were all idle.  Ohio Valley thrashed Nashville at home in Louisville this past weekend, which did have the effect of drawing the River Rats within three votes of the Swans.

If it weren’t for Orange County, the Portland Steelheads’ three place drop would’ve been the heaviest.  Portland fell to Sacramento as well as Cascadia rival Seattle at regionals, which saw them get knocked off the cliff but barely hang on to the final spot in the poll, not unlike Mufasa in the Lion King.

The Steelheads drop allowed Ft. Lauderdale and Baltimore Washington to glide up one spot each.  It also allowed the Seattle Grizzlies, who have beat Portland twice so far this year and who almost beat Sacramento, to make their first ever appearance in the USAFL Top 20 Poll in the 19th position.  The Grizzlies’ ascension meant that the Nashville Kangaroos would bow out again.

WHAT’S ON TAP – NEXT POLL: August 17th

As most USAFL teams roll out of their slumber from their midsummer nap, the next two months will be full of footy stuffed weekends.

This Saturday sees the kickoff of the SoCal Cup, with L.A., O.C., and San Diego gathering in Irvine, California, before reconvening in San Diego on August 13th.  How the Lions will go against two D1 sides will prove interesting considering that they fared well against them in SCAFL play. 

The Philly Hawks will be busy in this part of the season, as they will be playing matches every other weekend from here until the rest of the season.  After welcoming in Boston this weekend, they’ll head to North Carolina on the 13th to face the Tigers.  Philly is trying to reestablish themselves as a D3 Nationals contender, but first they have to crack the Top 20 Poll.  

Posted in 
Watch AFL