May 2024 Odin Mortgage Coaches Polls

The 2024 season is roughly 20 games old, it's time for our first Odin Mortgage Poll set.  Teams are still waking up from hibernation, and starting to stretch their sea legs.

With a base built of the back of the preseason poll ranks - determined by the 2023 USAFL Nationals - a handful of coaches cast their vote for where they think each of the teams sits after a small sample size.

The answer to that question?  Well, not much of a difference from seven months ago.  But there was some movement.

The top ten men's teams stood pat.  Five time defending National Champion Austin is still the unanimous number one after a season opening win over North Texas.  Boston's 2-1 showing at the Pony Platter in Ottawa was good enough to put the pressure on archrival New York for fourth, but not enough to overtake them.

The Mid-Atlantic Cup had the effect of seeing Baltimore put the pressure on Seattle in an attempt to move up into single digits, which they might do if they can beat DC this weekend.  The MAC's other side effect was that the Eagles, the team the Dock Show knocked off in the tournament final, dropped behind idle Minnesota and into 12th.

After a static 13th through 16th, Nashville was able to take advantage of North Texas's early season losses to trade leaps over Arizona.  The Kangaroos will go on the road to Georgia to play in the Three Rivers Cup and hope to continue to build their upward momentum.

Finally, we had are first squeeze-in/squeeze-out.  Unranked Portland used a good showing in defeat at Seattle to inch into #20, while the Swans opening loss to Nashville showed them out.

The women's top two remained the way they ended when the siren blew on that famous Grand Final from Florida.  Golden Gate and Minnesota begin things 1-2, and unless things change, appear to be on a collision course for a rematch.

There were, however, two changes in the rankings.  Seattle's home loss to upstart Portland pushed them down a spot, with the Bulldogs moving up into 3rd.  With Austin and New York holding at 5 and 6, D.C.'s early season promise convinced out pollsters to give them a two spot swap, as they moved up to 7th, dropping Houston two down to 9th, with Sacto remaining in the middle.  The Sockeyes win was sadly not enough to push them past North Texas; the Devils remain in the 10th spot.

As we head into June and towards Regionals season, there are plenty of chances for clubs to move up... or drop down.  The Three Rivers Cup, Rob Dollar Cup, 80/35 Tournament, Texas Cup, Sactown Specky Invitational, and a smattering of local games will make things very interesting as the weather gets hotter.