03-25-2023, 03:02 PM
(This post was last modified: 04-01-2023, 08:00 PM by Caleb_H. Edited 1 time in total.)
1. Bondi Beach Buccaneers (9-4) (±0)
Since my last power ranking, the Buccaneers have stayed rather constant compared to many of the other teams in the league clinching their spot to the playoffs. They have completely maintained their dominance on both sides of the ball against non-playoff teams and have continued to weather the storm despite losses to division rival Seawolves and the Portland Pythons. Their offense is still the best in the business with a league leading 32.5 points per game, which is a slight regression by 2.2 points since the last power ranking. Despite this, Smokin Jay has continued his searing play with an impressive 35-6 TD to INT ratio.
Their defense has also been stellar continuing to be the second best defensive unit in the league averaging 22.4 points allowed per game. This unit is well-rounded being third in the league in rush defense and fifth in the league in pass defense. The only reason that they are not currently the first seed is due to their 0-2 record to the Seawolves, which is cause for concern as they are their main threat to their Ultimini aspirations. The Norfolk defense has stymied their offense just enough to escape with the win with both games being within one score. Heading into the playoffs, the main question about the Buccaneers is whether they can get it done against the Seawolves when it matters...
2. Portland Pythons (8-5) (+1)
The Portland Pythons have steadily improved since week 7 with their defense coming into their own establishing themselves as the best in the league with a stingy league leading average of only 21.9 points allowed. The run defense on this team is unmatched by any other team in the league and it is not even close. The Pythons have been holding teams to an average of 75.1 rush yards per game. To offer a comparison, the second best rush defense belongs to the Norfolk Seawolves, who allow 103.2 rush yards per game. The dominant front 7 on the defensive side of the ball is also very talented at getting after the quarterback booking more sacks than any other team in the league. This is highlighted by Bruce White performance every game, who is poised to break the single season sack record as he has already tied it with one game remaining.
The offensive side of the ball has also continued to improve increasing their offensive PPG by 2.8 remaining as the second best offense in the league. Their rushing attack also remains ever potent averaging a league best average of 136.6 yards per game. The biggest area of improvement on offense has been the passing game as Donovan Winters III as he has thrown 15 TDs in the second half of the season while throwing half the interceptions he did in the first stretch of games, which puts him at a solid 31-12 TD to INT ratio. Possibly one of the most important things to notice about this team is that they are competitive against the best teams in the league and are not simply beating up on the worse ones. They are 2-0 against the Royals, 1-1 against the Buccaneers, and 1-0 against the Seawolves, which is something to keep an eye on as they enter the playoffs.
3. Norfolk Seawolves (9-4) (+2)
The Norfolk Seawolves have returned to their beginning of season form, well, sort of. They have certainly returned to their winning ways, but not in convincing fashion as every single game has been close. The last six games, the Seawolves' defensive unit has been nothing short of incredible only allowing an average of 20.16 points per game in that stretch (24.8 ppg on the season) allowing them to go 6-1 in the second half of the season. Both their run defense and secondary are rock solid with both placing second in the league. So what's the catch?
Unfortunately, the team has been winning in spite of the offense rather than through it. In this stretch of the season, the offense has been nothing short of anemic and dysfunctional as they have averaged a miserable 20.83 points per game. Yes, you read that right. They have been averaging less than 1 more point than their defense has allowed in the same span despite going 6-1. How is that even possible? It is a bit hard to assess how this team will perform going forward. They do not really dominate other teams; they simply squeak out and escape with the win, but they manage to do it on such a consistent basis you wonder if they are ordained by a higher power.
4. London Royals (7-6) (±0)
The London Royals have continued to simply whelm as they have continued to be a middling team in the league, which is enough to keep them in the playoff echelon of teams. Despite all this, the London Royals are certainly a different team than when we last took a look at them as their offense is much improved increasing their offensive PPG by 4.2 points. Their passing offense has been sublime as Willier Miller has had no problem moving the ball down the field. The main crux of the offense has been the rushing offense, which is dead last in the league averaging 87.4 yards per game. Props to Farquaads for still putting up fantastic numbers despite these struggles.
The defensive unit of the London Royals has been in free fall in the second half of the season falling to dead last in the league in points allowed at 31.1 points allowed per game. Their rush defense is fairly average, but their secondary has struggled immensely these last few weeks allowing an average of 286.8 yards per game on the season. If this team hopes to compete in the post season, this defense is going to need a massive face lift.
5. Dallas Birddogs (6-7) (+2)
The Dallas Birddogs have been a rather feel good story in the second half of the season as they have rather improved in the past weeks and crawled out of the basement of their division for now. Is this team good? Not really, but they have been on a 3 game winning streak that have each been high scoring, tightly contested games. Their offense has been average with a PPG of 24.9 with a solid rushing attack serving as the backbone of the unit. NCADV RAINN has been respectable getting the ball to his playmakers throwing 29 touchdowns and only 7 interceptions.
On the other hand, the defense has continued to struggle this season showing only marginal improvement becoming seventh in the league rather than dead last. Both their rush defense and pass defense have been below average. Should this team have the record it does? Well, do trees stay silent when they fall in the woods? Probably not!
6. Minnesota Grey Ducks (5-8) (+2)
The Grey Ducks are another bottom team that have shown life down the stretch of the season wracking three more wins since week 7. Both their offense and defense have improved considerably despite being below average on both sides of the ball. There is certainly talent on this team being able to get the job done against bad teams including the Luchadores and the Coyotes, so it will be interesting to see where this team will be next season. The offense has been inefficient at best being 2nd in the league in yards per game (396.8) despite being sixth in points per game (23.8). If this offensive unit finds a way to remedy their aversion to the endzone while maintaining their ability to move the ball down the field, they could easily make some noise next season.
The defensive unit of the Grey Ducks places only marginally better than their offense among other teams in the league placing fifth in the league in points allowed at 27.8 points. Their secondary has been solidly middle of the pack, but the defense has been sunk by the struggling rush defense, which is the worst in the league. Unfortunately, this is simply not this teams year, but there is much to work with on this roster going forward into next season.
7. Tijuana Luchadores (5-8) (-5)
The Tijuana Luchadores have been by far the most disappointing team in the second half of the season. After achieving a more than respectable 4-3 record putting themselves second in the Southern conference, the tires have fallen off the car proceeding to achieve a dreadful 1-5 record through week 13. Surprisingly, their defense still places fourth in the league in points allowed despite averaging 33 points allowed in the last six week. They have a solid secondary, but a flawed rush defense. Ultimately, the defensive unit has had a fair performance this season.
The main problem that has caused the woes of this team the last six weeks has been the offense. It is not that they have been inefficient, it is that they have a problem moving the ball down the field at all. They rank last in offensive yards per game at 349.6 while also ranking seventh in the league in points per game at an awful 23.5 points. Yikes. Unfortunately, this team showed a high upside at the beginning of the season staying competitive in offensive shootouts. How the mighty have fallen.
8. Kansas City Coyotes (3-10) (-2)
The Kansas City Coyotes have committed to the tank this season going 1-5 in the last six games. They have been pretty much what most expected them to be. A former winning team that is rebuilding to return to form in the near future, but definitely not now. The offense has been the worst in the league this season and that is mainly due to the passing offense, which is last in yards and Mathias Mayhem has thrown a 13-8 TD to INT ratio. On the other hand, their rushing offense has been solid placing fourth in the league spearheaded by the rushing leader Elliot Berry, who has booked an impressive 14 rushing touchdowns and seems to be a lock to keep the rushing title for the remainder of the regular season.
The defensive unit of KCC has been rather pedestrian in terms of limiting the scoring of their opponents placing sixth in the league at 27.9 points allowed, but have a lot of talent in this unit and something to preserve for the next season. They actually limit opposing offenses to the third least amount of all-purpose yards at 367.9 YPG, which is most in thanks to their secondary play limiting the air yards of opponents more than any other unit in the league. Although this is impressive, it should be taken with a grain of salt as teams have exploited this defense through the run game as the Coyotes have the worst rush defense in the league allowing an average of 122.1 yards per game on the ground. This makes it a bit difficult to assess the secondary when teams have put most of their resources into running the ball down their throats. Ultimately, it will be interesting to see how the team goes forward from here and how they perform in the draft during the offseason.
Closing Thoughts and Predictions
It seems that the common sentiment around the league for the Ultimini has been the Portland Pythons and the Bondi Beach Buccaneers will be facing off at the end of the season, and it is difficult to see it going any other way as these two teams have been by far the most dominant in the regular season. Despite this, I am going to predict that the Norfolk Seawolves are going to make the Ultimini against the Pythons due to their recent dominance over the Buccaneers in the regular season. The game may not be pretty, but the Seawolves keep finding a way to win even if the game is unwatchable. In the Ultimus, my prediction will be the Portland Pythons beating the Seawolves by a fair margin, but they also face off this week, so we might get a glimpse of what that will look like if they do ending up facing each other then.
Since my last power ranking, the Buccaneers have stayed rather constant compared to many of the other teams in the league clinching their spot to the playoffs. They have completely maintained their dominance on both sides of the ball against non-playoff teams and have continued to weather the storm despite losses to division rival Seawolves and the Portland Pythons. Their offense is still the best in the business with a league leading 32.5 points per game, which is a slight regression by 2.2 points since the last power ranking. Despite this, Smokin Jay has continued his searing play with an impressive 35-6 TD to INT ratio.
Their defense has also been stellar continuing to be the second best defensive unit in the league averaging 22.4 points allowed per game. This unit is well-rounded being third in the league in rush defense and fifth in the league in pass defense. The only reason that they are not currently the first seed is due to their 0-2 record to the Seawolves, which is cause for concern as they are their main threat to their Ultimini aspirations. The Norfolk defense has stymied their offense just enough to escape with the win with both games being within one score. Heading into the playoffs, the main question about the Buccaneers is whether they can get it done against the Seawolves when it matters...
2. Portland Pythons (8-5) (+1)
The Portland Pythons have steadily improved since week 7 with their defense coming into their own establishing themselves as the best in the league with a stingy league leading average of only 21.9 points allowed. The run defense on this team is unmatched by any other team in the league and it is not even close. The Pythons have been holding teams to an average of 75.1 rush yards per game. To offer a comparison, the second best rush defense belongs to the Norfolk Seawolves, who allow 103.2 rush yards per game. The dominant front 7 on the defensive side of the ball is also very talented at getting after the quarterback booking more sacks than any other team in the league. This is highlighted by Bruce White performance every game, who is poised to break the single season sack record as he has already tied it with one game remaining.
The offensive side of the ball has also continued to improve increasing their offensive PPG by 2.8 remaining as the second best offense in the league. Their rushing attack also remains ever potent averaging a league best average of 136.6 yards per game. The biggest area of improvement on offense has been the passing game as Donovan Winters III as he has thrown 15 TDs in the second half of the season while throwing half the interceptions he did in the first stretch of games, which puts him at a solid 31-12 TD to INT ratio. Possibly one of the most important things to notice about this team is that they are competitive against the best teams in the league and are not simply beating up on the worse ones. They are 2-0 against the Royals, 1-1 against the Buccaneers, and 1-0 against the Seawolves, which is something to keep an eye on as they enter the playoffs.
3. Norfolk Seawolves (9-4) (+2)
The Norfolk Seawolves have returned to their beginning of season form, well, sort of. They have certainly returned to their winning ways, but not in convincing fashion as every single game has been close. The last six games, the Seawolves' defensive unit has been nothing short of incredible only allowing an average of 20.16 points per game in that stretch (24.8 ppg on the season) allowing them to go 6-1 in the second half of the season. Both their run defense and secondary are rock solid with both placing second in the league. So what's the catch?
Unfortunately, the team has been winning in spite of the offense rather than through it. In this stretch of the season, the offense has been nothing short of anemic and dysfunctional as they have averaged a miserable 20.83 points per game. Yes, you read that right. They have been averaging less than 1 more point than their defense has allowed in the same span despite going 6-1. How is that even possible? It is a bit hard to assess how this team will perform going forward. They do not really dominate other teams; they simply squeak out and escape with the win, but they manage to do it on such a consistent basis you wonder if they are ordained by a higher power.
4. London Royals (7-6) (±0)
The London Royals have continued to simply whelm as they have continued to be a middling team in the league, which is enough to keep them in the playoff echelon of teams. Despite all this, the London Royals are certainly a different team than when we last took a look at them as their offense is much improved increasing their offensive PPG by 4.2 points. Their passing offense has been sublime as Willier Miller has had no problem moving the ball down the field. The main crux of the offense has been the rushing offense, which is dead last in the league averaging 87.4 yards per game. Props to Farquaads for still putting up fantastic numbers despite these struggles.
The defensive unit of the London Royals has been in free fall in the second half of the season falling to dead last in the league in points allowed at 31.1 points allowed per game. Their rush defense is fairly average, but their secondary has struggled immensely these last few weeks allowing an average of 286.8 yards per game on the season. If this team hopes to compete in the post season, this defense is going to need a massive face lift.
5. Dallas Birddogs (6-7) (+2)
The Dallas Birddogs have been a rather feel good story in the second half of the season as they have rather improved in the past weeks and crawled out of the basement of their division for now. Is this team good? Not really, but they have been on a 3 game winning streak that have each been high scoring, tightly contested games. Their offense has been average with a PPG of 24.9 with a solid rushing attack serving as the backbone of the unit. NCADV RAINN has been respectable getting the ball to his playmakers throwing 29 touchdowns and only 7 interceptions.
On the other hand, the defense has continued to struggle this season showing only marginal improvement becoming seventh in the league rather than dead last. Both their rush defense and pass defense have been below average. Should this team have the record it does? Well, do trees stay silent when they fall in the woods? Probably not!
6. Minnesota Grey Ducks (5-8) (+2)
The Grey Ducks are another bottom team that have shown life down the stretch of the season wracking three more wins since week 7. Both their offense and defense have improved considerably despite being below average on both sides of the ball. There is certainly talent on this team being able to get the job done against bad teams including the Luchadores and the Coyotes, so it will be interesting to see where this team will be next season. The offense has been inefficient at best being 2nd in the league in yards per game (396.8) despite being sixth in points per game (23.8). If this offensive unit finds a way to remedy their aversion to the endzone while maintaining their ability to move the ball down the field, they could easily make some noise next season.
The defensive unit of the Grey Ducks places only marginally better than their offense among other teams in the league placing fifth in the league in points allowed at 27.8 points. Their secondary has been solidly middle of the pack, but the defense has been sunk by the struggling rush defense, which is the worst in the league. Unfortunately, this is simply not this teams year, but there is much to work with on this roster going forward into next season.
7. Tijuana Luchadores (5-8) (-5)
The Tijuana Luchadores have been by far the most disappointing team in the second half of the season. After achieving a more than respectable 4-3 record putting themselves second in the Southern conference, the tires have fallen off the car proceeding to achieve a dreadful 1-5 record through week 13. Surprisingly, their defense still places fourth in the league in points allowed despite averaging 33 points allowed in the last six week. They have a solid secondary, but a flawed rush defense. Ultimately, the defensive unit has had a fair performance this season.
The main problem that has caused the woes of this team the last six weeks has been the offense. It is not that they have been inefficient, it is that they have a problem moving the ball down the field at all. They rank last in offensive yards per game at 349.6 while also ranking seventh in the league in points per game at an awful 23.5 points. Yikes. Unfortunately, this team showed a high upside at the beginning of the season staying competitive in offensive shootouts. How the mighty have fallen.
8. Kansas City Coyotes (3-10) (-2)
The Kansas City Coyotes have committed to the tank this season going 1-5 in the last six games. They have been pretty much what most expected them to be. A former winning team that is rebuilding to return to form in the near future, but definitely not now. The offense has been the worst in the league this season and that is mainly due to the passing offense, which is last in yards and Mathias Mayhem has thrown a 13-8 TD to INT ratio. On the other hand, their rushing offense has been solid placing fourth in the league spearheaded by the rushing leader Elliot Berry, who has booked an impressive 14 rushing touchdowns and seems to be a lock to keep the rushing title for the remainder of the regular season.
The defensive unit of KCC has been rather pedestrian in terms of limiting the scoring of their opponents placing sixth in the league at 27.9 points allowed, but have a lot of talent in this unit and something to preserve for the next season. They actually limit opposing offenses to the third least amount of all-purpose yards at 367.9 YPG, which is most in thanks to their secondary play limiting the air yards of opponents more than any other unit in the league. Although this is impressive, it should be taken with a grain of salt as teams have exploited this defense through the run game as the Coyotes have the worst rush defense in the league allowing an average of 122.1 yards per game on the ground. This makes it a bit difficult to assess the secondary when teams have put most of their resources into running the ball down their throats. Ultimately, it will be interesting to see how the team goes forward from here and how they perform in the draft during the offseason.
Closing Thoughts and Predictions
It seems that the common sentiment around the league for the Ultimini has been the Portland Pythons and the Bondi Beach Buccaneers will be facing off at the end of the season, and it is difficult to see it going any other way as these two teams have been by far the most dominant in the regular season. Despite this, I am going to predict that the Norfolk Seawolves are going to make the Ultimini against the Pythons due to their recent dominance over the Buccaneers in the regular season. The game may not be pretty, but the Seawolves keep finding a way to win even if the game is unwatchable. In the Ultimus, my prediction will be the Portland Pythons beating the Seawolves by a fair margin, but they also face off this week, so we might get a glimpse of what that will look like if they do ending up facing each other then.