06-21-2023, 02:42 PM
(This post was last modified: 06-24-2023, 01:57 PM by xenosthelegend. Edited 3 times in total.)
This should go a bit quicker and more easily due to not having to deal with bad memories.
3rd in ASFC, No Home Field in Ultimus
23.3 ppg
21.2 pag
+2.1
Playoff Path:
33-20 over 9-7 AZ
30-27 over 12-4 AUS
30-27 over 11-5 COL
Notable Awards:
Cobra Kai 2nd team RB, Big Slammu 2nd team LB, Davriel Lavigne 1st team CB
GMs win GMotY
This team has 3 major problems; a distinct lack of notable awards, with only 3 All Pros and only a single 1st teamer, a lack of impressive heads taken in the playoffs, peaking at +7.4 for Austin and winning an Ultimus over a +1.9 Colorado team extremely lucky to reach 11 wins, and the worst point differential we've seen from a team since the new sim change in S26. This team's point differential is tied with the S24 Sabercats, and arguably has a worse award cabinet. That team is better than this one for other reasons, mainly the more comfortable victories, and facing much, much better teams. That being said, having an extant awards cabinet is better than the zilch that the S13 Otters got, so they eke out the 29th best Ultimus champion title away from them.
It's notable that the Yeti, while not quite the worst ever team we've seen in the Ultimus, got the 1st seed as the team with the 5th highest point differential in the conference. Caliban's Hall of Fame candidacy is built on a throne of attempts, doesn't deserve half the awards he has, yada yada yada.
30.1 ppg
27.4 pag
+2.7
Playoff Path:
30-27 (OT) over 11-5 AUS
28-17 over 12-4 AZ
27-24 over 11-5 BER
Notable Awards:
Tugg Speedmann wins WRoty, RotY
Tugg Speedmann 1st Team WR, Buster Bawlls 1st team FB, Bob Roberts 2nd team OG, Brick Van Sanzo 2nd team DE, Sakeem Webb 2nd team ILB, Tugg Speedmann 1st team KR/PR
Ever since the change to the new sim, we've seen one champion who was the best team, compared to 6 now who weren't. Even so, this is a team that would have been a shoe in for a spot in the "good team who beat greats in the playoffs" tier, and still might get there, but the 2nd best team in the league by far missed the Ultimus by losing in the NSFC championship game: A +10.1 Philly Liberty team who went 11-5 would be a great team to have beaten instead of the much less impressive +5.2 Fire Salamanders, and even then they only beat them by 3. Well, really 10, unless I count the touchdown with 6 literal seconds left on the clock. Austin was a not bad 1st round opponent at +5.5, though it took OT to take them down for good. Arizona, because of course it was Arizona, was the big team that New York beat at +11.8, and they beat them more comfortably than any other team, again, because of course they did. I think the best place to put this team is just above the other New York championship team, in the Good team who Upset Greats in the playoffs tier. Sure, the victories were less comfortable on average, but they faced and beat a better top end team and had a much, much better award haul.
2nd seed in NSFC, Home Field in Ultimus
29.2 ppg
25.1 pag
+4.1
Playoff Path:
23-14 over 10-6 CHI
30-24 over 12-4 SAR
41-38 over 9-7 OCO
Notable Awards:
Paul Moniter 2nd team C, Sheriff Woody 2nd team OLB
GMs win GMotY
This is the worst award cabinet we've seen in a while; the 4th OLB and the 2nd best player at the worst offensive line position is almost a goose egg in terms of players to make an all pro team. 54 players make all pro teams, and only two low value second team players are Hawks. That being said, the +4.1 isn't bad, and is also not that far off the top marks of +5.9 for the Sailfish and +6.5 for the Outlaws. That being said, there is a problem with this team's playoff run. Sarasota is actually more like a 13 point win, there was a touchdown with 40 seconds left, but the real problem is the Ultimus. Orange County looks like an average team by record, and actually is worse than average by point differential, at a -0.2 mark. This is the worst Ultimus entrant since S25's Sabercats, and a worse Ultimus loser than other bottom feeders like the S23 Copperheads. This is, as far as I can tell, the worst team to win an Ultimus, and those Copperheads, the last average team to be beaten in an Ultimus, were blown out from beginning to end by their opponents. This Hawks team, on the other hand, is going to be punished HEAVILY for their performance in the Ultimus against Orange County. Losing by 14 in the 4th quarter, requiring a furious comeback and a last minute 51 yard field goal to win by 3, over one of the worst teams to ever make the Bowl.
That being said, being that close and beating the Sailfish handily makes me bump this team up to the "Best team in a Bad Year" tier, though I think they finally dethrone the S8 Wraiths as the worst team in that tier. This team kind of feels like the anti-Sabercats, with 2 amazing championship teams and one pretty poor one, the inverse of the Sabercats.
1st seed in NSFC, Home Field in Ultimus
31.4 ppg
22.3 pag
+9.1
Playoff Path:
23-20 over 11-4-1 BER
33-27 (OT) over 11-5 HON
Major Awards:
Dexter Hall 2nd team OLB, Tim Soulja 1st team CB, Vincent Sharpei Jr 2nd team Ret
GMs win GMotY
This is a really interesting team for a couple reasons; mainly, this team was the best team this year and doesn't have a bad point differential, either. They had the best record, the best offense, and the best defense. This is the first time since the S27 Sailfish and the S26 Wraiths that the top point differential team has won the Ultimus, and they seem to fit right in that if you just look at the point differential. And yet this team didn't manage to garner a lot of awards. The positional excellency awards still exist, and despite having the #1 CB according to the All Pro team, Soulja lost out in traditional stats. The team also managed only 2 other All Pros, giving this team a barely superior award cabinet and all pro roster than the S31 Hahalua, a team 7 points per game worse and without the best record in the league. The other major problem is their playoff performance. They got to avoid the 2 best marks outside themselves, Sarasota at +5.0 and Arizona at +5.9, and then had a hard time with their actual opponents. Berlin isn't the worst 1st round opponent we've seen, but they only had a +2.8 point differential, hardly a powerhouse, and Honolulu wasn't much better at +3.7. These marks in and of themselves aren't the big deal breaker, that would be the 3 total points they won their two playoff games by in regulation. In order to beat the Fire Salamanders, the Butchers needed a furious comeback and the Salamanders to miss a 49 yard field goal. And against the Hahalua, it took a last minute touchdown and 2 point conversion, but the Hahalua managed to go to overtime against what was on paper a far superior team. Basically, every part of the Butchers' performance screams bottom tier champion, except for the point differential. As such, they go into the Best team in a weak year category, above the S17 Otters but below the S26 Wraiths; the Wraiths better award cabinet and only having trouble with one of their opponents gives them the edge for me.
1st seed in ASFC, Home Field in Ultimus
27.2 ppg
17.4 pag
+9.8
Playoff Path:
26-20 over 13-3 AZ
24-13 over 9-7 BAL
Notable Awards:
Xavier Walls wins DPoY
Buffalo Hunter wins TEotY, Xavier Walls wins LBotY
Buffalo Hunter 1st team TE, Beniri T'Chwama 2nd team OT, Cade Williams 1st team DT, Xavier Walls 1st team LB, Big Slammu 2nd team LB, Lip Gallagher 2nd team CB, Freddy Bly 1st team P, Cobra Kai 2nd team Ret
Both playoff games were more comfortable than they looked, with a last minute touchdown for the Outlaws and a late touchdown for the Hawks that still had them 2 possessions down with four minutes to go. With that note out of the way, this looks like a top team for the first time in a long time. Nearly 10 points better per game, a 13-3 record, the most 1st team all pros and most all pros in general for any team. About the only thing that could have made this team better was a bigger share of the positional excellency awards in their last season of existence, and even then 2 of them isn't a bad total considering the previous four teams combine for the exact same number of positional excellency awards. Then again, only the Butchers were actually the best team in the regular season...The Hahalua are also in a good spot with their competition; Arizona was +6.9, and the Hawks were the best of a bunch of NSFC teams without a 10 win team to the conference at +4.4. I think this is our first team to get above the Good team who beat Great teams in the playoffs tier, and it gets all the way into the Great but short of All Time status tier. I'll put it between the S14 Sabercats and the S5 Otters. I think a +9.8 point differential is more impressive in the new sim era than it was in the last sim, especially when talking about the first decade or so.
1st seed in ASFC, no Home Field in Ultimus
26.4 ppg
19.4 pag
+7.0
Playoff Path:
38-21 over 9-7 AZ
31-28 over 12-4 Sailfish
Notable Awards:
Big Slammu wins DPoY
Sal Ami 2nd team WR, Beniri T'chawama 2nd team OT, Cade Williams 2nd team DT, Big Slammu 1st team LB, Lip Gallagher 1st team CB
This looks like a stronger team than it actually is, in my estimation. For one, the Arizona game is an extreme example of late plays making an uncomfortable game look a ton more comfortable than it was; Honolulu was losing with 3 minutes to go and, after scoring a touchdown with 2 minutes to go, benefitted from a couple quick turnovers and scores to make a game look like a 3 possession win when it was much closer to a 1 possession one. At +7.0, you probably wouldn't expect this mark to be merely 3rd in the league, behind the Butchers at +9.1 and the Sailfish at +9.6, and you wouldn't necessarily expect there to be 5 teams with better All Pro rosters than the Hahalua, and another team with the exact same roster. You also probably wouldn't expect an AZ team with the MVP and a history of bringing at least good teams to the playoffs to be as mediocre as this bunch was, with merely a +1.7 point differential. The Ultimus against the Sailfish was also a fraught game, requiring a 35 yard touchdown pass with 1 minute and 1 timeout left for the Hahalua to come out on top. The problem I have with this team is just that all of the underlying stats say that this was the 3rd best team in the league who managed to luckily beat a better team in the Ultimus, and had a ton of trouble with a much worse team. I think due to the better adjusted point differential and award cabinet, I'll give this team the edge over the S7 Liberty, but not the S4 Otters.
1st seed in ASFC, no Home Field in Ultimus
30.8 ppg
24.9 pag
+5.9
Playoff Path:
31-19 over 9-7 HON
31-11 over 12-4 SAR
Notable Awards:
Jay Cue wins MVP, Wendell Sailor wins OPOY
Wendell Sailor 1st team QB, Jay Cue Jr 1st team RB, Kotoni Staggs 2nd team WR, Raphael McTurtle 2nd team DT, Mark Goodhead 1st team CB, Jay Cue Jr 2nd team Ret
GMs win GMotY
This Outlaws team is the kind that definitely goes into the "Best team in a Bad Year" category, that point differential leading the league is too small to go any higher. That being said, they did face and beat handily their closest competition in that category, a +5.3 Sailfish squad who was the only team to have a better All Pro Lineup. I'd still give the overall award cabinet to the Outlaws, though, considering the other awards the team earned. Honolulu at +0.4 isn't anything but an average team that managed to make the conference championship, but the Outlaws did manage to make and maintain a 2 possession lead over them for the entire 4th quarter, even with last minute touchdowns going both ways. This team is basically the definition of Best Team in a Weak Year, and by my estimation goes over the S17 Otters. The much superior point differential of the S34 Butchers has me put these Outlaws below them, despite the significantly easier playoff run and award cabinet. Running the table like the Outlaws did is impressive, but it still means that you had to run the table.
1st seed in ASFC, Home Field in Ultimus
29.9 ppg
21.7 pag
+8.2
Playoff Path:
31-28 over 9-7 NYS
23-21 over 10-6 BER
Notable Awards:
Wendell Sailor wins MVP, Mark Goodhead wins DPoY
Wendell Sailor 1st team QB, Jay Cue Jr 2nd team RB, Kotoni Staggs 1st team WR, Captain Billy Stinkwater 2nd team WR, D'Nickishaw Mangoldson 2nd team OT, Raphael McTurtle 1st team DT, Mark Goodhead 1st team CB
GMs win GMotY
At first glance, this looks like a team that I should have similar complaints about that I did with the S34 Butchers. As a +8.2 team, facing a +3.5 team in the first playoff game, they only won by 3! But on the other hand, that came due to a touchdown with 5 minutes to go, after which the Silverbacks would never touch the ball again. Considering Arizona was doing kneel downs with a goal to go opportunity, this feels much more comfortable than a usual 3 point game. Similarly, Berlin threw a touchdown for the 2nd to last play from scrimmage for the game, with 33 seconds left and no timeouts, all that it took was not letting Berlin recover the onside kick to have it well in hand. On the other hand, Berlin is one of the worst teams to make the Ultimus in the first place at a +0.1 point differential, so winning by 9 minus a last second touchdown is probably still not as dominant as you'd like. This year also included the most recent winless team, the S38 Hahalua. One might expect this to have a significant impact on the point differential, but that's not really the case for this year's champions. At 68-37 over the 2 games, if the Hahalua games were taken out the Outlaws would have a +7.2 point differential in the games remaining; this was not a team who beat up on a winless team for their point differential. As such, they'd go right between the S1 Outlaws and the S27 Sailfish, if not for how outstanding their award cabinet is. That award cabinet is dominant enough for me to put this team as the top team in the "Mediocre Champions" tier. Not a great team, they'd need a bit more comfortable wins or a bit better point differential for that, but one step below.
1st seed in NSFC, Home Field in Ultimus
31.9 ppg
13.8 pag
+18.1
Playoff Path:
48-27 over 10-6 CHI
34-6 over 11-5 AZ
Notable Awards:
Kumquat Archipelago wins MVP (I have WORDS to say about this one), Kalam Mekhar wins DPoY
Kumquat Archipelago 1st team RB, Bernd D Brot 2nd team WR, JT Kurbis 2nd team OT, Daron Arnold 2nd team DE, Zephyr Graywolf 1st team OLB, Jack McPherson 2nd team OLB, Kalam Mekhar 1st team CB, Double Doink 1st team K
GMs win GMotY
I'm going to start with the elephant in the room; Kumquat Archipelago is the 2nd place RB by All Pro voting, did not deserve the MVP this season, and didn't even deserve the OPoY award either; it should have been swept by the 2 best QBs in a season where no player had top tier efficiency and production, and the two best QBs did have those. Now that my downgrade for the award cabinet is out of the way, this is the 3rd best point differential for an Ultimus winner. This is only beaten out by the S3 Outlaws and the S9 Second Line. It's not getting over those two, the award cabinet is significantly worse without the undeserved MVP, and a lot of the 2nd team All Pros on this squad are last at their position, but these are all small potatoes. One of the most dominant playoff runs we've ever seen, one of the best point differentials we've ever seen, and an amazing though not top tier award cabinet to back it up. The biggest shortcoming for this squad is actually its opposition in the 1st round, the Butchers only had a +1.2 point differential. But unlike, say, the S15 Hawks, the Ultimus opponent for these Wraiths was actually good; a +8.8 Outlaws squad that actually had a better point differential than the prior 2 seasons. A 28 point victory over those Outlaws in the Ultimus is arguably better than the 49 point victory the S15 Hawks had over a Sabercats team literally half as good. The other tiny flaw with this team is that they weren't the best offense this season, with literally 1 less point scored than the Outlaws. But this is a microscopic crack on the face of the Mona Lisa.
All in all, we now have an Elite 4, with these Wraiths going in 3rd.
1st seed in ASFC, Home Field in Ultimus
31.8 ppg
15.6 pag
+16.2
Playoff Path:
37-17 over 7-8-1 OCO
45-21 over 12-4 YKW
Notable Awards:
Wendell Sailor 1st team QB, Captain Billy Stinkwater 2nd team WR, D'nickishaw Mangoldson 1st team OT, Dennis Rodman 2nd team OG, Raphael McTurtle 2nd team DT, Spotty O'Dopalicious 1st team CB, Notso Smart 2nd team S
GMs win GMotY
This team competes almost directly with last year's in my mind; in the playoffs these Outlaws were more dominant considering the Wraiths scored a last minute touchdown, meaning that before garbage time the Outlaws had a 31 point lead over a +8.7 Yellowknife team; the 1st game is similar in scoreline and dominance, though if the Butchers were kind of bad, the Otters are maybe the worst conference finalist of all time at -5.0, making the 20 point loss actually less than the point differentials mushed together; the record is a game better, but the point differential is a couple points worse, and the award cabinet lacks a POY trophy or MVP, and has less All Pros, but the All Pros are of higher quality (3 last players for the Wraiths, 0 for the Outlaws) and at better positions, most notably actually having an All pro QB and not having any kicker awards. If Sailor or O'Dopalicious had taken home a Player of the Year award, I'd actually have flat out said that this was a better award cabinet than the S39 Wraiths. The Outlaws also managed to be the top dog on both offense and defense this season. With that being said, domination in the playoffs to me is less important than domination in the regular season, and while you're lying if you say either of these last 2 teams weren't dominant in the regular season, these Outlaws were slightly less dominant than the S39 Wraiths. This team is 4th all time, above the S15 Hawks.
1st seed in NSFC, Home Field in Ultimus
28.4 ppg
18.4 pag
+10.0
Playoff Path:
34-20 over 9-7 SAR
20-18 over 11-5 AZ
Notable Awards:
Jarvis Harbinger Marjin wins OPOY
Jarvis Harbinger Marjin 1st team RB, Derrick Prince 1st team WR, Swantavious Payne 1st team OT, Christian Marciano 2nd team DT, Bageshwari Singh 2nd team CB, Jasper Montaine 1st team S
GMs win GMotY
The final champion to cover has a major problem, and it's called the Ultimus. Winning by 2 possessions over a +2.8 Sailfish squad is...fine. Not great, not terrible. But the Outlaws were a +1.8 team. They got to the playoffs on the back of 9 straight victories to end the season, only one of which was by more than 10 points. 6 of those victories were 1 possession. And these Outlaws almost beat the Crash, or at least almost forced Overtime. It took a missed extra point, a failed 2 point conversion due to the missed extra point, a 53 yard field goal and a 43 yard field goal at the death for the Crash to win the Ultimus by 2 points. And even with those events, the Crash were 15 more seconds and a 34 yard field goal away from still losing. Add that to what is a good but not top tier point differential, and a good but not top tier award cabinet, and this team needed to pull off something special in the playoffs in order to get out of the mediocre champions tier. Instead of doing that, they promptly pulled something special in the opposite direction during the Ultimus and brought themselves down to Best Team in Weak Year territory. As basically a better version of the S26 Wraiths, with a not quite as terrible opponent that they needed a last second field goal and luck to beat, the Crash go right above them.
The final list has a few surprises for me; I feel like I don't see a lot of talk about the S9 Second Line as the greatest team of all time, and I expected more top tier Otters teams. I also didn't realize how generally weak Ultimus champions ended up being from S21 all the way to S34. Finally, I didn't expect for there to be 2 teams in between the S24 Sabercats and the S25 Sabercats, or for the S41 Outlaws to have a chance at being a 3rd team if not for some unlucky bounces in the Ultimus. I did expect the S25 Sabercats to be last, and boy were they last.
The final list goes as follows:
How the (Insert Expletives of your Choice) Did This Team Win the Ultimus Tier:
41. S25 Sabercats
40. S13 Otters
39. S31 Hahalua
38. S24 Sabercats
37. S16 Outlaws
36. S23 Wraiths
35. S28 Wraiths
34. S22 Yeti
Best Team in a Weak Year Tier:
33. S33 Hawks
32. S8 Wraiths
31. S20 Copperheads
30. S17 Otters
29. S37 Outlaws
28. S34 Butchers
27. S26 Wraiths
26. S41 Crash
25. S27 Sailfish
24. S1 Outlaws
Good Teams who Upset Greats in the Playoffs Tier:
23. S29 Silverbacks
22. S32 Silverbacks
21. S7 Liberty
20. S36 Hahalua
19. S4 Otters
18. S21 Second Line
17. S30 Sailfish
Mediocre Champions That I Keep Moving In My Head Tier:
16. S18 Otters
15. S11 Second Line
14. S12 Otters
13. S19 Otters
12. S38 Outlaws
Great But Short of All Time Status Tier:
11. S14 Sabercats
10. S35 Hahalua
9. S5 Otters
8. (Space Intentionally left blank for S2 Outlaws)
7. S10 Hawks
6. S6 Otters
The 5 Greatest Teams Ever:
5. S15 Hawks
4. S40 Outlaws
3. S39 Wraiths
2. (Space Intentionally left blank for S3 Outlaws)
1. S9 Second Line
S31 Hahalua
Record: 9-7
3rd in ASFC, No Home Field in Ultimus
23.3 ppg
21.2 pag
+2.1
Playoff Path:
33-20 over 9-7 AZ
30-27 over 12-4 AUS
30-27 over 11-5 COL
Notable Awards:
Cobra Kai 2nd team RB, Big Slammu 2nd team LB, Davriel Lavigne 1st team CB
GMs win GMotY
This team has 3 major problems; a distinct lack of notable awards, with only 3 All Pros and only a single 1st teamer, a lack of impressive heads taken in the playoffs, peaking at +7.4 for Austin and winning an Ultimus over a +1.9 Colorado team extremely lucky to reach 11 wins, and the worst point differential we've seen from a team since the new sim change in S26. This team's point differential is tied with the S24 Sabercats, and arguably has a worse award cabinet. That team is better than this one for other reasons, mainly the more comfortable victories, and facing much, much better teams. That being said, having an extant awards cabinet is better than the zilch that the S13 Otters got, so they eke out the 29th best Ultimus champion title away from them.
It's notable that the Yeti, while not quite the worst ever team we've seen in the Ultimus, got the 1st seed as the team with the 5th highest point differential in the conference. Caliban's Hall of Fame candidacy is built on a throne of attempts, doesn't deserve half the awards he has, yada yada yada.
S32 Silverbacks
Record: 10-630.1 ppg
27.4 pag
+2.7
Playoff Path:
30-27 (OT) over 11-5 AUS
28-17 over 12-4 AZ
27-24 over 11-5 BER
Notable Awards:
Tugg Speedmann wins WRoty, RotY
Tugg Speedmann 1st Team WR, Buster Bawlls 1st team FB, Bob Roberts 2nd team OG, Brick Van Sanzo 2nd team DE, Sakeem Webb 2nd team ILB, Tugg Speedmann 1st team KR/PR
Ever since the change to the new sim, we've seen one champion who was the best team, compared to 6 now who weren't. Even so, this is a team that would have been a shoe in for a spot in the "good team who beat greats in the playoffs" tier, and still might get there, but the 2nd best team in the league by far missed the Ultimus by losing in the NSFC championship game: A +10.1 Philly Liberty team who went 11-5 would be a great team to have beaten instead of the much less impressive +5.2 Fire Salamanders, and even then they only beat them by 3. Well, really 10, unless I count the touchdown with 6 literal seconds left on the clock. Austin was a not bad 1st round opponent at +5.5, though it took OT to take them down for good. Arizona, because of course it was Arizona, was the big team that New York beat at +11.8, and they beat them more comfortably than any other team, again, because of course they did. I think the best place to put this team is just above the other New York championship team, in the Good team who Upset Greats in the playoffs tier. Sure, the victories were less comfortable on average, but they faced and beat a better top end team and had a much, much better award haul.
S33 Hawks
Record: 11-52nd seed in NSFC, Home Field in Ultimus
29.2 ppg
25.1 pag
+4.1
Playoff Path:
23-14 over 10-6 CHI
30-24 over 12-4 SAR
41-38 over 9-7 OCO
Notable Awards:
Paul Moniter 2nd team C, Sheriff Woody 2nd team OLB
GMs win GMotY
This is the worst award cabinet we've seen in a while; the 4th OLB and the 2nd best player at the worst offensive line position is almost a goose egg in terms of players to make an all pro team. 54 players make all pro teams, and only two low value second team players are Hawks. That being said, the +4.1 isn't bad, and is also not that far off the top marks of +5.9 for the Sailfish and +6.5 for the Outlaws. That being said, there is a problem with this team's playoff run. Sarasota is actually more like a 13 point win, there was a touchdown with 40 seconds left, but the real problem is the Ultimus. Orange County looks like an average team by record, and actually is worse than average by point differential, at a -0.2 mark. This is the worst Ultimus entrant since S25's Sabercats, and a worse Ultimus loser than other bottom feeders like the S23 Copperheads. This is, as far as I can tell, the worst team to win an Ultimus, and those Copperheads, the last average team to be beaten in an Ultimus, were blown out from beginning to end by their opponents. This Hawks team, on the other hand, is going to be punished HEAVILY for their performance in the Ultimus against Orange County. Losing by 14 in the 4th quarter, requiring a furious comeback and a last minute 51 yard field goal to win by 3, over one of the worst teams to ever make the Bowl.
That being said, being that close and beating the Sailfish handily makes me bump this team up to the "Best team in a Bad Year" tier, though I think they finally dethrone the S8 Wraiths as the worst team in that tier. This team kind of feels like the anti-Sabercats, with 2 amazing championship teams and one pretty poor one, the inverse of the Sabercats.
S34 Butchers
Record: 12-3-11st seed in NSFC, Home Field in Ultimus
31.4 ppg
22.3 pag
+9.1
Playoff Path:
23-20 over 11-4-1 BER
33-27 (OT) over 11-5 HON
Major Awards:
Dexter Hall 2nd team OLB, Tim Soulja 1st team CB, Vincent Sharpei Jr 2nd team Ret
GMs win GMotY
This is a really interesting team for a couple reasons; mainly, this team was the best team this year and doesn't have a bad point differential, either. They had the best record, the best offense, and the best defense. This is the first time since the S27 Sailfish and the S26 Wraiths that the top point differential team has won the Ultimus, and they seem to fit right in that if you just look at the point differential. And yet this team didn't manage to garner a lot of awards. The positional excellency awards still exist, and despite having the #1 CB according to the All Pro team, Soulja lost out in traditional stats. The team also managed only 2 other All Pros, giving this team a barely superior award cabinet and all pro roster than the S31 Hahalua, a team 7 points per game worse and without the best record in the league. The other major problem is their playoff performance. They got to avoid the 2 best marks outside themselves, Sarasota at +5.0 and Arizona at +5.9, and then had a hard time with their actual opponents. Berlin isn't the worst 1st round opponent we've seen, but they only had a +2.8 point differential, hardly a powerhouse, and Honolulu wasn't much better at +3.7. These marks in and of themselves aren't the big deal breaker, that would be the 3 total points they won their two playoff games by in regulation. In order to beat the Fire Salamanders, the Butchers needed a furious comeback and the Salamanders to miss a 49 yard field goal. And against the Hahalua, it took a last minute touchdown and 2 point conversion, but the Hahalua managed to go to overtime against what was on paper a far superior team. Basically, every part of the Butchers' performance screams bottom tier champion, except for the point differential. As such, they go into the Best team in a weak year category, above the S17 Otters but below the S26 Wraiths; the Wraiths better award cabinet and only having trouble with one of their opponents gives them the edge for me.
S35 Hahalua
Record: 13-31st seed in ASFC, Home Field in Ultimus
27.2 ppg
17.4 pag
+9.8
Playoff Path:
26-20 over 13-3 AZ
24-13 over 9-7 BAL
Notable Awards:
Xavier Walls wins DPoY
Buffalo Hunter wins TEotY, Xavier Walls wins LBotY
Buffalo Hunter 1st team TE, Beniri T'Chwama 2nd team OT, Cade Williams 1st team DT, Xavier Walls 1st team LB, Big Slammu 2nd team LB, Lip Gallagher 2nd team CB, Freddy Bly 1st team P, Cobra Kai 2nd team Ret
Both playoff games were more comfortable than they looked, with a last minute touchdown for the Outlaws and a late touchdown for the Hawks that still had them 2 possessions down with four minutes to go. With that note out of the way, this looks like a top team for the first time in a long time. Nearly 10 points better per game, a 13-3 record, the most 1st team all pros and most all pros in general for any team. About the only thing that could have made this team better was a bigger share of the positional excellency awards in their last season of existence, and even then 2 of them isn't a bad total considering the previous four teams combine for the exact same number of positional excellency awards. Then again, only the Butchers were actually the best team in the regular season...The Hahalua are also in a good spot with their competition; Arizona was +6.9, and the Hawks were the best of a bunch of NSFC teams without a 10 win team to the conference at +4.4. I think this is our first team to get above the Good team who beat Great teams in the playoffs tier, and it gets all the way into the Great but short of All Time status tier. I'll put it between the S14 Sabercats and the S5 Otters. I think a +9.8 point differential is more impressive in the new sim era than it was in the last sim, especially when talking about the first decade or so.
S36 Hahalua
Record: 11-51st seed in ASFC, no Home Field in Ultimus
26.4 ppg
19.4 pag
+7.0
Playoff Path:
38-21 over 9-7 AZ
31-28 over 12-4 Sailfish
Notable Awards:
Big Slammu wins DPoY
Sal Ami 2nd team WR, Beniri T'chawama 2nd team OT, Cade Williams 2nd team DT, Big Slammu 1st team LB, Lip Gallagher 1st team CB
This looks like a stronger team than it actually is, in my estimation. For one, the Arizona game is an extreme example of late plays making an uncomfortable game look a ton more comfortable than it was; Honolulu was losing with 3 minutes to go and, after scoring a touchdown with 2 minutes to go, benefitted from a couple quick turnovers and scores to make a game look like a 3 possession win when it was much closer to a 1 possession one. At +7.0, you probably wouldn't expect this mark to be merely 3rd in the league, behind the Butchers at +9.1 and the Sailfish at +9.6, and you wouldn't necessarily expect there to be 5 teams with better All Pro rosters than the Hahalua, and another team with the exact same roster. You also probably wouldn't expect an AZ team with the MVP and a history of bringing at least good teams to the playoffs to be as mediocre as this bunch was, with merely a +1.7 point differential. The Ultimus against the Sailfish was also a fraught game, requiring a 35 yard touchdown pass with 1 minute and 1 timeout left for the Hahalua to come out on top. The problem I have with this team is just that all of the underlying stats say that this was the 3rd best team in the league who managed to luckily beat a better team in the Ultimus, and had a ton of trouble with a much worse team. I think due to the better adjusted point differential and award cabinet, I'll give this team the edge over the S7 Liberty, but not the S4 Otters.
S37 Outlaws
Record: 11-51st seed in ASFC, no Home Field in Ultimus
30.8 ppg
24.9 pag
+5.9
Playoff Path:
31-19 over 9-7 HON
31-11 over 12-4 SAR
Notable Awards:
Jay Cue wins MVP, Wendell Sailor wins OPOY
Wendell Sailor 1st team QB, Jay Cue Jr 1st team RB, Kotoni Staggs 2nd team WR, Raphael McTurtle 2nd team DT, Mark Goodhead 1st team CB, Jay Cue Jr 2nd team Ret
GMs win GMotY
This Outlaws team is the kind that definitely goes into the "Best team in a Bad Year" category, that point differential leading the league is too small to go any higher. That being said, they did face and beat handily their closest competition in that category, a +5.3 Sailfish squad who was the only team to have a better All Pro Lineup. I'd still give the overall award cabinet to the Outlaws, though, considering the other awards the team earned. Honolulu at +0.4 isn't anything but an average team that managed to make the conference championship, but the Outlaws did manage to make and maintain a 2 possession lead over them for the entire 4th quarter, even with last minute touchdowns going both ways. This team is basically the definition of Best Team in a Weak Year, and by my estimation goes over the S17 Otters. The much superior point differential of the S34 Butchers has me put these Outlaws below them, despite the significantly easier playoff run and award cabinet. Running the table like the Outlaws did is impressive, but it still means that you had to run the table.
S38 Outlaws
Record: 13-31st seed in ASFC, Home Field in Ultimus
29.9 ppg
21.7 pag
+8.2
Playoff Path:
31-28 over 9-7 NYS
23-21 over 10-6 BER
Notable Awards:
Wendell Sailor wins MVP, Mark Goodhead wins DPoY
Wendell Sailor 1st team QB, Jay Cue Jr 2nd team RB, Kotoni Staggs 1st team WR, Captain Billy Stinkwater 2nd team WR, D'Nickishaw Mangoldson 2nd team OT, Raphael McTurtle 1st team DT, Mark Goodhead 1st team CB
GMs win GMotY
At first glance, this looks like a team that I should have similar complaints about that I did with the S34 Butchers. As a +8.2 team, facing a +3.5 team in the first playoff game, they only won by 3! But on the other hand, that came due to a touchdown with 5 minutes to go, after which the Silverbacks would never touch the ball again. Considering Arizona was doing kneel downs with a goal to go opportunity, this feels much more comfortable than a usual 3 point game. Similarly, Berlin threw a touchdown for the 2nd to last play from scrimmage for the game, with 33 seconds left and no timeouts, all that it took was not letting Berlin recover the onside kick to have it well in hand. On the other hand, Berlin is one of the worst teams to make the Ultimus in the first place at a +0.1 point differential, so winning by 9 minus a last second touchdown is probably still not as dominant as you'd like. This year also included the most recent winless team, the S38 Hahalua. One might expect this to have a significant impact on the point differential, but that's not really the case for this year's champions. At 68-37 over the 2 games, if the Hahalua games were taken out the Outlaws would have a +7.2 point differential in the games remaining; this was not a team who beat up on a winless team for their point differential. As such, they'd go right between the S1 Outlaws and the S27 Sailfish, if not for how outstanding their award cabinet is. That award cabinet is dominant enough for me to put this team as the top team in the "Mediocre Champions" tier. Not a great team, they'd need a bit more comfortable wins or a bit better point differential for that, but one step below.
S39 Wraiths
Record: 13-31st seed in NSFC, Home Field in Ultimus
31.9 ppg
13.8 pag
+18.1
Playoff Path:
48-27 over 10-6 CHI
34-6 over 11-5 AZ
Notable Awards:
Kumquat Archipelago wins MVP (I have WORDS to say about this one), Kalam Mekhar wins DPoY
Kumquat Archipelago 1st team RB, Bernd D Brot 2nd team WR, JT Kurbis 2nd team OT, Daron Arnold 2nd team DE, Zephyr Graywolf 1st team OLB, Jack McPherson 2nd team OLB, Kalam Mekhar 1st team CB, Double Doink 1st team K
GMs win GMotY
I'm going to start with the elephant in the room; Kumquat Archipelago is the 2nd place RB by All Pro voting, did not deserve the MVP this season, and didn't even deserve the OPoY award either; it should have been swept by the 2 best QBs in a season where no player had top tier efficiency and production, and the two best QBs did have those. Now that my downgrade for the award cabinet is out of the way, this is the 3rd best point differential for an Ultimus winner. This is only beaten out by the S3 Outlaws and the S9 Second Line. It's not getting over those two, the award cabinet is significantly worse without the undeserved MVP, and a lot of the 2nd team All Pros on this squad are last at their position, but these are all small potatoes. One of the most dominant playoff runs we've ever seen, one of the best point differentials we've ever seen, and an amazing though not top tier award cabinet to back it up. The biggest shortcoming for this squad is actually its opposition in the 1st round, the Butchers only had a +1.2 point differential. But unlike, say, the S15 Hawks, the Ultimus opponent for these Wraiths was actually good; a +8.8 Outlaws squad that actually had a better point differential than the prior 2 seasons. A 28 point victory over those Outlaws in the Ultimus is arguably better than the 49 point victory the S15 Hawks had over a Sabercats team literally half as good. The other tiny flaw with this team is that they weren't the best offense this season, with literally 1 less point scored than the Outlaws. But this is a microscopic crack on the face of the Mona Lisa.
All in all, we now have an Elite 4, with these Wraiths going in 3rd.
S40 Outlaws
Record: 14-21st seed in ASFC, Home Field in Ultimus
31.8 ppg
15.6 pag
+16.2
Playoff Path:
37-17 over 7-8-1 OCO
45-21 over 12-4 YKW
Notable Awards:
Wendell Sailor 1st team QB, Captain Billy Stinkwater 2nd team WR, D'nickishaw Mangoldson 1st team OT, Dennis Rodman 2nd team OG, Raphael McTurtle 2nd team DT, Spotty O'Dopalicious 1st team CB, Notso Smart 2nd team S
GMs win GMotY
This team competes almost directly with last year's in my mind; in the playoffs these Outlaws were more dominant considering the Wraiths scored a last minute touchdown, meaning that before garbage time the Outlaws had a 31 point lead over a +8.7 Yellowknife team; the 1st game is similar in scoreline and dominance, though if the Butchers were kind of bad, the Otters are maybe the worst conference finalist of all time at -5.0, making the 20 point loss actually less than the point differentials mushed together; the record is a game better, but the point differential is a couple points worse, and the award cabinet lacks a POY trophy or MVP, and has less All Pros, but the All Pros are of higher quality (3 last players for the Wraiths, 0 for the Outlaws) and at better positions, most notably actually having an All pro QB and not having any kicker awards. If Sailor or O'Dopalicious had taken home a Player of the Year award, I'd actually have flat out said that this was a better award cabinet than the S39 Wraiths. The Outlaws also managed to be the top dog on both offense and defense this season. With that being said, domination in the playoffs to me is less important than domination in the regular season, and while you're lying if you say either of these last 2 teams weren't dominant in the regular season, these Outlaws were slightly less dominant than the S39 Wraiths. This team is 4th all time, above the S15 Hawks.
S41 Crash
Record: 13-31st seed in NSFC, Home Field in Ultimus
28.4 ppg
18.4 pag
+10.0
Playoff Path:
34-20 over 9-7 SAR
20-18 over 11-5 AZ
Notable Awards:
Jarvis Harbinger Marjin wins OPOY
Jarvis Harbinger Marjin 1st team RB, Derrick Prince 1st team WR, Swantavious Payne 1st team OT, Christian Marciano 2nd team DT, Bageshwari Singh 2nd team CB, Jasper Montaine 1st team S
GMs win GMotY
The final champion to cover has a major problem, and it's called the Ultimus. Winning by 2 possessions over a +2.8 Sailfish squad is...fine. Not great, not terrible. But the Outlaws were a +1.8 team. They got to the playoffs on the back of 9 straight victories to end the season, only one of which was by more than 10 points. 6 of those victories were 1 possession. And these Outlaws almost beat the Crash, or at least almost forced Overtime. It took a missed extra point, a failed 2 point conversion due to the missed extra point, a 53 yard field goal and a 43 yard field goal at the death for the Crash to win the Ultimus by 2 points. And even with those events, the Crash were 15 more seconds and a 34 yard field goal away from still losing. Add that to what is a good but not top tier point differential, and a good but not top tier award cabinet, and this team needed to pull off something special in the playoffs in order to get out of the mediocre champions tier. Instead of doing that, they promptly pulled something special in the opposite direction during the Ultimus and brought themselves down to Best Team in Weak Year territory. As basically a better version of the S26 Wraiths, with a not quite as terrible opponent that they needed a last second field goal and luck to beat, the Crash go right above them.
The final list has a few surprises for me; I feel like I don't see a lot of talk about the S9 Second Line as the greatest team of all time, and I expected more top tier Otters teams. I also didn't realize how generally weak Ultimus champions ended up being from S21 all the way to S34. Finally, I didn't expect for there to be 2 teams in between the S24 Sabercats and the S25 Sabercats, or for the S41 Outlaws to have a chance at being a 3rd team if not for some unlucky bounces in the Ultimus. I did expect the S25 Sabercats to be last, and boy were they last.
The final list goes as follows:
How the (Insert Expletives of your Choice) Did This Team Win the Ultimus Tier:
41. S25 Sabercats
40. S13 Otters
39. S31 Hahalua
38. S24 Sabercats
37. S16 Outlaws
36. S23 Wraiths
35. S28 Wraiths
34. S22 Yeti
Best Team in a Weak Year Tier:
33. S33 Hawks
32. S8 Wraiths
31. S20 Copperheads
30. S17 Otters
29. S37 Outlaws
28. S34 Butchers
27. S26 Wraiths
26. S41 Crash
25. S27 Sailfish
24. S1 Outlaws
Good Teams who Upset Greats in the Playoffs Tier:
23. S29 Silverbacks
22. S32 Silverbacks
21. S7 Liberty
20. S36 Hahalua
19. S4 Otters
18. S21 Second Line
17. S30 Sailfish
Mediocre Champions That I Keep Moving In My Head Tier:
16. S18 Otters
15. S11 Second Line
14. S12 Otters
13. S19 Otters
12. S38 Outlaws
Great But Short of All Time Status Tier:
11. S14 Sabercats
10. S35 Hahalua
9. S5 Otters
8. (Space Intentionally left blank for S2 Outlaws)
7. S10 Hawks
6. S6 Otters
The 5 Greatest Teams Ever:
5. S15 Hawks
4. S40 Outlaws
3. S39 Wraiths
2. (Space Intentionally left blank for S3 Outlaws)
1. S9 Second Line