1. This year's Ultimus matchup is truly one for the ages, with not only one rags to riches story, but two, as the Baltimore Hawks and Orange County Otters are set to play for the championship. These two perennial bottom feeders emerged from the ashes of Season 32 (Orange County having the worst record in the league and Baltimore tying for second worst record) to both landing in second place in their division for the regular season. The high seeding is especially surprising for Orange County, as they didn't even post a positive net points on the season, only scoring 410 total points while giving up 412! But before we talk the final game, let's recap the rest of the playoffs:
First Round:
ASFC:
The top seeded Arizona Outlaws looked to make quick work of the fourth seed Honolulu Hahalua, and emerged victorious with a two touchdown advantage over the Hahalua. The middle seed match up between the second seeded Orange County Otters and third seeded Austin Copperheads was, as expected, much closer, with the Otters pulling out the four point victory with a fourth quarter comeback.
Final Scores:
31 - 17 Arizona
20 - 16 Orange County
NSFC:
Interestingly enough both first round games in the NSFC were decided by 9 points, with the first being the top seeded Sarasota Sailfish defeating the Berlin Fire Salamanders. In the second game, the second seed Baltimore Hawks came out victorious against the third seed Chicago Butchers.
Final Scores:
33 - 24 Sarasota
23 - 14 Baltimore
Second Round:
ASFC:
In the conference championship game we had the battle of the top two seeds, pitting the Orange County Otters against the Arizona Outlaws. Considering the Outlaws outscored the Otters by 75 points and gave up 31 less points in the regular season, the Outlaws were the heavy favorites to advance to the Ultimus. Orange County had other plans, however, as the Otters came out swinging, building up an 18 point lead after their final score in the fourth quarter, and while a pair of late touchdowns for the Outlaws would bring the final score into a more respectable margin of defeat, the Outlaws just didn't have the fire power on this day to actually threaten victory. Final Score : 34 - 29 Orange County
NSFC:
The NFSC conference championship was, statistically speaking, much more of a toss up than the ASFC. While Baltimore had the much more potent offense in comparison to Sarasota (Baltimore being plus 37 points scored on the season), the Sailfish were trotting out a much more stringent defense than the Hawks (Sarasota surrendering 65 less points than Baltimore in the regular season). This would lead to the age old question of who would reign supreme, offense or defense? In this case, the offense won the day, as Baltimore unleashed an offensive onslaught that brought their lead to a 20 point head after their final score in the fourth quarter. Similarly to Arizona, Sarasota would score another pair of touchdowns before the end of the game, but it wouldn't be enough to dig themselves out of the hole Baltimore had dug them.
Final Score:
30 - 24 Baltimore
Ultimus:
At the time of writing the Ultimus hasn't been played yet, so let's do some wild speculation. Reviewing the two team's playoff games thus far, it's hard to determine if one team has the advantage over the other, as Orange County has scored 54 points while giving up 45 to the opposing teams, while Baltimore has scored 53 points while only surrendering 38 points. The slight defensive advantage that Baltimore has right now, along with their superior regular season performance (Baltimore is plus 58 in scoring and gave up 11 less points than Orange County during the season) might be enough to call them the betting favorites, but this is truly a game that won't be decided until the dots meet on the field.
First Round:
ASFC:
The top seeded Arizona Outlaws looked to make quick work of the fourth seed Honolulu Hahalua, and emerged victorious with a two touchdown advantage over the Hahalua. The middle seed match up between the second seeded Orange County Otters and third seeded Austin Copperheads was, as expected, much closer, with the Otters pulling out the four point victory with a fourth quarter comeback.
Final Scores:
31 - 17 Arizona
20 - 16 Orange County
NSFC:
Interestingly enough both first round games in the NSFC were decided by 9 points, with the first being the top seeded Sarasota Sailfish defeating the Berlin Fire Salamanders. In the second game, the second seed Baltimore Hawks came out victorious against the third seed Chicago Butchers.
Final Scores:
33 - 24 Sarasota
23 - 14 Baltimore
Second Round:
ASFC:
In the conference championship game we had the battle of the top two seeds, pitting the Orange County Otters against the Arizona Outlaws. Considering the Outlaws outscored the Otters by 75 points and gave up 31 less points in the regular season, the Outlaws were the heavy favorites to advance to the Ultimus. Orange County had other plans, however, as the Otters came out swinging, building up an 18 point lead after their final score in the fourth quarter, and while a pair of late touchdowns for the Outlaws would bring the final score into a more respectable margin of defeat, the Outlaws just didn't have the fire power on this day to actually threaten victory. Final Score : 34 - 29 Orange County
NSFC:
The NFSC conference championship was, statistically speaking, much more of a toss up than the ASFC. While Baltimore had the much more potent offense in comparison to Sarasota (Baltimore being plus 37 points scored on the season), the Sailfish were trotting out a much more stringent defense than the Hawks (Sarasota surrendering 65 less points than Baltimore in the regular season). This would lead to the age old question of who would reign supreme, offense or defense? In this case, the offense won the day, as Baltimore unleashed an offensive onslaught that brought their lead to a 20 point head after their final score in the fourth quarter. Similarly to Arizona, Sarasota would score another pair of touchdowns before the end of the game, but it wouldn't be enough to dig themselves out of the hole Baltimore had dug them.
Final Score:
30 - 24 Baltimore
Ultimus:
At the time of writing the Ultimus hasn't been played yet, so let's do some wild speculation. Reviewing the two team's playoff games thus far, it's hard to determine if one team has the advantage over the other, as Orange County has scored 54 points while giving up 45 to the opposing teams, while Baltimore has scored 53 points while only surrendering 38 points. The slight defensive advantage that Baltimore has right now, along with their superior regular season performance (Baltimore is plus 58 in scoring and gave up 11 less points than Orange County during the season) might be enough to call them the betting favorites, but this is truly a game that won't be decided until the dots meet on the field.