3. Funny enough I did this task offseason, and honestly, I think it's my favorite one, so going to run it back this time around. First off, I want to take a look at what I had predicated last offseason:
In summary, in the NSFC I said the BAL and CTC were the top two teams, but could very soon be pushed out by the likes of COL and SAR. Holy chow, I actually got that pretty spot on, as COL was the one seed this season and SAR represented the NSFC in the S45 Ultimus. But how did we do in the ASFC: I said that AZ, HON, NYS, and AUS, would run the division and that's technically true. HON was the clearly the best team this regular season and AUS was the eventual Ultimus winner, so I'll count that as a portion of a win. I also said SJS would get to 6-7 wins and I was right about that as well. Lastly, I said that NOLA would get to 5-6 wins and they did just that. All in all, pretty happy with how this turned out looking back a year later, so let's try and do it again this season.
Also, shoutout to me for kind of picking the Ultimus. Here's a direct quote: "Realistically, I think you’ve got to look at CTC and HON as early favorites. BUT, if you wanted to rock the boat a bit, I think you could potentially take SAR out of the NSFC and AUS out of the ASFC to both represent their conferences in the Ultimus. (Clearly AUS was was also very good last year, so it’s not THAT crazy of a pick)"
Looking ahead to S46, I don't really see too much movement. If we start with the ASFC this time around, I think HON still is the team to beat, with AUS closely nipping at their heels. Beyond that. I think you've got a log jam for the 3 spot with AZ, OCO, and NYS. I do think both SJS and NOLA take huge steps this year, but the competition in this division is fierce and I think the other teams need to realistically lose a step before these two teams look to compete consistently. SJS showed huge strides and flipped those 1 score games on their head, and NOLA, who should have a strong draft this time around and has their young core beginning to hit their prime, may be able to churn out 7 wins. BUT, the big question for both of these teams is whether or not they can win the all important division games, or if they beat up on the NSFC a little longer.
If we shift to the NSFC, I think we've got a real nice traffic jam in SAR, COL, and BAL. With BER going through a mini reboot, CTC losing a ton of veterans and having to reset, plus, with YKW with a small talent pool for the time being, the top 3 shouldn't change too much. However, a team I would keep my eyes on is CHI. They narrowly missed the playoffs this past season and looked poised for another run with that veteran offense that they have. Will it be enough to knock off one of the big 3 in this division? I don't know, but it almost happened this season, so it very well could happen again.
Alright, alright, Ultimus prediction time: I think the league is going to be a bloodbath this year. We saw that with the ASFC and the top heavy NSFC, and it should carry through this kind of transitional season for the ISFL. Early favorites again should be HON and SAR, but if you wanted to look for some longshot predictions: I think you have to take a peak at OCO and COL. One of these teams looked great at the end of last season and was hampered by a bad start and the other was the #1 seed for NSFC. Hopefully we get close to being right agan, because I would love to walk this same path and be right for the second season in a row.
In summary, in the NSFC I said the BAL and CTC were the top two teams, but could very soon be pushed out by the likes of COL and SAR. Holy chow, I actually got that pretty spot on, as COL was the one seed this season and SAR represented the NSFC in the S45 Ultimus. But how did we do in the ASFC: I said that AZ, HON, NYS, and AUS, would run the division and that's technically true. HON was the clearly the best team this regular season and AUS was the eventual Ultimus winner, so I'll count that as a portion of a win. I also said SJS would get to 6-7 wins and I was right about that as well. Lastly, I said that NOLA would get to 5-6 wins and they did just that. All in all, pretty happy with how this turned out looking back a year later, so let's try and do it again this season.
Also, shoutout to me for kind of picking the Ultimus. Here's a direct quote: "Realistically, I think you’ve got to look at CTC and HON as early favorites. BUT, if you wanted to rock the boat a bit, I think you could potentially take SAR out of the NSFC and AUS out of the ASFC to both represent their conferences in the Ultimus. (Clearly AUS was was also very good last year, so it’s not THAT crazy of a pick)"
Looking ahead to S46, I don't really see too much movement. If we start with the ASFC this time around, I think HON still is the team to beat, with AUS closely nipping at their heels. Beyond that. I think you've got a log jam for the 3 spot with AZ, OCO, and NYS. I do think both SJS and NOLA take huge steps this year, but the competition in this division is fierce and I think the other teams need to realistically lose a step before these two teams look to compete consistently. SJS showed huge strides and flipped those 1 score games on their head, and NOLA, who should have a strong draft this time around and has their young core beginning to hit their prime, may be able to churn out 7 wins. BUT, the big question for both of these teams is whether or not they can win the all important division games, or if they beat up on the NSFC a little longer.
If we shift to the NSFC, I think we've got a real nice traffic jam in SAR, COL, and BAL. With BER going through a mini reboot, CTC losing a ton of veterans and having to reset, plus, with YKW with a small talent pool for the time being, the top 3 shouldn't change too much. However, a team I would keep my eyes on is CHI. They narrowly missed the playoffs this past season and looked poised for another run with that veteran offense that they have. Will it be enough to knock off one of the big 3 in this division? I don't know, but it almost happened this season, so it very well could happen again.
Alright, alright, Ultimus prediction time: I think the league is going to be a bloodbath this year. We saw that with the ASFC and the top heavy NSFC, and it should carry through this kind of transitional season for the ISFL. Early favorites again should be HON and SAR, but if you wanted to look for some longshot predictions: I think you have to take a peak at OCO and COL. One of these teams looked great at the end of last season and was hampered by a bad start and the other was the #1 seed for NSFC. Hopefully we get close to being right agan, because I would love to walk this same path and be right for the second season in a row.