(S47) PT #5 - April Madness Brings May Sadness

[goodvsevil1275]

While I am quite new to following S47 of the ISFL, I have been looking at the ISFL index quite a bit for predictions. If this PT was last week, I would have predicted Baltimore to win the Ultimus, but they really burned me on predictions this week so I predict them to be knocked out in their first playoiff game. With Baltimore's fall off, the NSFC seems up for grabs. Honestly, none of these teams really stand out to me as title contenders. Chicago is the 1 seed but they are significantly better on the road compared to playing at home, so that seeding might hurt them. Because of this pool of mediocrity, I am going to pick the team formerly known as the Philadelphia Liberty to represent the conference. They also have an elite home record and the best offense of any of their peers in the NSFC. For the other side, I think the San Jose Sabercats will represent the ASFC. This is not a flashy pick since they are currently 12-3 and killing everyone. Through 15 games, they are the only team to give up fewer than 300 points to opponents. Combine this juggernaut defense with an offense that is basically one field goal away from being the top in the league, and I think you have an easy pick for the Ultimus winners being the San Jose Sabercats over the Cape Town Crash. That being said, the sim is notoriously unpredictable, so I am excited to see how this postseason shakes out.

[Piercewise1]

There are two schools of thought when it comes to making playoff predictions: you can go with the best overall team over the course of the season, or the hottest team in recent weeks.

The first scenario makes things pretty easy: San Jose has the best record in the league at 12-3. They’ve had six wins of 19+ points, and they boast the best scoring defense in the league, giving up only 19.5 points per game. But they’ve also lost two of their past five games by big margins, so let’s take a look at the other metric.

Orange County has won 5 games in a row, making them technically the hottest team right now. Only one of those victories was a one-score game, which is promising. A few were against teams with losing records, but they just defeated the Baltimore Hawks who were 10-4 and in the thick of the playoff race.

Of course, there’s another team that meets this requirement. Chicago has won 4 games in a row, and miraculously caught up to the Hawks in the NSFC. They have the best scoring defense in the conference, although that still only makes them 5th in the league. And 3 of those 4 wins were against teams with losing records.

I think the ASFC champion takes the Ultimus, but who will it be? Orange County went 0-4 against Arizona and San Jose, but they’re on fire right now. Arizona looked to be on a skid until they beat San Jose, who also got walloped by Yellowknife not too long ago (sim gonna sim). So I’ll stick with the hot team in Orange County to end the season 9-0 and take home the trophy over Chicago.

[kenvald]

SHL affiliate

[Figgy]

The season is coming to an end and to be completely fair, it has gone even better than I could have expected. Here in Minnesota the Grey Ducks have out performed my expectations. I knew we were going to be a strong team, but our defense has been absolutely disgusting this year. We knew we were going to be strong on the defensive end, but we even exceeded our own expectations. With a 10-3 record, the Ducks are the top team so far in the league. Giving up a league leading low of only 230 points against,  a full 48 points less than the next lowest scored against defense. The defense puts immense preasure on the Quarterback with a league leading 44 team sacks. On the other end of the ball, the Grey Ducks rely heavily on a very strong running game to move the ball. I strongly feel that the Grey Ducks will be an incredibly hard team to get past in the playoffs and I can't wait to hoist the trophy at the end of the season.

[jadda123876]

Portland Pythons GM here, reporting to you live with the facts about the DSFL.


Weeks ago, in sim testing for a double header, Willeh posted in the Pythons war room a simple message, one that invoked a question of possibility, a world in which we could see ourselves to glorious, victorious purpose in the Ultimini.

It entertained the possibility that we could win every game from here on out in the season, and take home the ultimini.

There is a world, he said, in which this is possible and then proceeded to show how we faced down KCC, DAL, BBB, TIJ, MIN, NOR, and then subsequently defeat LON in our game next Tuesday, to put us securely into playoffs territory, and make us, the PORTLAND PYTHONS, the team to beat.

A last to first incoming? I don't want to jinx anything and say yes, but I know that the atonements we have made to the sim gods, the testing we have done, and the divinatory readings I have seen have shown that we have the potential to make this happen.
That being said, we did lose to Bondi eventually. But it will not be enough to stop us from winning here, and it won't stop us from going to the playoffs.

Mess with the snakes and we will strike your heel.

[Dev0]

I just joined and will be entering the DSFL, however I will be covering the ISFL because that is the dream of my player to 1 day be an outstanding Pro. In the playoffs it is all about pounding the wrong and strong defense. With that said I am choosing the Arizona Outlaws to be the champions, on the backs of Mannering-Phillips, and Nedelo. The speed and power combo between these 2 will keep teams defenses honest. The other thing I really like is that they beat the San Jose SaberCats on the road, which currently is where they would be if they meet in the playoffs. Winters the III is a very efficient QB who is still up there in statistics despite having like 50 less attempts. Winters III has a 1A and a 1B receivers in Aguilera and Bamford both of whom are just as dangerous as any wide outs in the league. Arizona also has a trio of excellent linebackers who blanket opponents stifling the run game and short passes of opponents.

[trident13]

I will focus on the DSFL since that is where I currently am. Currently the most interesting part of the DSFL playoffs is what will happen between London and Portland. Being a member of Portland I know that we will win our final game and get into the playoffs on a four game heater, easily making us the team to beat as we move into the second season. From there we would have a rematch with Minnesota who we just beat on the road and would have to be the favorites in that game. With the Grey Ducks taken down we would be well on our way to the Ultimini against Tijuana, who once again, we just beat on the road. The path is there for the Pythons to go from worst to first and make a statement as THE team to fear and keep an eye on for the future.

[Marty the Monster]

It is with great pleasure I announce that Chicago is back. After a few rough seasons, the Butchers rebuild is appearing to be on the right path as the Chop City Meatboys are going to the playoffs! Very exciting stuff, I agree. Whether or not the Butchers lock up the one seed in the NSFC remains to be seen, but either way, they will almost definitely have to get through the hawks if they want a shot at the title. If Chicago is able to sneak past Baltimore in what will likely be a very tight game they'll be in for a tough match with one of four teams who were also double-digit game winners in the regular season, the Sabercats, Outlaws, Otters, or Secondline. While all of the teams can potentially make some noise in the post season, I would bet on San Jose and their top ranked defense (in terms of points allowed) being the conference representative. That would be a major challenge for the Butchers, but if the red hot Meatboys are still smokin' (coming off a four game win streak so far) anything is possible.

[JJ5]

In the ISFL, I only seeing Arizona and SJS winning. OCO just snuck into the playoffs after starting 5-5, which is a huge accomplishment. I think they have the talent for an upset but it's going to come down to the RNG at the end of the day. I think this is SJS year to lose. But It would be soooo Arizona for them to knock them out and win it all. In the NSFC, Chicago has done pretty well for themselves, maybe I shouldn't have demanded a trade. I think the Hawks will come out on top of that conference. Any team could make a run though, just like last season in NSFC. In the DSFL, it has to be Minnesota to come out on top. But that's what I thought last season, and with Tijuana to come out in the Ultimini as well, and neither team either made them. I have no idea what could happen.

[deadlunatic]

Man it has been an interesting season so far for some of the teams in the DSFL. I can not say much for my team. I think we currently are sitting on a big ole single win. Not to say it hasn't been fun, just not quite as exciting being completely removed from the playoffs at an early stage of the season. I am going to go with Tijuana winning it all at the DSFL stage. It might be a bit of a homer pick here, but I also have spent the most time in that locker room of all the different ones related to the ISFL as a whole. Would I be excited for them if they won, sure, it would be way more fun if it somehow involved me winning though. But that is always the case for me. At least this way it is a team in the same division as us. Plus they are only one game away from the best record in the league. The currently have the most points scored with a decent points allowed. They have a very solid points differential going as well. All said, they should at least be in the Ultimini.