Highest Scoring Team ($15)
THE GROOVERS
Coach Hunt (4th time this season)
158.45 pts
Highest Scoring Player ($7)
Curtis’s Lot Lizards
Coach Nick
George Kittle - 42 pts
Week 13’s Game of the Week turned out to be a blowout, and the repercussions of which could change the entire makeup of the playoffs. Papa Jord and the Real Slim Brady’s team turned in their 2nd worst performance of the season following their clinching of the DD&B division last week, losing to Jesse and the Recker Rampage 98-133, but did they take the foot of the gas too soon? Jesse, who started off the season 2-6, despite being Top 3 in the Power Rankings nearly all season, and not unlike the Oakland Athletics’ 2002 Moneyball season, Jesse “Billy Beane” Anderson has won 5 straight games. With tiebreakers over Austin & Ewoldt, who sit one game back in the X-IA, this win clinches the division for the Recker Rampage, Jesse’s second divisional title. Now, Jesse (7-6) sits one game behind Jord (8-5), and now holding the tiebreaker with one week left, should Jord lose, and Jesse win, Jesse could earn the remaining bye week spot left in the playoffs. Pretty spicy.
We had two more playoff spots get defined this week, though both teams had already earned a playoff spot, but with Hunt and the GROOVERS winning their 12th straight game this week, in a bloodbath, against TC BEING SO WEIRD ABOUT IT 158-100, Hunt officially earned the #1 seed in the playoffs, which comes with a bye week, and a little cash to boot. This is the 2nd time that Hunt has won the BSC division. That means that Drew, who lost again this week, will be relegated to the 5th seed, as the top wildcard.
TC’s BLASTERS, who beat Drew, 132-108, have also won five straight games now, and have forced themselves into a shot at the 2nd wildcard spot.
The only remaining division up for grabs, the Cul-de-Sack, is truly a mess:
The Outlaw Soldier and TC BEING SO WEIRD ABOUT IT both lost, and that sets up an absolutely wild final week of the regular season, as all four teams are still playoff eligible. With Nick losing this week, he can no longer win the division, as he lost to all three divisional opponents, but he is still in play for the 2nd wildcard with a win next week (though it will still come down to tiebreakers). If Curtis & Zach both win next week, Curtis would take the division, and Zach the wildcard if TC loses. IF TC wins in that scenario, he’ll take the wildcard (he holds tiebreaker). If Curtis & Zach lose next week, all hell breaks loose, as all five 6-7 teams will come into play. A win for Joe in the scenario would mean that he would take the division (most likely) and then there’d be a million different scenarios for the 2nd wildcard spot. 2 playoff spots remain and 8 teams in the mix. Time to throw some popcorn on the skillet, boys.
The only coach to be eliminated this week was the Des Moines Football Team, as Coach Qualley falls short in his sophomore season. RIP lad, you put up a hell of a fight after a tough start to the season. Qualley will still look to avoid the TTNBL.
Despite a middling performance from the CdS, the DD&B crap the bed, extending the gap between first and second once more. X-IA and BSC flip flop yet again.
The Pickers’ Consensus goes 4 for 4, as does Curtis & TC. The Commish breaks the tie with Jesse.
The Ewoldt stans came out in force after being left out of the Top 5 Hottest IFL Coaches’ Poll, and while he’d be in my personal top 5 list, the data doesn’t lie. Maybe a couple more years of landscaping will sculpt his body into something more like Drew’s.