New season...new expectations...let's check and see how the pre-season predictions perform after 8 games.
Here is the pre-season rankings:
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Blue Heat
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Gold Ru$h
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Uptown Ballers
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Play2Reign
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Airport Flyers
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Big Red
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Wells Sox
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Wells Royals
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Wells Angels
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I may not be the commish any longer, but I still keep up with what is going on in the WFL. Since, I can be impartial - yes...I actually can - I thought it might be easiest to continue the poll based purely off of results and my past knowledge of the players involved in the league.
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I also put in a lot of thought of how to distinguish one team from another. I based it on the strength of schedule and how many wins a team has over other teams with a .500 or better record...so it isn't just a popularity contest for me.
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So...here is my Power Rankings thru Week 5 of the 2017 season. Feel free to give me grief about how your team ranks. I will continue this through the remainder of the season.
2017 Power Rankings - The Greissinger Poll
Team Rec Opp Rec/Wins RD Last Rank
1. Gold Ru$h 4-0 8-11 / 2 45 2
2. Blue Heat 4-0 4-14 / 1 31 1
3. Uptown Ballers 3-2 11-10 / 1 16 3
4. Wells Sox 2-2 10-8 / 1 21 7
5. Airport Flyers 3-2 8-14 / 0 -12 5
6. Big Red 2-2 9-10 / 0 -5 6
7. Wells Angels 2-3 12-11 / 1 -16 9
8. Play2Reign 0-5 15-7 / 0 -32 4
9. Wells Royals 0-4 12-6 / 0 -46 8
The surprise team thru Week 5 has to be the Wells Angels. They have played a relatively tough schedule and have one win over a .500 or better team. That combined with their 2016 tourney run...makes them 5-4 over their last 9 games. They seem to be turning a corner.
On the flip side, Play2Reign has played a tough schedule and haven't found the win column in quite some time. I have a hard time believing they are the worst team in the league, but they are not the Play2Reign of past years. I do feel they will win some games down the stretch and may surprise a team they are underdogs to beat.
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Wells Sox are having a good start with 1 win over .500 or better team and a decent opponents' record at 10-8. They have played the 3rd toughest schedule thus far and have held their own against Gold Ru$h and the Flyers. This week's game against Blue Heat will be telling of just how good the Sox are in 2017.
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Finally, Gold Ru$h. I put them at #1 over my pre-season favorite Blue Heat because they have an impressive 3 wins over teams with .500 or better record. A couple of those were very tight (one run win over Ballers and the aforementioned 3-run win over Sox). Their schedule has been much tougher than Blue Heat and their Run Differential is 14 runs higher against that tougher schedule.