Parity thy name is USAFL… for the most part. What a way to end the regular season! What started out as what we thought would be certainties at the beginning of the season vanished at midnight this morning. No World’s Finest. Only one team represents the Premier Division. No 10-game winner. No clear favorite going into the knockout rounds.
Instead, we have five 9-5 teams, including a Koala team under interim management that was 5-9 a year ago rebuilding into a surprise powerhouse. The Koalas ended the season on a 5-game winning streak with a balanced lineup of stars and consistent role-players. Projected at 11 to start the season, they finished second.
The Penguins have again put together a team capable of a championship run, but a dominant 6-0 start of the season ended on a 3-5 slide creating some doubt.
The Strokes waited until the end of the season to hit their stride ending the year on a three-game winning streak. The McCaffrey-Hurts combo indeed carried the offense, but the draft and roster management skills of Stephen S. were unparallel with a phenomenal 96.1% accuracy rate.
Nash Kato again seeks to become the most dominant team in the USAFL. Their 7-2 run to end the season included a division sweep and a 141-122 win over the Holy Penguins. Nash Kato boasts one of the highest-ranked lineups in the league with nearly their entire starting lineup ranked in the top 10.
When the season started, Takada appeared to be the king of the Commonwealth. They defeated all of their division rivals but the Koalas and defeated every team with 7 wins or less. Sadly, those two losses to the Koalas ended up being their undoing, but their solid lineup of starters can certainly lift them into the championship.
Finally, calling an 8-5 team the low seed doesn’t do this Whitefish team any justice. Despite being the sixth seed and stumbling into the playoffs with a 1-3 finish, the Cousins, Mixon, and Hill triad can take this team deep into the playoffs.
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