April 12, 2017
We’re at the final week of the season and we’re looking at a photo finish to the season unlike anything we’ve seen before! We have five teams tied at 5-4 and one team at 4-5 that are jockeying for position in the A Division, where two of the three teams locked into B Division spots are locked into a huge battle for home field in the first round of the B Division tournament. In this article, we take a closer look at each team’s playoff situations and what they will need in order to land the best playoff standing that they can get!
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CLINTON STREET PUB FC [CSP]: There’s very little of interest at stake for CSPFC going into the final week of the season, as they have a commanding three win lead over the next five teams and with it a guaranteed berth in the second round as the top seed in the A Division bracket. It’s not to say their match for this week is of no consequence, though – they are hosting a Hungry Tiger team that is desperately looking to hold on to home field in the first round at the very least and aiming to take the second first round bye away from their competition, and CSPFC would love to avenge their second round loss at home to the Tiger Balls in the Spring 2016 playoffs this week as well.
WHAT CLINTON STREET PUB FC NEEDS TO:
Secure First Place: Nothing!
BEST CASE SCENARIO: First Place, with a moral victory against their rivals to cap off the season.
WORST CASE SCENARIO: First Place.
GKO [GKO]: At first glance, it would look as if GKO would be the prohibitive favorite to take the second first round bye given their advantage in points over the rest of the teams tied for second place. They hold a 4 point advantage over their nearest rival Tiger Balls and an even more commanding 8 point lead over The Ship Show going into the final week of the season. However, their final match is a very challenging one indeed, and one with grave consequence to their aspirations for the postseason – they will head out to Pinball Outreach Project to play a POP team that to date still hasn’t lost a match at home. If GKO does manage to pull out a win at POP, though, they are almost assured that they will claim the second first round bye barring a Tiger Balls rout of CSPFC at Clinton Street Pub. On the flip side, a loss could send them down as far as sixth place, which would send them back on the road for the entirety of the playoffs.
WHAT GKO NEEDS TO:
Secure First Round Bye: A win at POP and at least 5 more points than HTR if HTR wins.
Secure First Round Home Field: A win or losses from two of HTR, SHP, and QWP.
BEST CASE SCENARIO: A win at POP, clinching a first round bye in the A Division.
WORST CASE SCENARIO: A loss and wins from HTR, SHP, and QWP would drop them down to sixth, and they would open the playoffs on the road.
TIGER BALLS [HTR]: While this season may not have started out very well for our defending champions, they now sit in a very good position to potentially poach the second first round bye away from GKO. After dropping their first two home matches at the beginning of the season, they spent most of the season trying to keep up with the rest of the pack. However, last week they finally broke through the .500 barrier with a commanding 14-2 win over Scoreboard, also giving them enough points to clinch a playoff spot. However, they face a potentially tough matchup as well this week against CSPFC at Clinton Street Pub. A win will at least give them one home match during the playoffs, a loss will put that prospect in severe danger.
WHAT TIGER BALLS NEEDS TO:
Secure First Round Bye: A win at CSP and either a GKO loss or 5 more points than GKO. They must also outscore SHP and QWP if either team wins.
Secure First Round Home Field: A win at CSP or losses from two of SHP, QWP, or POP. They must also outscore SHP, QWP, and POP if they win, and outscore any of those teams that lose if they lose as well.
BEST CASE SCENARIO: First round bye, with any of the criteria stated above.
WORST CASE SCENARIO: HTR loses; SHP, QWP, and POP win; HTR fails to outscore GKO. HTR would fall to sixth.
THE SHIP SHOW [SHP]: In previous seasons, Ship Ahoy had one of the strongest home field advantages in the league. Between their inception in the Spring 2016 season to last season, they had only lost one game at home (against CSPFC, Spring 2016). Their achilles heel, however, has always been their away games – they were a combined 2-8 in the past two seasons on the road, with zero of those wins coming last season. That’s all completely changed this time around, with the team posting an impressive 4-1 mark on the road but managing only one win thus far this season at home. Despite their woes at home, they’re still in contention for the second first-round bye, but they will need to win at home to get there. They will finish the season at Ship Ahoy against the C-Biscuits, their cross-street rivals. They haven’t locked up a playoff spot yet, but all they need to do it is to score two points in their final match. A loss will most likely put them on the road in the first round, but maybe that’s not such a bad thing for them this season?
WHAT THE SHIP SHOW NEEDS TO:
Secure First Round Bye: A win and either losses from both GKO and HTR or enough points to outscore GKO or HTR if either team wins.
Secure First Round Home Field: A win or losses from two of QWP, POP, and HTR; or enough points to outscore all of them if they win.
Secure Playoff Spot: Two more points.
BEST CASE SCENARIO: First round bye.
WORST CASE SCENARIO: Fail to score two points and SSL shuts out SBD, in which case SHP would fall to the B Division.
QUARTERPOUNDERS (WITH CHEESE) [QWP]: On November 27th, 2016, The QuarterPounders entered the B Division playoffs as the bottom seed, and their season ended with a 15-1 shellacking at the hands of The Ship Show. For many teams through the course of team league history here and elsewhere, a season ending like that has been a death blow from which they never recover. However, this season, the QuarterPounders were determined to not be that team. With most of the core intact from the previous season, they have launched a comeback that is nothing short of amazing. They have quintupled their win total from the previous season, and they have already scored 19 more points than they did last season – and there’s still one match left to play. Like the other four teams tied at 5-4, the second first round bye is within reach for them, but they will need a lot of help to get it. A win will give them a good shot at playing at home in the first round, at the very least, which is a long way from where this team was last season.
WHAT QUARTERPOUNDERS NEED TO:
Secure First Round Bye: A win, a loss from GKO, enough points to outscore POP, and either losses from HTR and SHP or enough points to outscore either HTR or SHP if they win.
Secure First Round Home Field: A win and a loss from GKO (they also must outscore POP if GKO loses), HTR, or SHP; A win and outscoring SHP or HTR if they win.
Secure Playoff Spot: Five more points.
BEST CASE SCENARIO: First round bye.
WORST CASE SCENARIO: They fail to score the five points they need and SSL outscores them, they would then fall to the B Division.
PINBALL OUTREACH PROJECT [POP]: The league’s most fearsome home team returned this season after a season away from the league, and thus far have notched four more wins to bring their all-time home record up to 16-0. Their record on the road this season has not been up to their standard in previous seasons, as they dropped their first four and picked up their only road win this past week at Quarterworld against the Quarter Rollers. However, they will make their bid for the second first-round bye in this final week of the season by hosting the second place GKO. If they can push their home record to 17-0, they will have a shot at it assuming they can get some help from the teams playing against their competition. If the streak comes to an end, though, they will likely have a long slog on the road to get to the championship round.
WHAT PINBALL OUTREACH PROJECT NEEDS TO:
Secure First Round Bye: A win, a loss from HTR, and either losses from both SHP and QWP or enough points to outscore either of those teams if they win.
Secure First Round Home Field: A win and a loss from one of HTR, SHP, or QWP; or a win and enough points to outscore QWP or SHP
Secure Playoff Spot: Six more points.
BEST CASE SCENARIO: First round bye.
WORST CASE SCENARIO: POP fails to score the six points needed to clinch and SSL outscores them, and they fall to the B Division.
SLINGSHOT THROUGH THE HEART [SSL]: Over the past two seasons, Slingshot Through The Heart combined for three total wins. Much like the QuarterPounders, however, this team started to turn a corner this season, as they went three for three to start the season. After doubling their all-time win total, they have managed one win since. However, they are still in the hunt for an A Division playoff spot (and could even play at home in the first round!), but they are going to need a lot of help to get in. They will need to win, probably by a lot of points, and they will need help from other teams as well. They will have their work cut out for them, however, as they are on the road against a Scoreboard team that is 3-1 at home this season.
WHAT SLINGSHOT THROUGH THE HEART NEEDS TO:
Secure First Round Home Field: A win, losses from all of SHP, QWP, and POP, and enough points to outscore all three of those teams.
Secure Playoff Spot: A win, a loss from SHP, QWP, or POP, and enough points to outscore at least one of those teams that lose.
Secure First Round Home Field (B Division): A win, or a loss from CBR or enough points to outscore them if they win.
BEST CASE SCENARIO: Fourth place and home field in the first round of the A Division playoffs.
WORST CASE SCENARIO: A bad loss and a CBR win would put SSL on the road in the first round of the B Division playoffs.
THE C-BISCUITS [CBR]: The league’s newest team has remained competitive in the B Division throughout the entire season, and can make their mark on the B Division bracket this week with a win over The Ship Show at Ship Ahoy. They could rise as far as first place in the B Division tournament with a win and some help.
WHAT THE C-BISCUITS NEED TO:
Secure First Round Home Field (B Division): A win; or a loss from SBD and QWR and enough points to outscore SBD.
BEST CASE SCENARIO: First place in the B Division Playoffs, with a loss from SSL and enough points to outscore SBD and SSL.
WORST CASE SCENARIO: A loss and wins from SBD and QWR would put CBR in last place in the B Division Playoffs.
SCOREBOARD BUT WITH THE COOL “S” [SBD]: Despite their tied-for-last-place point total and win total that places them squarely in the B Division, this team has been much more competitive than what meets the eye. From the seventh week of last season to now, this team has been batting almost .500 (6-7) in their matches, with all but four of those matches coming in with scores either 8-8 or 9-7, one way or the other. This team has more experience playing in tiebreakers than any other team in the league, with seven tiebreakers coming in the past two seasons alone. If the two tiebreakers they lost this season went the other way, they would be in prime position to take a spot in the A Division playoffs. Nevertheless, they can do their part to clinch home field in the first round of the B Division with a win against Slingshot Through The Heart this week at home, where they are 3-1 over the course of this season.
WHAT SCOREBOARD BUT WITH THE COOL “S” NEEDS TO:
Secure First Round Home Field (B Division): A win; or a loss from CBR and QWR and enough points to outscore CBR.
BEST CASE SCENARIO: First place in the B Division Playoffs and home field in the first round.
WORST CASE SCENARIO: A loss and wins from CBR and QWR would put SBD in last place in the B Division Playoffs.
QUARTER ROLLERS [QWR]: The Quarter Rollers sit in last place at the moment, despite having more points than the other three teams currently occupying B Division spots, but that may help them as they try and jockey for position in the B Division playoffs. The Quarter Rollers will finish the season as the “away” team in their match at their home venue against the QuarterPounders, and with a win they might be able to salvage home field in the first round of the B Division playoffs, but they would need help from some other teams.
WHAT QUARTER ROLLERS NEEDS TO:
Secure First Round Home Field (B Division): A win and losses from both CBR and SBD
BEST CASE SCENARIO: Second place in the B Division Playoffs and home field in the first round.
WORST CASE SCENARIO: A loss will put them on the road in the first round of the playoffs.