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Wow … two games left and the IFL shows why it is amongst the best in league participation and GM talent.:arrow: Only the AC North is settled. Cleveland wins its fourth division title, now two in a row.
:arrow: The rest of the divisions are all wide open and who is the “top” after week 15 just might be the “bottom” after week 17.
Let’s take a walk through the divisions:
AC North: As mentioned earlier, the Clawz are champs
and are looking for one more win to secure a bye in the playoffs. Possible prey is either Lansing or Wichita.AC South: Louisiana is trying to hold on in order to claim their second division title since last winning in 2006. At 9-5, they host Vancouver before meeting Murfreesboro in the finale. Murfreesboro must travel to Oakland before hosting the showdown with Louisiana in the last week of the season. Here’s how the tea leaves seem to read: Louisiana’s magic number is one and what that means is that Murfreesboro can only take the division if it wins out and Louisiana drops its final two games. However, Murfreesboro’s hopes are still in play for a wild card berth even if Louisiana wins the division.
AC East: Well here’s a division with a serious log jam. There are three teams at 8-6: Boston, Norfolk and West Virginia. Boston hosts Texas and Hartford. This seems to be the easiest rode to transverse as they host a “Chung-less” Texas and bottom feeder Hartford. Norfolk travels to Tulsa, a team that also got a little nicked up in week 15, before it hosts West Virginia in the season finale. West Virginia plays the hottest team in the IFL as they host Little Rock. (Little Rock has run off four consecutive wins over playoff hopefuls – Norfolk, Lawrence, Boston and Tulsa. Mix in their one point losses from Texas and Tulsa and one would have to argue that the Toads are a force to contend with.) WV has its final game with Norfolk. This division is simply headed for “tie breaker hell”
and may yet be decided on that basis. All teams are wild card bait also.AC West: Another log jam. Portland and Los Angeles sit on top with 9-5 records and California waits in ambush at 8-6. Anchorage is still hopeful at 7-7 and has a good conference record to possibly win a wild card. The Lynx also have a favorable path to find a way – first vs. 4-10 Vermont and then a must win vs. Los Angeles. California faces the “on again, perhaps off again" Newark Bulldogs (which team will shows up is truly anybody’s guess
) and then a must win vs. Portland. Los Angeles seems to have the easiest road (if there is such a thing) as they travel to Orlando and then to Anchorage who they did not beat in their first meeting. Portland has resurging Lawrence on the schedule and their finale with California. We think this division is also up in the air and will be decided by a tie breaker … which at this point in time favors Portland. All teams in this division still have their toes in the water for a playoff berth.NC North: There are some damn good football teams in this division. Lansing (11-3) has run off seven straight wins and still may not get into the playoffs
if it doesn’t beat either AC North champ Cleveland or division rival Madison. Speaking of Madison (10-4) … they also may not get a playoff berth but do have an easier shot in that they travel to 4-10 Montreal before their showdown with Lansing … and they would hold the tie breaker if by chance both have the same records. Pittsburgh (10-4) and currently out of the playoff picture 
must win at Wichita and Dakota and hope for a little help from their “friends”. Any given Sunday, as they say …. 
NC South: Well, we finally get to a division that only has two teams locked up --- Texas (11-3) and Tulsa (11-3). Both teams suffered some injuries in week 15 but none bigger than Texas with QB Clayton Chung :injured: who had tossed 36 TD’s thus far this season. Replacing Chung will either be Les Bishop:loser: or Randall Burns:loser:. Neither is going to bring the house down. Tulsa had some defensive injury setbacks, on a team that is not too deep on that side of the ball. Texas travels to Boston and Tulsa hosts Norfolk. Neither team from the AC East is a pushover and with the injuries in the NC South,, the playing field just might have gotten a little more level. Tulsa GM was quoted after TB’s TEN GAME REVIEW, “Great Article. But Tulsa will win the division in week 17 in Texas. Book it.” We wouldn’t advise Tulsa to count their chickens before they hatch … week 16 is huge for both teams.
NC East: Another two horse race division. But these two horses, Newark (8-6) and Lawrence (8-6), only have a playoff berth if they win their division. They do not play each other in the final two weeks, so Newark is in control of its own destiny. But who knows what that will be from week to week. The Bulldogs lost four in a row before winning last week. Somehow, if Newark can find the magic of the last game and can beat California and then Orlando, there are no more questions that need to be asked :dancing: ….. but if not, Lawrence is ready to try on the silver slipper but only if they beat Portland and Vermont because they do not hold a tie breaker. If Lawrence lets either Portland or Vermont slip away in the night, the only remedy will be for Newark to start another losing streak (which is within a believable realm of possibilities
).NC West: And finally, the last division features Salt Lake City (7-7) efforts to stay ahead of Vancouver (6-8 ). Salt Lake City, like Louisiana in the AC South, has a magic number of one. A win vs. St. Louis or a win vs. Vancouver in the season finale will clinch the division. Vancouver’s hopes reside in a must win vs. Louisiana and then vs. Salt Lake City but only if SLC lost to St. Louis in week 16.
GOOD HUNTING TO ALL :shoot:
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