Fact me up Scotty!

Some random facts for your enjoyment.

• Birmingham, the #5 ranked team according to the official rankings, defeated the #2 (Derby) , #4 (Stirling) and #12 (Leeds Met) seeds en route to the final. Double Coverage had them ranked either #1 (on the RP poll) or #2 (on the writers poll)

• Birmingham are the only team in Uni Football history to make five consecutive finals.

• No team has ever lost three finals in a row. Birmingham would be the first if they fail to win next weekend.

• Hertfordshire will win their sixth championship if they win on Sunday. They currently lead with five overall, Southampton and Hull have four (Hull have a shared title with Cardiff after a horrible game in 1988), Birmingham and Loughborough have three.

• The last teams to face each other in back to back finals were Loughborough and Oxford (Cavaliers) in the 2001 and 2002 finals. Oxford won in 2001 (26-23) and Loughborough won in 2002 (39-22).

• Hertfordshire and Birmingham have both been to six finals each, with this weekend being the 7th for each program. Hertfordshire have a record of 5-1 and Birmingham have a record of 3-3.

• In the Challenge trophy this will be the first time a TVC team has played a team from the MAC. In fact, it will be the first time a team from either division has made it to the final!

• Southampton have never lost a final when they get to the big game, with an impressive 4-0 record.

• This is the first time NTU have made a final since the single institution split in 09/10. This is also the first time they will play Southampton, another team the was split with the formation of Solent.

• NTU have made the Challenge trophy semi finals twice and lost to SWAC teams. They did not face a SWAC team in the post season this year.

Challenge Trophy Predictions

Glasgow Tigers vs NTU Renegades

It would be stereotypical of me to add a video of the Proclaimers, but really this is one hell of a trek for NTU to under take. Danny Miller and Co make the journey north with the hope of a first finals appearance in the teams history. They've been highly rated all season by the DC writers and we fancied them to be pushing for the title. However the not so insignificant barrier of Glasgow stand in their way.

Putting aside the slightly shifty film habits (or lack of sharing film habits) Glasgow have shown and some questionable refereeing at times against BNU, credit has to be given to the Tigers. Only one team had held BNU to under 20 points this seasons and they largely shut down running back Danny Wallace.

This week they will have to shut down Danny Miller, dual threat phenom that scores with his feet and has been known to throw the ball every now and then. Rumors are that the NTU offence may be a little dinged up though, so that could really throw things into the mixer!

Almost an NTU clean sweep, but again it's another game that could be closer than people think.

Southampton Stags vs Leeds Celtics

A team that many (including us) had down as TVC champions and national title contenders, the Stags confidently dispatched Manchester in last weeks game. They will be expecting nothing less than a finals appearance and with a strong defence giving their offence plenty of good field position we can expect Leeds may struggle.

Southampton are healthy on offence once more and QB Dana Neale will  be looking to maintain the current run to add some silverware to the stags trophy cabinet.

No game for Leeds last week despite the best efforts of everyone involved to get the game played midweek instead. You have to wonder if the shortened week will effect either team, as neither of them knew who was playing who until Leed's were officially declared winners on Wednesday.

As a team with national Championship caliber, we expect Southampton to win this one comfortably.

National Championship Predictions

It's getting closer now!

With only one weekends worth of fixtures left before the final there are some very interesting games set up. Some may think that calling them is easy, however if anything this post season has shown us that nothing is guaranteed!

Scoring so far is fairly even, with Simon Love streaking ahead into the lead with 15 correct predictions and three upsets picks as well. His only incorrect pick so far has been BNU over Glasgow. Pikachu brings up the tail with a woeful 9 points.

Derby Braves vs Birmingham Lions

Last year this would have been a forgone conclusion in the MAC. Derby struggled to compete in a division with NTU, Loughborough and Birmingham and were often the bridesmaids, but never the brides. What a difference a trip up north makes! This game gives Derby an opportunity to dispell the myth that that northern football just isn't up to it. 

Irish American Football Association News

We have a week’s break from Irish fixtures this week with no games in both the Shamrock Bowl Conference and IAFL-1. Time to reflect on the Leagues so far and bring you a spot of news then!

Firstly IAFA announced that they have given formative membership to a new team in the hope that they can field a team in 2014. The Dundalk Mavericks are still looking for players, coaches and off-field personnel but the skeleton of a squad is there, and with youth and potential in bags.

Shamrock Bowl Conference

What has surprised us most in the Shamrock Bowl Conference this year? Firstly the main talking point has to be the UL Vikings’ drop in form. They’ve headed to the last seven Shamrock Bowls and, although they’ve lost the last three, they were favourites to make it again this year.

The season opener was a nervy one, with the Vikings taking a narrow 11-0 win against UCD, but then came the 20-0 shocking defeat against Trinity. The Vikings have had to deal with a few retirements including captain Liam Ryan and Head Coach Ciaran O’Sullivan, as well as injuries to starting quarterback Marc Ashworth but they still have bucket-loads of talent on the team.

The UL Vikings will want to bounce back against UCD - photo by Nathan James Sharrocks

NFL Free Agency: Day 1

The NFL has been working on making each event on the calendar a huge event to be built up to and then unleashed on an unsuspecting public and then followed frenetically as it unfolds. Fueled by the Blackberries and iPhones of NFL news mavens, who earn their crust on days like this, the opening of Free Agency has taken on a likeness to Sky Sports Transfer deadline day without the presence of Jim White (what can only be considered a bonus).

Here are your big story lines from last nights actions
(rankings are from Pro Football Talks hot 100 followed by details of contracts where available)

Miami and Cleveland make big moves early
Cleveland are a team with a completely new management structure in place and need to make huge strides to improve their team quickly, Miami are at the other end of the scale with a need to improve dramatically to save the job of the current GM, Jeff Ireland.

In Cleveland new General Manager Mike Lombardi (yes, him off NFL Network) moved to restock their defence and eat up some of their spare cap space with the additions of former Raiders Defensive Tackle Desmond Bryant (ranked #33 5 years $34m) and Superbowl winning outside linebacker Paul Kruger (ranked #7, 5 years $40m with $20m guarenteed). They're also due to host former Cardinals linebacker Greg Toler.

Miami made improvements on both sides of the ball with the addition of Mike Wallace (ranked #1, 5 years £60m(!)) to give their offence a deep threat that has been missing since they traded Brandon Marshall to Chicago. On the defensive side of the ball they picked up Ravens middle Linebacker Danell Ellerbe (ranked #39, 5 years £35m) and then promptly released Carlos Dansby to restore some cap space.