11. Derby Braves (2-0)
Now Derby actually have a QB who can throw the ball they may have a fighting chance of shocking one of the top 2 teams in the MAC. Solid wins over the Stallions and NTU means Derby find themselves at number 11 in our rankings. A matchup of two potentially unbeaten teams, versus Loughborough on December the 11th, will show if this team is worth the hype they have been receiving.
12. Bristol Barracuda (2-0)
The ‘Cuda may feel hard done by to find themselves at the number 12 spot this week. I’m sorry but if you keep struggling you will continue to drop down when other teams are performing better than you. A week after a narrow victory over Bath Spa, Bristol needed overtime to put away Exeter Demons 20-14. In a tough conference where everyone can beat each other, it seems that Bristol may struggle to return to the Championship playoffs.
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| Photo courtesy of Air3 Radio |
13. Stirling Clansmen (3-0)
Congrats Stirling you are 3-0, scoring 166 points and conceding 0 which puts you top of the Borders Conference, but let’s be serious for a second. The three teams that Stirling have faced so far have a combined record of 1-5 with 54 points scored and 245 conceded...Until Stirling face a good quality opposition, they won’t be moving up for quite a while with better teams firmly placed above them.
14. Bangor Muddogs (3-0)
What has happened to Bangor? I remember two years ago when they scored 0 points and conceded around 440 odd. Fair play to them for turning it around and leading the Northern Conference, blowing out the Manchester Tyrants 48-6 this week, next week’s matchup against the other Sheffield Uni (Sabres) seems like a potential game of the week with two high scoring opponents going against each other.
15. OBU Panthers (2-0)
It’s not been a good week for Phil DeMonte. Not only are his former team (who he predicted to lose) 2-0, he also had worse prediction results than the Dbl Coverage team! Two well earned wins over respectable opponents has got the Panthers off to a good start this year. With the national champs on the horizon in two weeks time, the Panthers will be able to show if they truly are contenders this year.
16. Imperial Immortals (3-0)
Let it be known that our BUAFL predictor did choose Imperial to win but our other writer edited it (foolish man). Seriously who predicted that the Immortals would be top of the TVC after 3 games? None of us at Dbl Coverage did, but fair play to the team for turning it around after last season. Next week’s game against the Destroyers may turn out to be a trap game for the reigning national champs.
17. Sheffield Sabres (2-0)
The Sabres are another team who’s turned it around for the time being, after finishing 3-5 last year they’ve started 2-0 and posted up huge victories of 50-0 and 44-0 respectively. With Bangor travelling up to Sheffield next week, the Sabres have the opportunity to ruin the feel good story of the year (and rise up the rankings).
18. Leeds Carnegie (2-0)
The 5th and final Northern Conference team in our rankings, dismantling whipping boy Lancaster last week and a 22-0 win over Liverpool Fury earns Carnegie the number 19 spot. Like I previously stated on the Hull ranking, next week’s matchup will be a huge game in the NC and will no doubt shake up our power rankings.
19. Essex Blades (2-0)
A 2-0 start for the Blades after a really poor season last year, in a conference where the usual playoff contenders (except Herts) are struggling, Essex may have a real shot at post season football. Their offence will need to start posting some big scores though if they wish to continue this winning streak in the SEC.
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| Photo courtesy of Paul Beard Photography. |
20. Northampton Nemesis (3-0)
All through these rankings I’ve not rated teams highly because of their poor schedules; well Northampton may have the easiest schedule so far. They’ve had to face two associate teams and Worcester. I’ve seen game film on Nemesis and I believe they should lose sometime soon, if they had faced decent opponents there’s no way they’d be unbeaten right now. Don’t believe the hype!
Your analysis of Derby is the complete opposite of what I saw at the game against Trent. They completed a few passes, scored once on offense and scored on special teams as a result of a huge missed tackle which won them the game. Not what I would call a solid win personally. Their game against Loughborough probably won't be competitive.
ReplyDeleteMost of the teams here have had ridiculously easy schedules. One of the worst schedules i have seen is the Nottingham Outlaws, who play Loughborough, Birmingham and Derby back to back.... Maybe this should feature teams who have played alot better than expected nd are good teams, rather than rubbish teams who have played even worse opponents hence are on a win streak.
ReplyDeleteA win over a fellow playoff contender and a good all round team is a solid win, that is unless you don't think NTU are a good team?.
ReplyDeleteWell you don't rank them above a rookie team.
ReplyDeleteWhile I wouldn't put them in the top 20 nessercarily a northamption vs trent game would be brutal.
I think NTU are a good team, I just didn't really call it a solid win because it was very close to being a loss and the game was basically decided by a badly missed tackle on NTU's special teams.
ReplyDeleteIf Derby's hype says they are in the Brum/Lugbug tier of the Mac rather than the NTU/Outlaws/Derby tier then they have already failed to live up to it by not beating Trent as convincingly as one of those top teams would/has.
As for Northampton, I don't think that a team that concedes 20 to Worcester is really worth any hype either. They should lose to the Outlaws, and maybe the Wolves, but with their insane schedule they might still go 6-2 and then get blown out by a proper post-season team.