BAFA Uni Week Four Power Rankings

The weather may be wreaking havoc across the majority of the UK and postponing a ton of games around the league, but there’s one thing the weather will never postpone, and that’s our Power Rankings!

The MAC and Saltire conferences get our well done cookies for not having a single game postponed the last weekend. 

1. Hertfordshire Hurricanes (3-0)

Another 60 burger for the ‘Canes as they easily dismantled the Imperial Immortals. As we’ve said in previous weeks, with minimal competition in their conference, the Hurricanes will continue to dominate our Power Rankings for the foreseeable future.

Next game – 2^nd December – vs. LSBU Spartans

2. Birmingham Lions (3-0)

A 38-7 victory over the NTU Renegades keeps the Lions in the number two spot for another week. With Varney back at QB, the Lions currently have the second highest scoring offence in the country, and look set to secure their second straight MAC title.

Next game - 1st December – vs. Coventry Jets

3. Loughborough (3-0)

If there is going to be a team to take the MAC title from the Lions, it’s the Loughborough Aces (Students team sounds wrong). With a 41-0 victory over the Nottingham Outlaws, the Aces extended their shutout run to three straight and retained their ranking as the number one defence in the country.

Next game – 9^th (possibly 8^th) December - @ Northampton Nemesis

4. Stirling Clansmen (4-0)

Being the number one team in Scotland, as well as the number one offence in the country, the Clansmen seem to be pounding their way into the playoffs. This week’s 72-7 victory shows that Stirling are one of the best teams in the UK, but as we’ve said numerous times, their poor strength of schedule will prevent them moving up!

Next game – 2^nd December – vs. Napier Knights

5. Southampton Stags (3-0)

The Stags remain in the number five spot following their 27-0 victory over BNU in our game of the week. With two shutouts to their name this season, and their unbeaten record still intact, the Stags look like they’re on course for their third straight TVC title.

Next game – 2^nd December - @ RHUL Bears

6. Sheffield Sabres (3-0)

No game for Sheffield at the weekend as their game against the Staffordshire Stallions was postponed despite the best efforts of the Sabres to get the game played. With the Sabres now on a bye before their game against Bangor, the team will be remaining in our top ten for the foreseeable future.

Next game – 9^th December – vs. Bangor Muddogs

7. Hull Sharks (3-0)

The Sharks remain in the number seven spot for another week despite their game against the Durham Sharks being called off. Hull now faces off against the Leeds Carnegie in our game of the week. Should the Sharks come away with the victory, they should be the odds on favourite to win the North Eastern title.

Next game – 2^nd December – vs. Leeds Carnegie

8. UWE Bullets (3-0)

The Bullets move back up to the number eight spot following their 24-0 victory over the Swansea Titans. With a huge game against Cardiff this weekend, the Bullets will need to come away with the victory if they’re hoping to record their third straight SWAC title, as it’s looking like one loss in the SWAC might not be good enough for the playoffs let alone the SWAC crown!

Next game – 2^nd December - @ Cardiff Cobras

9. Derby Braves (4-0)

A rise of one spot for the Braves following their 33-0 victory over the Bangor Muddogs. With their offence scoring at will, and their defence keeping teams at bay, the Braves look like they’ll be heading to the championship playoffs for the first time in team history. Interesting fact – the Braves have never finished with a better record than 6-2.

Next game – 9^th December - @ Lancaster Bombers

10. UEA Pirates (3-0)

Following their 39-22 victory over Canterbury at the weekend, UEA finds themselves moving up one spot in our Power Rankings and more importantly, breaking into our top 10. The Pirates are now on a bye before their final game of the year against the Imperial Immortals next weekend.

Next game – 9^th December – vs. Imperial Immortals

11. Bath Killer Bees (2-0)

After two straight weeks without a game, the Killer Bees find themselves dropping out of our top ten after a slide of three places. With UWE and Bristol both facing tough competition this weekend, Bath could end up being the only remaining undefeated team in the SWAC this time next week. Who would’ve thought of that happening?

Next game – 2^nd December - @ Swansea Titans

12. Bristol Barracuda (2-0)

No game for the ‘Cuda at the weekend as their game against Aberystwyth fell to the downpour of rain. With the extra week off, Bristol were provided an extra training session to prepare for their huge clash against the Plymouth Blitz this coming weekend. Should Bristol win this game, they’ll all but certainly knock the Blitz out of the playoff race.

Next game – 2^nd December – vs. Plymouth Blitz

13. Leeds Carnegie (2-0)

Finally! A team that played a game at the weekend! The Carnegie find themselves moving up in our rankings following their 26-16 victory over the Northumbria Mustangs. With their unbeaten record still intact, Leeds head into this weekend’s game against Hull (our game of the week) knowing that a victory would give the team one hand on the inaugural North Eastern title.

Next game – 2^nd December - @ Hull Sharks

14. Kent Falcons (2-0)

Unlike the Killer Bees, the Falcons don’t find themselves sliding down our rankings despite not having played in two weeks purely for the fact that there have been teams around them losing, and sliding down our rankings. However, should the Falcons game against Westminster not go ahead this weekend; Kent will be guaranteed a slide in next week’s rankings.

Next game – 2^nd December – vs. Westminster Dragons

15. Warwick Wolves (2-0)

How are Warwick 15^th you ask? Damned if I know! Well, considering they’re one of three teams still undefeated in the MAC, and their D is conceding an average of five points per game, it’s pretty understandable for the Wolves to be rated so highly. The bigger picture is simple though – will the Wolves keep up this good run of form? Will they make the fourth and final playoff spot? It’ll be interesting to see how their season plays out...

Next game – 9^th December - @ Birmingham Lions

16. Portsmouth Destroyers (1-0)

A team to fall victim to the miserable weather was the Portsmouth Destroyers who had their game against the Brunel Burners called off. With no game since the 11^th November, it’ll be interesting to see how the Destroyers do against an OBU team coming off a huge win over the Solent Redhawks.

Next game – 2^nd December - @ OBU Panthers

17. UCLan Rams (2-0)

UCLan were another team to suffer at the hands of the unruly weather as their game against Hallam was rained off. Nevertheless, the Rams still claimed a victory this week as the Tyrants finally admitted defeat and accepted the forfeited loss to UCLan.

Next game – 2^nd December – vs. Staffordshire Stallions

18. Glasgow Tigers (3-1)

Admittedly, I thought the Tigers were going to be in for a long miserable season following their 100-7 loss to Stirling at the start of the season, but no, that’s not been the case as the Tigers have ripped off three straight victories to be back in the race for the Saltire crown. While most people don’t expect the Tigers to win the Saltire conference, there is a possibility that the team could represent the conference in the plate playoffs. Not bad for a team with -47 points difference...

Next game – 3^rd February - @ UWS Pyros

19. NTU Renegades (2-1)

A slide of seven for the Renegades following their 38-7 loss against the Birmingham Lions. Whilst their hunt for a championship playoff spot is all but over, the Renegades can now turn their attention to securing the number three seed in the MAC and earning one of the top seeds for the plate playoffs. Having seen them play this season, the Renegades do look like they’re capable of going all the way this year.

Next game – 9^th December - @ DMU Falcons

20. Cardiff Cobras (1-1)

No game for the Cobras at the weekend as their re-scheduled game against Worcester was re-scheduled once again. Fortunately for the Cobras, there was only one game in the SWAC this weekend, so the team didn’t lose any ground to their rivals in the race for a playoff spot.

Next game – 2^nd December – vs. UWE Bullets

21. Brighton Tsunami (2-0)

Not only are Brighton undefeated, they are still yet to concede a point this season. This impressive record means that the Tsunami statistically have the second best defence in the country, but this will all change once they play teams who aren’t at the bottom at the TVC. But, for the time being, Brighton can lay claim that they have one of the best defences in the country. Their offence isn’t doing too badly either...

Next game – 2^nd December – vs. Surrey Stingers

22. Solent Redhawks (2-1)

A seven point loss to the OBU points sees a slide of nine places for the Redhawks this week. This early loss in the TVC could come back to haunt the Redhawks as they compete for a spot in the championship playoffs. The team may have to win out if they want to claim one of the two top spots in the most competitive conference in the league.

Next game – 2^nd December – vs. Brunel Burners

23. Plymouth Blitz (2-1)

No game at the weekend for the Blitz as the team found themselves on a bye. Even if the team did have a game scheduled this weekend, it would most likely have been rained off due to the awful weather.

Next game – 2^nd December - @ Bristol Barracuda

24. Hallam Warriors (0-1)

Despite their 0-1 record, the Warriors remain on the list for another week after their game against the UCLan Rams was rained off. With the loss to Derby still fresh in their memory; Hallam can take out any anger that’s been bottled up against the Lancaster Bombers this weekend. Whilst I’m expecting a Warriors victory, I’m not expecting another 97-0 blowout like last season.

Next game – 2^nd December – vs. Lancaster Bombers

25. Gloucester Gladiators (2-1)

The final team on our Power Rankings found themselves on a bye at the weekend as they prepared for their upcoming game against local rivals Worcester (do you prepare to face Worcester or do you just turn up on the day?) Should the Gladiators come away with the victory over the Royals this weekend, the team will find themselves sitting pretty as they head into the Christmas break.

Next game – 2^nd December – vs. Worcester Royals

The close but no cigar list (almost made it onto the list, but just missed out basically...)

Bradford Bears (2-2), Leeds Celtics (2-2), Coventry Jets (2-1), Kingston Cougars (2-1), Imperial Immortals (2-1) and Cambridge Pythons (2-1)