Week 9 Power Rankings


A guest post by Jesse


Week 9 PR will serve as a prediction of the final four games of the season as well as a prediction on play off seed.  I wanted to remove jersey bias of players that seem to be great but are really mediocre, or condemn a player as a once-every-few-weeks guy that I don’t trust. I also wanted to look at things as how the owner puts a team together.  In doing so I crunched a few numbers from league scoring, along with reviewing some of the data mitch has collected all season, and for many seasons for that matter.  I wanted to use the numbers to help guide my predictions, but I did not want to bog down the article with redundancy, so I’ll give a scope of what I considered here to give everyone an idea of what my thoughts were.

I looked at record, expected record, points for, points against to predict “luck.”  I also calculated best starting lineup player averages to see who would win what match up going forward.  While doing so, it showed there were 3 tiers or buckets, of teams averages that I think were fitting.  Four teams best lineup  averages were over 1,100 points (Dave, Justin, Eric and Jesse.)  Four teams averages were below this 1,100 mark but above 1,000 (Andrew, Mike, Jason, Taylor.) Then there were four teams that were below 1,000 (Tim, Cha, Ryan/Drew, Mitch.)  Telling pools of talent became evident, but how lucky would their next four games be and where would they finish?  I’ve ranked the league according to Play Off Seed and have included my predicted end of season record.
So without further ado here is your regularly scheduled, insult riddled, haphazard power rankings.  Enjoy.

12. Mitch 2-10: Mitch has struggled to put a team together that can sustain any respectable level of scoring, but this is not without trying! An avid day trader, Mitch is always looking for the best deals, however it seems he is more of the gambler and house money is drying up.  Could be the next vegas shooter. LOOK OUT MAN!  Looks like mitch will lose out and our next champ may have to look for HIS co-owner, rather than stick him with some other poor shlub.  Odds on favorite to be co-owner is Mitch.

11. Ryan/Drew 4-8: Team Ryan and Drew were only ever supposed to not finish last.  Taking on the mantra of Taylor allows a few things here to our co-owners.  Have you ever looked across the bow and wondered what so and so would look on your roster?  But perhaps in past years you’ve been on the fence and stayed away?  Ever wanted to click accept on that risky trade offer?  Ever wanted to test a new draft strategy?  Ever wanted to say fuck it and take a few weeks off? Co-ownership is a great time to try out new strategies!  These guys came out with the hot start they needed to avoid last place and in the meantime, were able to dilly dally in new things.  I think they both come out stronger next year.  LOOK OUT MAN!

10. Taylor 4-8: Taylor has EASILY had the most unlucky schedule so far.  But he has also been a position player or two away from having a serviceable roster in winnable match ups.  It looks at this point that he has managed to assemble a formidable week in and week out roster.  Unfortunately for him, it may be too late for a playoff push.  On the bright side, I see Tay finishing out 3-1 and avoiding co-ownership.  Tay is also a really great guy and mostly only gives Jason a lot of shit, which we all enjoy, on top of giving it his all, so I’d be shocked if he is named co-owner.

9. Cha 5-7: Cha has benefited from one of the luckiest schedules so far this year.  However, his current roster boasts the lowest Best Lineup Average score of any team in the league.  Looking at his last four games it is conceivable he pulls together 1 MAYBBEEE 2 wins, though he licks butt holes so probably not.  If he did however manage to catch a break and find himself in yet another low scoring garbage bowl, his low scoring output will likely cost him in any potential 6-6 shake outs.  As for potential co-ownership, it’s tough to say.  The man who once offered himself as champion to peasantry, quickly showed his true colors and flipped.  Had he taken on co-ownership voluntarily I believe he would be spared by any potential champ. But he didn’t.

8. Tim 6-6: Tim’s team kicks off the quagmire of the eventual 6-6 mess.  Tim has out preformed his scoring output with an extra win over expected, but heads into somewhat stout, final four games.  These of course could go either way, but Tim’s lack of 1,000+ average will show and in a tie break of .500’s I think his points for will hold him out of the playoff.  Tim is also pretty cool, so he is not likely to be co-owner, unless it goes to a random hat lottery or something.

7. Andrew 6-6: My crystal ball sees Andrew as the last out of the play off bracket.  He has an extra win over expected and though he has struggled to score consistently and feels that his team is awful, he has the horses to split his last four games.  This could be the team to catch a break or break a leg.  Keep an eye on Andrew!  Andrew can also be unpredictable so never count out a bag of candy or maybe a bag of dog’s shit in the mail to the future champ.  He could potentially spite his way into co-ownership just as easily as he could talk his way out of it.

To quote the titans great GM and Nashville local sports radio personality Floyd Reese, “GET ME TO THE PLAYOFFS BABY!”  Now for the teams I believe will make the playoffs.

6. Mike 6-6: Mike’s team has been inconsistent at times, but he has enough big game potential guys to keep W’s coming. Mike has achieved his expected wins thus far and my numbers see more of the same to come.  Mike will look to bounce back and forth between winning and losing for the next four games and at the end of the season, he looks to have enough points for to make the cut.  He is not likely to disrupt any greater outcome once he gets there, but can hang his hat on the signed life-sized cardboard cutout of Andy Dalton that he keeps in his bedroom.

5. Jason 6-6: Jason’s team has been pretty evenly matched all year with a narrow points for and against margin, and has achieved his expected wins.  He will go into his final four games with a best lineup average in the middle bucket and the schedule to match.  He like mike will likely have the points for push to secure a spot in the playoffs.  What kind of trades will happen between now and then could jettison him to championship asperations or leave us all with a 2,000 word groupme post of “Why did I just do that!?” 

4. Jesse 7-5: My team has continued to score consistently and maintain regular high outputs, while falling to a few evenly matched teams has held me at .500 thus far.  It looks grim this week in a massive bye week bench matchup against a strong Dave team.  Going forward if averages hold up I should be able to pull off an above average record.  By chance I do split the last four, it seems I’ll have the points for to advance out of the murky 6-6 pool.  Once I get to the playoffs, it looks like I’ll have to get some luck from the other side to hold up the belt, but top 2 scoring gives me a chance to make it interesting past week 12. And I’m writing this so I’m not going to waste time trying to burn myself up.  So I guess I’ll use a line to say Justin and Cha touch soft dick tips together and pull the foreskin hood over the other weiner to make it look like Siamese twins, at the dick.

3. Eric 8-4: Shocking I know, Eric has overachieved by one expected win and goes into a final four games that could easily result in a split.  However the numbers seem to indicate he can keep the wins rolling in!  As one of the teams to crack through 1,100 best lineup pool he looks to play spoiler week after week until the tourney starts.  What will he do once he gets there??? Well it will depend on his match ups, but it appears he could make it down to playing for a chance to get pissed about not winning the belt.  It feels a little bit like telling people the bengals are going to the super bowl, but I mean, the numbers man, or something, maaannn…

2.Dave 9-3: Dave’s team is top four in scoring, and has over achieved by one expected win as he goes into a depleted Boogi team match up this week.  Dave charges into his final four looking to sweep, but alas a challenge awaits...  I predict Taylor will be victor in their week 11 matchup, causing dave to shake in his boots leading up to the playoffs.  Look for a last push trade to make him feel like he’s taken the steps to separate his team from the pack.  Dave’s gonna be fully torqued going into the playoff. However his scoring isn’t consistently high enough to roll through. Look for a week 2 playoffs melt down rant, a la “I Fucking Hate Matt Ryan.”  This could get ugly folks.

And that’s it guys!  Hope you enjoyed the week 9 power rankings and playoff predictor.  I tried to have some fun with it but also take a shot at seeing if I could get it right.  I’ll be checking back at week 12 to see how wrong, or right, I was.

Thanks again guys!

































1.     Justin 9-3: Justin not only has the most points for, he has been unlucky by a game and still chomping at the bit to take over top spot!  He has a well-rounded team that can score consistently with a wide group of guys that can get it done when others are not at their best.  He has guys that can take over a game and go bonkers with points.  He has the highest average for best lineup going forward and has the friendliest final four games going forward of all 12 teams.  What can you say, if Justin had a water cooler to stand around Monday – Friday, he’d have the team that other guys would go back to their leagues and talk about.  He’s the most dangerous match up going forward.  Good job buddy.