Hey everyone! Here’s your weekly recap on wildcard standings and tiebreakers!
PL ORANGE CONFERENCE WILD CARD
The PL Orange Conference Wild Card race is currently lead by the Flames (26-14) and the Outlaws (24-16). However, right on the Outlaws tails are the Demolition (22-18) siting only 2 games behind them for the second and final Wild Card spot. The Spectre (19-21) are not out of it yet but will need some help, sitting 5 games behind the outlaws with the Demolition also in the way. The same for the Tyrants, Pirates, and Sharks (3 way tie at 18-22) with the Tyrants coming on top of the tie due to series record. With 10 games left in the season and 6 games behind the final playoff spot, it would take a lot for any of the final 3 teams to clinch a playoff spot.
PL BLUE CONFERENCE WILD CARD
The PL BLue Conference Wild Card race features two teams tied at 27-13, the Wolves and the Express. The Wolves come out as the highest Wild Card seed due to series record giving the Express the second Wild Card seed. With the Highest seed Wild Card team playing the lowest seeded division winner, being on top of the Wild Card is priority!
The Spartans and the Blizzard are tied at 22-18, with the Spartans winning the tiebreaker due to Goal Differential. However both of these teams are a full series (5 games) behind both Wild Card leaders with no matchups against either team left. With one more tie in the wild card, the Aviators and the Lightning both hold a 19-21 record, with the Aviators holding the advantage in the tie due to series record. Both teams are 8 games behind as well as have multiple teams ahead of them. It would take a major collapse from either the Wolves or Express for any of the other 4 teams in the standings to make it into the wild card.
CL ORANGE CONFERENCE WILD CARD
In the Orange Conference for Champ League, the Outlaws and the Sharks are tied on top with a 24-16 record, with the Outlaws barely edging out the Sharks in the tie due to having a higher goal differential. The race in this CL Orange is a very tight, with the next 4 teams, Bears (22-18), Shadow (21-19), Comets (20-20), Flames (19-21), all a game within of each other. The Bears are the closest currently, being only 2 games behind the Outlaws and Sharks. No team is the clear cut favorite and we will surely see team move up and down in the race.
CL BLUE CONFERENCE WILD CARD
With the top seed of the Wild Card, the Wolves post of record of 31-9! Not only does that give them a 4 game cushion over the Jets (27-13), it’s also tied with the Rhinos and Puffins for the best record in Champ league. Whoever the 4th seed in the playoffs are, watch out, because in the wild card round, you’ll be running into a team ready to win it all! (If they don’t take the division away form the Puffins first).
3 games behind the Jets, the Ducks sit at 24-16, still within a shot at the 2nd Wild Card spot and a very slight chance at the 1st Wild Card spot. Going down the list, the Foxes (21-19) have close to a 0% chance at the 1st Wild Card spot but are ever so slightly in it for the 2nd Wild Card spot, sitting 6 games back. The final two teams in the Wild Card race are the Eclipse and the Aviators (tied at 18-22) with the Eclipse holding the advantage due to Goal Differential. However, behind 9 games of the Jets and already out of contention for the 1st Wild Card seed, the odds are slim to none that either team will make it to the postseason.
AL ORANGE CONFERENCE WILD CARD
The AL Orange Conference is a very tight and closely contested race with 8 teams all within 6 games or less of each other and multiple times. On top of this crazy race is the Outlaws (24-16), 2 games ahead of two teams tied for the 2nd Wild Card seed, the Rhinos and the Pirates (both 22-18). Currently, the Rhinos are the holder of the 2nd Wild Card spot due to having the head to head tiebreaker over the Pirates, but that can all change by season’s end since these two teams finish off the season against one another!
Looking at the teams chasing the three teams at the top, the Pandas, Wizards, and Sharks are all tied at 20-20 (with the Wizards having a perfect .500 record in not only overall games, but in series record, home record and away record AS WELL AS a 0 Goal Differential. Perfect balanced, as all things should be). This tiebreaker is one of the more complicating tiebreakers in the league as it has two different results in the division vs the wild card. In the AL Tropic division, The Sharks and Pandas are tied with the Sharks being ahead of the tie due to head to head advantage going to the Sharks. However in the Wildcard, with the Perfectly Balanced Wizards coming into the tie as well, head to head is not applied because the Wizards do not play either the Sharks or Pandas this season. Sharks have the worst series record of the three tied teams so they end up the losers of the tie while the Pandas come out on top of tie with the lead over the Wizards in Goal Differential. Despite that, all three teams are only 2 games behind the Outlaws, Rhinos, and Pirates for Wild Card contention so it’s full throttle for the Pandas, Wizards, and Sharks these final two weeks!
The final two teams very much still in the wild card race are the Bulls and the Shadow both at 18-22 and only 4 games behind the Wild Card leaders. The Bulls own the tiebreaker, defeating the Shadow in their only matchup of the season, 4-1. They have some leapfrogging to do in the standings to get to the Wild Card but they’re not out of it yet!
AL BLUE CONFERENCE WILD CARD
Our final wild card standings to show is a very tight AL BLue Conference Wild Card race at the top with a couple of team trailing not too far off. The Express, Ducks, and Puffins (all tied at 25-15) are the three leaders of the AL Blue Wild Card with the 1st Wild Card seed going to the Express for having a better series record over the Puffins and holding the head to head tiebreaker over the Ducks. The Ducks post the same series record as the Express thus coming on top of the Puffins for the 2nd Wild Card seed. Despite the Puffins losing the series record tiebreaker, they only need to win one more game than either the Ducks or Express this next week to take possession of one of two wild card seeds.
The AL Hawks (22-18) have been on a roll, winning their last 3 series and now are only 3 games behind the three Wild Card leading teams. Another series win could get them closer if not right into Wild Card contention!
The Blizzards (20-20) and the Sabers (19-21) are both 5 and 6 games behind the Wild Card leaders respectively. It’s not an easy task but with the top being so close, a couple of series wins and a little bit of luck they can find themselves playing in mid-October in the Wild Card Round!
