Canton slips to #4

[ChampionOfSteel]

Three teams in the south better than the north's best team.

Unfortunately, like the CIFL and UIF, the AIFA failed to have the semifinals in their playoffs be criss-crossed in order to get the two best teams in the league to face each other in the final. No excuse for that. Have two or three fewer games against teams from outside of your regular season schedule if you must and use that for your semifinals and championship game budgeting.

Sorry, I don't want to see the 4th best team going up against the best team in the league in the final. I want to see the overall #1 vs. #2 in the final. You guys blew it, too.

http://home.columbus.rr.com/cfrankings/aifa.html

American Indoor Football Association

Thru 03/11/2007

Rank | Team | Record | Round-Robin Winning Percentage | Bradley-Terry Points
1. Mississippi MudCats (5-0) 0.938 100.000
2. Tallahassee Titans, FL (3-1) 0.795 25.251
3. Lakeland Thunderbolts, FL (2-1) 0.785 23.413
4. Canton Legends, OH (4-1) 0.710 14.314
5. Reading Express, PA (3-1) 0.649 10.038
6. Huntington Heroes, WV (2-2) 0.519 5.072
7. Carolina Speed, NC (2-2) 0.516 4.984
8. Florence Phantoms, SC (1-2) 0.473 4.012
9. Gulf Coast Raiders, FL (0-2) 0.399 2.754
10. Johnstown Riverhawks, PA (2-2) 0.397 2.720
11. Pittsburgh RiverRats, PA (2-3) 0.368 2.342
12. Baltimore Blackbirds, MD (0-1) 0.354 2.179
13. Montgomery Bears, AL (0-2) 0.290 1.531
14. Erie Freeze, PA (1-3) 0.243 1.153
15. Danville Demolition, IL (0-4) 0.064 0.246
Fictitious Team 4.594

[rams80]

Meanwhile, those owners who...1) Have to think about the bottom line, 2) Think about travel costs, 3) Think about having a reason to play in conferences (might as well be single table with your plan), think you're an idiot.

[Tatonka]

LOL, yeah, I guess the NFL doesn't have an excuse for it either, those darn AFC versus NFC Super Bowls...

Come to think of it, is there a league out there that does that? Criss-crosses divisions during playoffs? Isn't that THE POINT of divisions?

[exit322]

The XFL did it, and we know how well that turned out.

[Sykotyk]

The playoffs are determine a champion, not to pit #1 vs. #2 in the last game of the season.

Sykotyk

[RUFFNECKER]

From where I sit, you might want to count your blessings, looks like the best possible way for Canton to get to the Championship again this year is by playing teams in its division in the playoffs, and let the big dogs in the south knock each other out of the race for the best. jmo

[exit322]

Or maybe we should (gasp) wait until all of the games are played to see where the rankings end up.

[ChampionOfSteel]

Is Baltimore eligible for the playoffs? I was wondering since Baltimore and Gulf Coast do not play 14 games. Obviously Gulf Coast isn't going anywhere.

I like how the Olympics and World Hockey tournaments have crisscrossed playoffs in case the two best teams are in the same pool (division).

I guess I'm the only one here that is an idealist.

[ChampionOfSteel]

The playoffs are determine a champion, not to pit #1 vs. #2 in the last game of the season.

Sykotyk

The NCAA basketball tournament seeds their tournaments. You'll see teams from out west playing in the eastern bracket, and vice versa.

What in pray-tell does the crisscrossed format in the XFL have to do with their continued existence? The USFL did not crisscross their playoffs either in their second season and they're gone too. There's no correlation between crisscrossing and sticking around.

[ChampionOfSteel]

LOL, yeah, I guess the NFL doesn't have an excuse for it either, those darn AFC versus NFC Super Bowls...

Come to think of it, is there a league out there that does that? Criss-crosses divisions during playoffs? Isn't that THE POINT of divisions?

Not true. The NFL crisscrossed their playoffs within each conference when they had 8 and 10 teams overall in the postseason. At least they opted to get the two best teams in each conference to face each other in the AFC and NFC championship games. You could not play a team from your own division in the divisional playoff round. This was the routine before 12 teams made the playoffs like we have today.

I'm glad the NCAA didn't use the Mississippi river in football for determining who plays in their BCS championship game. The best team east of the Mississippi does not play the best team west of the Mississippi.

[ChampionOfSteel]

Or maybe we should (gasp) wait until all of the games are played to see where the rankings end up.

Why leave that to chance?

If budgeting is that much of a concern, plan next year to have 2 or 3 fewer out of division matchups and use that for the crisscrossed playoff.

What's the problem?

[rams80]

Why leave that to chance?

If budgeting is that much of a concern, plan next year to have 2 or 3 fewer out of division matchups and use that for the crisscrossed playoff.

What's the problem?

Does the AIFA even play out of division games? They didn't last year, right?

BTW, for you CFB analogy, the Eastern time zone vs. the other 3 would be more equal...

And there is a point where idealism becomes rank stupidity, or at least impractical. That's one of them.

[Sykotyk]

First, the NCAA basketball tournament seeds the top four teams only, in the event the tournament's 'top four' teams all advance. The likelihood of all four advancing to the Final Four is next to nothing.

The NCAA still brackets their tournament strictly by regional pods, and tree branch-like approach. #1 doesn't play #64/#65. #2 doesn't play #63, etc. And they don't reseed with each round. Why? Because of expense.

Accept that this isn't a multi-billion dollar operation that has enough cash to throw around to appease finnicky sorts such as yourself.

Sykotyk

[tony-o]

I strongly question Gulf Coast being #9.