Cleveland, Pittsburgh Top vPower Rankings Heading into Final Week

July 22, 2014 - Arena Football League (AFL) News Release

CHICAGO - The Cleveland Gladiators (16-1) remain No. 1 in the latest AFL Field Pass vPower Rankings after tying the League record for most wins in a regular season last week. Despite their moniker as the "Kardiac Kids" for their penchant for winning games in dramatic fashion, no last second heroics were necessary in Week 19, as the Gladiators shut the Jacksonville Sharks (6-11) out in the second half for a decisive 62-20 victory. Cleveland will hit the road for the final week of the regular season to face the Tampa Bay Storm (8-9) at 7:30 p.m. ET Saturday on ESPN3. The Storm can clinch a playoff berth and a rematch with Cleveland in the AFL Quarterfinals with a win and a Philadelphia Soul (9-8) loss in Week 20. However, if the Gladiators or Soul win in Week 20, Cleveland will host Philadelphia next Saturday night on CBS Sports Network.

The Pittsburgh Power (14-3) have managed to quietly win a franchise-record 11 straight games heading into Week 20, with their most recent victory coming in the form of a 59-56 win over the Iowa Barnstormers (6-11) last Saturday. The No. 3 seed in the American Conference and No. 2 team in the latest vPower Rankings can set the AFL record for most consecutive victories to end a regular season this week with a victory over the Philadelphia Soul in the "Keystone Collision". Kickoff for that matchup is set for 5:00 p.m. ET Saturday on ESPN3.

Moving up one spot to No. 3 in this week's vPower Rankings are the back-to-back defending ArenaBowl champion Arizona Rattlers, who snapped their two-game slide with a 65-55 victory over the Portland Thunder (5-12) in Week 19. The Rattlers will host the Thunder again next week in the AFL Quarterfinals; however, they will first have to go through the South Division champion Orlando Predators (10-7) this weekend. The Predators, who clinched the No. 2 seed in the American Conference playoffs last week, will be looking for their first victory over the Rattlers since 2005. Kickoff for the "NET10 Wireless Arena Football Saturday" matchup is set for 7:00 p.m. ET on CBS Sports Network.

Also moving up one spot in this week's vPower Rankings are the Spokane Shock (10-7). The No. 3 seed in the National Conference and No. 4 team in this week's Rankings defeated Tampa Bay, 55-52, in front of a national audience on ESPN2 Monday night. The Shock head to Portland this week for their final matchup of the regular season with the playoff-bound Thunder. Kickoff is set for 10:00 p.m. ET Saturday on ESPN3.

The cross-country trip to Philadelphia was not good for the San Jose SaberCats (12-5), who dropped two spots to No. 5 in this week's vPower Rankings after falling to the Soul, 20-42 in Week 19. The SaberCats will look to get back on track before their playoff game against the Shock, as they head to Des Moines this week for a matchup with the Iowa Barnstormers. Kickoff is set for 8:05 p.m. ET Saturday on ESPN3.

AFL Field Pass is the online fan club of the NET10 Wireless Arena Football League. The AFL vPower Rankings are calculated on AFLFieldPass.com using vPower €žÂ¢, a scoring system based on winning percentage, strength of schedule, scoring percentage, and win-streak. The scale is normalized from 0 (lowest) to 100 (highest).

July 22 AFL vPower Rankings

RANK TEAM RECORD WIN PCT SCORING STREAK vPOWER LAST

1. Cleveland Gladiators 16-1 0.941 13.0459 0.09 100 1

2. Pittsburgh Power 14-3 0.824 13.2604 0.09 90.8 2

3. Arizona Rattlers 15-2 0.882 13.1495 0.05 87.1 4

4. Spokane Shock 10-7 0.588 12.2802 0.09 66.7 5

5. San Jose SaberCats 12-5 0.706 13.2383 0.00 61.9 3

6. Philadelphia Soul 9-8 0.529 12.2480 0.09 61.5 6

7. Orlando Predators 10-7 0.588 11.7563 0.07 60.3 7

8. Tampa Bay Storm 8-9 0.471 11.2188 0.00 33.4 8

9. Jacksonville Sharks 6-11 0.353 11.6405 0.00 25.1 9

10. Iowa Barnstormers 6-11 0.353 10.6439 0.00 20.9 11

11. Portland Thunder 5-12 0.294 10.4405 0.00 15 10

12. San Antonio Talons 2-15 0.118 9.5141 0.05 6.5 14

13. New Orleans VooDoo 3-14 0.176 9.5948 0.00 1.5 12

14. LA KISS 3-14 0.176 9.2463 0.00 0 13

Arena Football League Stories from July 22, 2014

• AFL Honors Week 19 Performances - AFL
• Cleveland, Pittsburgh Top vPower Rankings Heading into Final Week - AFL
• Shock Complete Comeback to Defeat Storm 55-52 - Spokane Shock

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