Firecats fall, Wolves capture number one ranking
May 18, 2005 - arenafootball2 (af2) News Release
CHICAGO - For the first time in team history, the Manchester Wolves have secured the top ranking of the weekly Coaches Poll, the arenafootball2 (af2) league office announced today. The Wolves became just the second team of the 2005 season to obtain the top position, receiving 202 of a possible 228 points. Prior to this week the Florida Firecats had dominated the poll for seven consecutive weeks.
Manchester's total included eight first-place votes, up seven from last week. Taking control of the No.2 ranking, the Memphis Xplorers received 198 points including seven first-place mentions. The four other teams receiving first-place votes were the No.3 Green Bay Blizzard (1), the No.4 Florida Firecats (2), the No.7 Central Valley Coyotes, and the unranked Bossier-Shreveport Battle Wings.
The arenafootball2 Week 8 schedule features four matchups of Top 12 teams. On Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. No.4 Florida heads to Freedom Hall to face the No. 5 Louisville Fire. At 8:00 p.m. on Saturday night the No.7 ranked Central Valley Coyotes travel to Amarillo to face the No.8 Dusters. No.10 Quad City heads north to face the No.3 Green Bay Blizzard on Saturday at 8:00 p.m. Finally, the No.11 Rio Grande Valley Dorados host the No.6 Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers on Saturday night at 8:30 p.m. All Times Eastern.
Each week during the season af2 coaches will vote for the Top 12 teams in the league by ranking them one through 12 on a ballot. Teams ranked first receive 12 points with the point value decreasing by one for each place below first, meaning a team ranked 12th would receive one point. Total points will determine the Top 12 list. In the event of a tie in total points, the team with the greater number of first-place votes will be ranked higher. The af2 Coaches Poll will be announced every Tuesday during the regular season. Coaches are not allowed to vote for their own team and the poll results have no bearing on postseason qualification.
The complete Top 12 is listed below. The number in parentheses indicates the number of first place votes the team received.
WEEK 8 TOP 12
RANK TEAM PTS
1 Manchester 202 (8)
2 Memphis 198 (7)
3 Green Bay 193 (1)
4 Florida 185 (2)
5 Louisville 141
6 Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 125
7 Central Valley 102 (1)
8 Amarillo 102
9 Tulsa 91
10 Quad City 60
11 Rio Grande Valley 56
12 Oklahoma City 28
Other teams receiving significant votes this week include the Albany
Conquest (18), Bossier-Shreveport Battle Wings (15), and South Georgia
Wildcats (15).
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