Pioneers Top Coaches Poll For Eleventh Straight Week
Published on July 4, 2007 under arenafootball2 (af2) News Release
CHICAGO - The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers have maintained the No. 1 ranking of the Weekly Coaches Poll for the 11th straight week, the arenafootball2 (af2) league office announced today. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton collected 461 of a possible 464 points and 27-of-30 first place votes in securing the top position. The Pioneers remain undefeated in 2007 at 12-0 after a 51-40 Week 14 home win against Mahoning Valley. They have already clinched the East Division title and an automatic berth in the playoffs. With a win this week at Fort Wayne, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton can secure the No. 1 seed in the American Conference. The Pioneers' current 11-week presence at the top of the Coaches Poll is the longest run at No. 1 since the poll was created in 2004.
Rio Grande Valley (11-1, 2 first place votes) moved up one spot to No. 2 overall after a 78-17 home win against Texas. The Dorados have won a team-record nine straight games. Florida, winners of six consecutive contests, made a significant jump to No. 3 after entering Week 14 at No. 6. The Firecats (10-3, 381 points, 1 first place vote) gained added respect thanks to an impressive 69-38 win at Oklahoma City. The Arkansas Twisters (9-3, 358 points) also moved into the Top-5 this week after beating Tulsa for the second time in 2007, 45-39, in overtime. The Talons (10-2, 357 points) slipped three spots to No. 5.
Each week during the season af2 coaches will vote for the Top 16 teams in the league by ranking them one through 16 on a ballot. Teams ranked first receive 16 points with the point value decreasing by one for each place below first, meaning a team ranked 16th would receive one point. Total points will determine the Top 16 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 Wednesday 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 16 is listed below. The number in parentheses indicates the number of first place votes the team received.
WEEK 15 TOP 16
RANK TEAM PTS
1 W-B/Scranton 461 (27)
2 Rio Gra. Valley 405 (2)
3 Florida 381 (1)
4 Arkansas 358
5 Tulsa 357
6 Bossier-Shrev. 316
7 Spokane 305
8 South Georgia 285
9 Quad City 225
10 Tri-Cities 179
11 Central Valley 164
12 Manchester 162
13 Oklahoma City 130
14 Louisville 118
15 Green Bay 110
16 Stockton 73
About af2
In Week 15 of its eighth season with 30 member teams, af2 serves as a vehicle to bring Arena Football into small to midsize cities and as a developmental league with an unmatched history of sending players, coaches and officials to major professional football leagues each year. af2 operates under the same Mission Statement and Fans' Bill of Rights as the Arena Football League, which is currently in its 21st season. Log on to www.af2.com for more information.
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