
Pioneers Top Coaches Poll For Twelfth Straight Week
July 11, 2007 - arenafootball2 (af2) News Release
CHICAGO - The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers have maintained the No. 1 ranking of the Weekly Coaches Poll for the 12th straight week, the arenafootball2 (af2) league office announced today. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton collected 461 of a possible 464 points and 26-of-30 first place votes in securing the top position. The Pioneers remain undefeated in 2007 at 13-0 after a thrilling, 48-47, Week 15 road win at Fort Wayne. In the process, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton clinched the No. 1 seed in the American Conference for the 2007 ArenaCup playoffs. Next up for the East Division Champions is a Friday night fight at No. 12 Manchester (7-6).
Rio Grande Valley (12-1, 4 first place votes, 435 points) solidified their spot at No. 2 overall with a 64-0 shutout win against Laredo last Saturday. The Dorados have won a team-record 10 straight games. The Tulsa Talons (11-2, 372 points) moved up two spots this week from No. 5 to No. 3 after scoring a 49-32 road win at Lubbock. Bossier-Shreveport (10-3, 371 points) earned its way back into the Top-5 at No. 4 on the strength of the team's 53-29 home win against the Arkansas Twisters, a team that entered the week at No. 4 overall. The victory clinched the Battle Wings' first-ever playoff berth. The South Georgia Wildcats (312 points) also moved up in the ranks to No. 5 from No. 8 after handing the host Florida Firecats their first loss in six games, 47-40.
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 16 TOP 16
RANK TEAM PTS
1 W-B/Scranton 461 (26)
2 Rio Gr. Valley 435 (4)
3 Tulsa 372
4 Bossier-Shrev. 371
5 South Georgia 312
6 Florida 311
7 Arkansas 289
8 Spokane 285
9 Quad City 224
10 Central Valley 191
11 Tri-Cities 181
12 Manchester 151
13 Louisville 137
14 Oklahoma City 131
15 Green Bay 122
16 Stockton 45
About af2
In Week 16 of its eighth season with 30 member teams, af2 serves as a vehicle to bring Arena Football to 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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