Week 17 af2 Quick Hitters
Published on July 17, 2008 under arenafootball2 (af2) News Release
SHOCK STAY ON TOP IN WEEK 17 COACHES POLL: The Spokane Shock have maintained the No. 1 ranking in the Week 17 Coaches Poll, the arenafootball2 (af2) league office announced today. The Shock (13-1) collected 444 of a possible 448 points and 25-of-29 first place votes in securing the top position for the third consecutive week. Spokane went undefeated on the road, only the fourth team to do so in af2 history, with their defeat of the Stockton Lightning by a score of 65-41 on Saturday. The Shock boast the league's best record and clincehd home field advantage throughout the playoffs with their Week 16 win. Next week the Shock will host the Quad City Steamwheelers in Spokane. The rest of the Top-5 this week fall into place as follows: No. 2 Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, No. 3 Arkansas, No. 4 South Georgia and No. 5 Tulsa all played in Week 16. The Pioneers (13-2, 420 points, 3 first place votes), who have won 19 straight games at Wachovia Arena dating back to 2006, hosted Peoria this past Saturday and will play host to Mahoning Valley this upcoming weekend. Arkansas (10-4, 371 points, 1 first place vote) hosts Bossier-Shreveport on Saturday in an opportunity to tie the Talons for second in the division. The Twisters, who are one game behind Tulsa (11-3, 346 points) in the Central Division standings, have won seven games in a row. The streak includes big wins over the Talons and Lubbock. The South Georgia Wildcats (10-4, 364 points) travel to Peoria on Saturday. Tulsa heads to Oklahoma City this weekend. The complete Top 16 is listed below. The number in parentheses indicates the number of first place votes the team received.
ROAD WARRIORS: The No. 1-ranked Spokane Shock (13-1) are 5-1 at home and a perfect 8-0 on the road this season. The Shock finished 8-0 on the road this Saturday with a win over the Lightning in Stockton, Calif. 65-41, their West Division rivals. The Shock join the 2007 Rio Grande Valley Dorados, the 2001 Tennessee Valley Vipers and the 2000 Quad City Steamwheelers as the only teams in league history to ever finish a season with an undefeated road record.
POSTSEASON APPEARANCES: The Green Bay Blizzard, Arkansas Twisters, Lexington Horsemen, South Georgia Wildcats, Spokane Shock, Tulsa Talons and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers have already clinched seven of the 16 spots available for the 2008 af2 playoffs. The Talons earned their ninth straight postseason appearance, the most of any active team. Tulsa, one of three original af2 member teams, has qualified for the playoffs every season of the team's existence. The Pioneers rank tied for third in all-time playoff appearance with five in eight af2 seasons. This will be the Twisters' fourth appearance, the Horsemen's first, and the Wildcats' fourth (first in past three years); all three clinched their spots this past weekend. The Blizzard (4) and Shock (3) have also recently booked trips to the postseason.
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