The West is a totally different story. The 7th place team is some 13 games out of a playoff spot, and with two weeks left to play, the only thing undecided here is playoff positioning.

Quite a different story out West.
Out west the top six teams are pretty much set with three weeks to go. Carlsbad has clinched a playoff spot already and the big battle seems to be over the second bye week.

David Marver would like you to know that his Carlsbad squad not lost a match-up all season long. I would like you to know that I don't care. He hasn't beaten the second place Olimpia Milano team yet, and Milano is of course the defending champion. :)

I've been really bad about posting these lately. Sorry. I have an auction going on. Its no excuse I know, but I won't miss any more time the rest of the way. promise.

Out West it continues to be all Carlsbad and Annville .. and then everyone else.

Or so you think.

Week 10 out West saw virtually every match-up over the Christmas break fought to a draw, with the minor exception of one fight, one fight between the 'Slam and Jam Bandits' and 'Pa Hoops', a fight won by the Bandits 9-1 btw.

Apparently Slam and Jam didn't get the Christmas memo about giving and receiving .. he was all take, take, take ..

Solid win though, and in doing so, the Bandits broke out of this pack of average teams all leagues have floating around in the middle of the field, and they moved up and are now knocking on the door of the top teams.

Good. they needed another challenger.

Oh so close.

I had two football squads in the finals this season, and I lost them both. It sucks. It blows. It bites.

I had Peyton Manning playing in the finals for both of the teams too, and his benching sure didn't help. As a matter of fact, I lost the West final here by five and half points. 5 1/2! Certainly Manning would have gotten those five points if he had played the 4th quarter. But I guess it is the price you pay for dominating the season with the Peyton. He had gotten me oh so far, how could I possibly bench him in the Championship game?

Since I have access to all the leagues data in the H2Hoops series, it allows me to play around with the numbers here a touch. Just like the good 'ol days.
Below I have a few different tables here for you.

The first one is the totals for all the teams in the league, with an average to use as a comparison, minus the two dead teams of course. If you are not average or better in at least five categories, you have your work cut out for you. make some trades, punt some categories, whatever. Its never too late to right the ship ..

Last weeks match-up between the top two seeds, Carlsbad and Annville, became quite a yawner as they both fought to a 5-5 tie. Nothing changed at the top of the standings.

Looking down in the standings a touch, we see the three through sixth ranked teams in a virtual deadlock, and that's where you will find the Olimpia Milano squad. Milano is battling the third seeded Winners this week, and with a victory here, Milano can make a nice little push towards the top. Maybe even leapfrog a few teams ..

We have another battle of one versus two out west. Now Lake Arrowhead has been in my shadow all season long and ayebatter would love for nothing more than to sneak past yours truly on the only week that matters.

Rest assured, Peyton and I have no plans that show that particular outcome.

Come Tuesday morning, ayebatter will have a well deserved little 2 next to his Arrowheads ..

We have a nice little battle between one and two going on this week out West, and currently the upset is on. Going into Sundays games Annville has Carlsbad down, 6-4

Standings:

In the west things were not nearly as exciting as the battles out East.

In the first Quarterfinal, Rays LA Diablos literally doubled up on the Poways own Boondock Saints (186- 92), on the backs of Brandon Marshall's record breaking pass catch performance, and a little used running back sometimes called  .. .. Chris Johnson. :)

In the other Quarterfinal, the Hollywood Hellraisers didn't quite double up on Berkley, but they certainly sent them packing early. Hollywood had four players score in the 20's, while Berkley barely had four players in double figures, and only one of them scored above 15 points.

David Marvers Carlsbad Ranunculus continues to be the dream of the crop out west, followed closely by the Annville Titans. Everybody else is just jockeying for position.

Standings:

No change at the top of the standings out west, just a little switcheroo at the bottom of the playoff picture. Rays LA Diablos knocked off the SF Ballers in week 13, allowing the Berkeley Bungalow to slide into the sixth spot based upon points. Because of Ray's win, he swapped spots in the standings with the Boondock Saints, but it does not matter in the bigger picture, as they were set to face off against each other in the first round of the playoffs anyway.

A little change at the top of the standings, and so you can rest assured that David Marver is walking with a little bounce in his step this week.

Five teams now have post season plans, thus leaving six teams to battle it out for that final playoff spot. The San Fransisco Ballers have the inside track on that sixth slot. All they need to do is win, and they are in. Its that simple.

But if they lose to the Diablos, it opens up many possibilities to the five teams tied at 5-7 overall. If the Ballers lose, the sixth seed is going to come down to points.

Over here in the B league, the list of teams "for real" after week 5 escalates quite a bit, as it should due to the nature of our system, right? This battle here will be a knock down, pull em by the hair fight, until the final weeks.

I plan on having lots of hair in my collection once this is said and done.

Well I think it safe to say that the final playoff spots out west is going to come down to points.
The top two spots are locked up with two to play. The rest of boys are all neck and neck.
Good luck you guys.

Clinched!

Yep that's right, the California Blaze have clinched a playoff spot with three weeks to go. And those three remaining games are against teams playing less than .500 ball. In essence, this Peyton Manning led crew has a bye week for the next four weeks. Ah yes, life is grand .....

A Solid 9-1 victory sends Americas team, Olimpia Milano, back to the top tier. As defending champion, one can only assume that everybody else in the league is somewhat worried.