We have three weeks left to go in our regular season. Here's how things stand:
East Division
The No Names have clinched the division title.
FDS has a chance at the wild card, but they'll have to win their final three games, plus either the Psychos or Cuckoos have to lose their final three games. They're screwed in a lot of tiebreakers because they lost to all four Central Division teams.
Brew Crew and Blues -- see ya next year.
Central Division
The Psychos and Cuckoos can both clinch a playoff spot with one win. The division title will probably come down to their Week 14 matchup, unless one of them wins their next two games while the other one loses their next two.
The Talons cannot win the division. The best they can finish is 8-6. The Psychos and Cuckoos can't both lose three games because they play in Week 14, so one of those two will finish with at least 9 wins. Even if they both lose their next two and then tie in Week 14, 8-5-1 is still better than the Talons best possible record. The Talons can still get the wild card with three wins, plus three losses by either the Psychos or Cuckoos, plus one loss by FDS. FDS would be eliminated from the tie by head-to-head, and the Talons would have a better divisional record than the Psychos or Cuckoos.
The Prevailers cannot win the division (for the same reasons as the Talons). Their wild card chances are a little slimmer than the Talons because of division record, but it's possible. For the wild card, the Prevailers need three wins, plus three losses by the Cuckoos, plus one loss by FDS. FDS would be eliminated from the tie by head-to-head, and the Prevailers would have a better divisional record than the Cuckoos. Now if the Prevailers win three and the Psychos lose three, plus one loss by FDS, again FDS would be eliminated from the tie by head-to-head, and both the Prevailers and Psychos would be 3-3 in the division, so it would come down to total points. The Psychos currently have 138 more points, so the Prevailers would have to outscore them by more than 46 ppg over the final three games, which is possible, but not probable.
West Division
The division title is currently up for grabs as the Alchemists have a one-game lead over the b keys and Renegades, and a two-game lead over the Cruisers, with three games left. The Alchemists certainly control their own destiny because they have the lead and they have a 3-0 divisional record. They can clinch the division in Week 12 with a win over the b keys, plus a loss by the Renegades. If the Alchemists lose to the b keys, they can still win the division by winning their final two games. A 7-7 tie between the Alchemists and b keys would, in all probability, go to the Alchemists based on more total points (Alchemists currently have a nearly insurmountable 192-point lead over the b keys -- or 64 ppg).
The b keys can win the division with three wins, plus two losses by the Alchemists.
The Renegades can win the division with three wins, plus two losses by the Alchemists (they'd win it outright at 7-7). If the Renegades win three and Alchemists win two, and they finish tied at 7-7, the Alchemists would win the division based on a better divisional record (5-1 vs. 4-2). There's another possibility for the Renegades that's outlined below.
The Cruisers are not mathematically eliminated from winning the division, but they'll need a miracle. They need three wins, plus three losses by the Alchemists, plus two losses by the b keys. This would put them in a tie at 6-8 with the Renegades, and both would be 3-3 in the division. However, the Cruisers would also have to outscore the Renegades over the final three games by 178 points (that's 59 ppg) to win the tiebreaker on total points. So really, the Renegades are the likely division champion in that scenario, but it's a possibility for the Cruisers that I had to list.
So there you have it. Man, I love these final three weeks of divisional games!
