Week 11 - The Homestretch

The NFL saw brilliance in the AldenLeague scheduling formula, and decided to steal our ideas for the 2010 season. All NFL teams will finish off their seasons with their final 3 games being a final gauntlet through their 3 divisional rivals. Sound familiar? The greatness of AldenLeague shines through again!
Yes, gentlemen, this is it. The 2010 fantasy season will once again be determined by how well you play against your divisional foes. That starts this week, Week 11, a rematch of what went down in Week 7. As you can all see to the left, only 2 games separates last place from a playoff spot, and only 3 games separates the top team from being out of the postseason. Anything can happen in the final homestretch. Let's take a look:

WESTWOOD DIVISION: C-Men vs. Tecmo All-Stars, and Boys of Summer vs. Syn City
At 8-2, the C-Men have all but clinched a playoff berth - it would require 3 consecutive losses and a pretty miraculous swing in points scored to keep them out of the postseason. The team with the best shot (though it's still a small one) at taking this division crown is the Boys of Summer. Though the Boys and Syn City have identical records at 5-5 coming into their matchup this week, the Boys of Summer have the advantage of a 2-1 divisional record. This means that should they win out, and C-Men lose out, both teams would finish at 8-5, but the Boys of Summer would have the better divisional record and would thus become division champions. Syn City, meanwhile, currently sits at 0-3 in Westwood Division play, meaning that if they won out, and C-Men lose out, those teams would have identical records AND identical divisional records, which would send the division championship to the next tiebreaker: head-to-head. The C-Men won their prior meeting this year, and since this scenerio would include Syn City beating the C-Men in Week 12, this tiebreaker would also be tied, meaning the division crown would be determined by the 4th tiebreaker: most points. C-Men currently have a 170 point lead on Syn City in that department. In non-divisional title situation, the Boys of Summer and Syn City both find themselves in the middle of the pack currently, and make up two of the three teams tied at 5-5 and occupying the 2 last playoff slots (with one odd man out). Their control their own destinies and will only have to start looking over their shoulders with losses. Meanwhile, with a big win over Stigs last week, the Tecmo All-Stars put a stop to their 3-game losing streak and find themselves still in contention for a final playoff spot. They're only one game back of the 3-team cluster occupying the final 2 playoff spots, but have a significant disadvantage due to their low points total. They're far enough behind that it seems unlikely for them to catch the other teams they're challenging in that department, which means that a tied record isn't good enough. Unfortunately, with 5-5 teams Syn City and Boys of Summer facing off against each other, this guarantees that one of these teams will finish at worst 6-7, meaning that the 4-6 Tecmo All-Stars would need to win all 3 of their last games to get to 7-6.

SANDRIDGE DIVISION: Andy's Red Hots vs. CheektoWojo, and BountyHunters vs. Stigs
Andy's Red Hots have gotten the short end on a lot of sticks this season. They are the clear points leader of AldenLeague, with a nearly 60-point lead on the next-closest team. Good, right? Not good enough apparently, as they find themselves in a 4-6 hole, which, to make things even worse, includes an 0-3 divisional record. Andy must've pissed off the fantasy gods something terrible. The bright side is that the Sandridge Division sucks this year, with no team better than a .500 record. 5-5 Stigs and BountyHunters lead the way over 4-6 Red Hots and CheektoWojo. What does this mean? That the #3 seed in the postseason (which will be awarded to the division winner) is up for grabs by any of these teams. The current holder of that position is the BountyHunters (despite what the standings say on AldenLeague.com), due to their perfect 3-0 divisional record being better than Stigs' 2-1. The Red Hots seem to have the best chance to clinch a playoff spot due to their high points total which will win all tiebreakers that don't have to do with the division title. Who's the front-runner for the division crown, though? No clue. It'll all come down to the 3 week divisional mayhem we have in store for us.

CRITTENDEN DIVISION: Fireseed vs The Skyns, Most Murderous vs. Ice Cold Bruschi's
The Skyns and Ice Cold Bruschis are on the bottom looking up in this division. At 3-7, the playoffs are a long ways away, but not impossible. I.C.B. has a better shot at it due to being 3rd overall in total points, but the biggest problem for them is that while the #1 and #2 highest scoring teams should be locks for the playoffs, the #1 scoring team - Andy's Red Hots - seems mostly likely to be battling for a Wild Card position and NOT the divisional title. This means that while I.C.B. holds the points tiebreaker over most teams it'll be directly competing with for those final playoff slots, the Red Hots are a huge obstacle in their way. If Andy wins the Shaft of the Year Award, I.C.B. is a very close 2nd. If things work out perfectly, they'll still have a shot at the postseason even if they only win 2 of 3. However, for the injury-plagued Skyns, it seems that only a miracle will keep them in it. Due to being in 11th place in points scored, they'll almost certainly need to win out and pray for some help to have a chance. Meanwhile, the top of the division is certainly more competitive. At 8-2, Fireseed is tied for the league's best record, and sports a perfect 3-0 divisional record as well. Lurking not far behind though is Most Murderous, who still have a shot at the division title. What will they need to do it? 3 wins (including one over Fireseed in Week 13), plus Fireseed losing one other game. Or, 2 wins will do it as long as Fireseed loses out. In non-divisional situations, Most Murderous holds one game in hand over the rest of the pack in the hunt for Wild Card spots, and is about in the middle of that pack in terms of points scored. So, they certainly control their own destiny, and are a step ahead of everyone else. They seem to be in good position. For Fireseed, 2 wins in the next 3 weeks would absolutely clinch the division title and a first round bye in the playoffs, but that scenerio could also be gotten in several other scenarios if Most Murderous doesn't win out.

Best of luck to all - this is going to get interesting in a hurry!