by Jason Briggs

With the end of the regular season rapidly approaching, it is time to take a look at what teams have a chance at competing in the post season. This season is shaping up to be much different than seasons past, since a large number of teams with losing records will undoubtedly make the playoffs. This season will have 20 of the 29 available teams competing for the Gold Cup. As posted a few weeks back by Tim Allen, there will be 10 automatic bids this season compared to 12 in seasons past.

The top 4 teams from Bloomington South and Fridley will be joined by the top 2 teams in Plymouth and automatically advance to the round of 16. Joining those 10 teams in the round of 16 and receiving a pass on the play-in games will be the top 2 at-large bids. That will leave 8 lucky teams stuck battling it out on opening night for an opportunity to play a team that will most likely clobber them. Enough logistics, let’s get on the current team rankings.

Automatics Bids:

1.) St Baul 6-0 (BS Auto-bid) Have beaten all comers in the league with the most top end teams.

2.) Avengers 6-0 (Fridley Auto-bid) Undefeated in a very competitive league and did beat the Celtics.

3.) Celtics 5-1 (Fridley Auto-bid) Their one loss drops them to number three, but we still know who the champs are.

4.) Riddlers 5-1 (BS Auto-bid) Not the same team after the injury to Peter Clark, but I’m not penalizing them for that. One more tough match-up to go (St Baul), but I can’t see them finishing with 3 losses.

5.) Wizards 4-1 (Plymouth Auto-bid) Not the same Wizards as last season, but still good enough to be dangerous. I don’t see them losing again in Plymouth this season.

6.) Bobcats 4-2 (BS Auto-bid) Looked terrible against the Riddlers and St Baul, but then beat the Rebels. What makes this team dangerous is the same thing that makes them beatable; they have 2 small point guards on the floor for 44 minutes a game.

7.) Rebels 4-2 (BS Auto-bid) Two losses by a combined 5 points puts them way down in the rankings. No way this team loses again in the regular season and will end up in the 6-2 mess with the Bobcats and Riddlers.

8.) Bulls 4-2 (Fridley Auto-bid) Had their chance to do something special on Thursday night, but had more than a few players with off nights. They have a tough game this week against the Avengers, but with are guaranteed an automatic bid with a win in Week 8 over Respect the Game.

9.) Greenhorns 4-2 (Fridley Auto-bid) Despite a 4-2 record, this team has really only looked good in one game (Respect the Game). With that being said, one more win most likely gives this team an auto-bid for the second straight season. They have the chance to beat both the Mighty Unicorns and Secret Agents to finish 6-2 and jump over the Bulls.

10.) More Hustle 4-2 (Plymouth Auto-bid) They beat the Wizards and Showtime, but gave Five Play their only win of the season. This team is good when they come to play, but that doesn’t happen every week. Assuming the Wizards win out, a week 8 win over Team Luke keeps an automatic bid for More Hustle.

At-Large Bids:

11.) T-Pups 4-2 (BS #1 At-large) With 4 wins, this team already has a playoff spot locked up. If they take care of the Rainbow Warriors in Week 8, this team will also get a guaranteed jump to the Round of 16.

12.) Showtime 4-2 (Plymouth #1 At-large) Currently the only other at-large team with a winning record. They look comfortably in at this point, but that can change with losses in Weeks 7 and 8. That would leave them at 4-4 and we all know that Plymouth doesn’t get any respect.

13.) Hand Down, Man Down 3-3 (Fridley #1 At-large) This is where things get both interesting and terrible for Minnesota Rec Basketball. I can come up with more reasons to leave the next 17 teams out of the playoffs, rather than find ways to keep them in. HDMD has a nice win against the Bulls this season, but also got the pleasure of playing them without their best player (Powell). While they believe that it wouldn’t have made a difference, everyone who has seen Roderick play knows otherwise. The rest of their wins consist of a squeaker over the Secret Agents and a thumping of the winless Nets. They also have lost to two 2-4 teams (Noisy, RTG) in consecutive weeks. Luckily for them, going 500 in this state is going to be good enough to easily make the playoffs. If they beat D.Y. Nasty this week, they are definitely in. If they lose that game, they move down the chopping block and will have a long night come selection Thursday after their loss to the Celtics.

14.) Unicorns 3-3 (BS #2 At-large) Their 3 wins are over teams with a combined 4 wins, so their resume is not overly impressive. Their 3 losses are to the top teams in the league, which certainly helps that unimpressive resume. This team seems to be able to beat the teams they should beat and lose to the teams they should lose to. They will undoubtedly lose to the Rebels this week, but a Week 8 win over Inception puts them comfortably in the playoffs.

15.) Blue Devils 3-3 (Plymouth #2 At-large) Why am I giving so much respect to the Plymouth teams??? Probably because nobody outside the top 12 really deserves that much respect for the Summer 2011 season. Their 3 losses came to the best teams in Plymouth, while they also beat More Hustle in the season opener. This team is in as long as they beat Fiveplay in week 8. If they lose that game, Plymouth only gets 3 teams this season.

16.) DY Nasty 3-3 (Fridley #2 At-large) This team is one of the worst to watch in Fridley, but will most likely be a tough opponent for whomever they face in the play-in games. They should have beat the Mambas but lost, then should have lost to the Unicorns but won. If they get a win over either HDMD or Noisy, they are in. If they win both, they might sneak out an automatic bid if the Greenhorns or Bulls really falter at the end. If they lose both, they might be watching the games and will have to find somebody to rout for other than Lance Buscher.

17.) Blue Chips 2-4 (BS #3 At-large) Great, we’ve gotten to the teams below 500!!! The Chips should have beaten the Unicorns, but blew a double digit first half lead and ended up losing by 3. They also has a double digit lead in the second half over the T-Pups, but completely blew the last 12 minutes. Add those moral victories to crushing defeats at the hands of the Rebels and Riddlers, and you get a team that should not even be in the discussion. Lucky for them (us), some 3-5 teams will certainly make the playoffs and this is probably the best one available. Now that Keilon Riddley is back in the conversation, this team has the offensive firepower to really hurt teams. If they beat the Rainbow Warriors this week and have a decent showing against the Bobcats in Week 8, this team makes its 4th consecutive playoff appearance. If they lose both games, this team will have to take solace in Sam Halverson’s return for Fall Season because they won’t be in the playoffs

18.) Black Mambas 2-3 (Fridley #3 At-large) Due to some tie-breakers, this team has a legitimate shot making the playoffs despite a below 500 record. They will certainly lose their next two games, but a win over the Nets leaves them at 3-5 and fighting with 8 other terrible teams. Their wins over DY Nasty and RTG might really help come Selection Thursday, since all will be fighting for spots.

19.) MN Rice 2-4 (BS #4 At-large) Another Bloomington team that has not beaten anyone of quality and will certainly finish with a below 500 record. They get placed below the Blue Chips for 2 reasons. 1.) They could only beat an Inception team playing their first game together by 2 points. 2.) The game against the T-Pups really exposed their lack of fire. After a blatantly flagrant foul, the team on the painful end of said foul is supposed to get fired up. That did not happen with MN Rice, when all but Junius appeared to have lost interest in playing physical against the Timberpuppies. That lead to a 22 point loss, in what should have been a very competitive game. This team will more than likely lose to the Clark-less Riddlers this week, but a Week 8 win over the Sonics will probably still be enough to get them into the playoffs. If they lose that game, this team is toast.

20.) Respect The Game (Fridley #4 At-large) At first I thought this team was the victim of the scheduling gods giving them three really tough games in the first three weeks of the season. After a Week 4 win over the Nets and a Week 5 thrashing of HDMD, I thought my theory had been confirmed. Then I showed up to Fridley on Thursday and watched this team of veterans get beat by the pick-up game style of the Black Mambas. That loss pretty much threw my whole scheduling theory out the window and put serious doubt in this team’s ability to make the playoffs. Lucky for them, they still have a shot in Week 7 against the Secret Agents to get them in. They lose that game; Arthur will have plenty of time to worry about his stats while they are watching the playoffs.

Currently Not In The Playoffs:

21.) Mighty Unicorns 2-4 (Fridley) Currently on the outside looking in, although they have two winnable games left on their schedule. The Greenhorns consistently play down to their competition, while the Nets have not beaten anybody. They are currently sitting outside the top 20 for their terrible performance against DY Nasty this week. I’ll give them credit for a furious 6 minutes that gave them a chance to win, but that doesn’t make up for the 38 minutes of terrible basketball before that. Also, if the players on DY Nasty were less concerned about stats in the second half…this game would not have been close.

22.) Noisy Withdrawal 2-4 (Fridley) The perennial playoff team cannot get a full-squad to show up this season. The one game they did was a close loss to the Mighty Unicorns. What they have going for them is two wins over teams currently in the playoffs, but only getting 4 players to show up for multiple games pretty much cancels that out. This team has two very winnable games left on the schedule, but will need 5 guys to make that happen. With games left against the Nets and D.Y. Nasty, this team could actually finish at 500 despite their poor attendance.

23.) Secret Agents 2-4 (Fridley) Is this the best Free Agent squad that Fridley has seen or is this league simply not that good? The answer is a little bit of both, since this team definitely has some talent. While they are currently on the outside looking in, if they beat RTG this week they are seriously back in the conversation. An upset of the Greenhorns in week 8 would really go a long way as well.

24.) Inception 1-4 (BS) A second half switch to zone is probably what cost this team their second win of the year. The short-handed T-Pups had a lot of trouble against this physical team and were bailed out by the defensive switch. Inception’s only win is over the same team every bad team in Bloomington beats…the Rainbow Warriors. They have a double header this week with games against St Baul and the Supersonics. If they manage to beat the Sonics and can take down the Unicorns in Week 8, this team jumps considerably in these rankings. Not sure if it will be high enough, but who knows??

25.) Supersonics 1-5 (BS) They beat the Rainbow Warriors, so welcome to the club Sonics! As for their remaining schedule, it features two very winnable games against MN Rice and Inception…with Inception playing their second game of the night. While a team that loses to the Unicorns by 19 and the Blue Chips by 37 doesn’t deserve to make the playoffs, 3-5 might be good enough this season.

26.) Five-Play 1-5 (Plymouth) They have on big win over More Hustle but have stunk in all others. The Committee will be in Plymouth to watch the games on Sunday, so this team will have a chance to show us some signs of life. Team Luke and the Blue Devils is not a difficult remaining schedule, but this team will most likely lose one if not both of those games.

27.) Team Luke 1-4 (Plymouth) The stats are definitely messed up in a few Plymouth games this season, since Team Luke put up a good fight with 3 guys according to a certain box score. With their one win coming against a team with one win, they have almost 0 chance of making the playoffs. If they miraculously beat Fiveplay and either Showtime or the Wizards…they still probably get left out because of their inability to get 5 guys to show up.

28.) Nets 0-5 (BS) This team played their best game of the season this week against the Greenhorns and still lost by 11. They are not good and will possibly go 0-8 without even playing the Bulls, Avengers, and Celtics. I just hope Noisy shows up with more than 4 guys, so the Nets actually have to earn a victory this season. It is really too bad too, since Ryan Kelley is a good player. Unfortunately for him, Brandon and Lance spend half their time arguing over which one plays worse. As for Lance specifically, it was tough to determine what team he was playing for in their game against his buddies from D.Y. Nasty. I thought he was going to pull a move out of professional wrestling and unveil a D.Y. Nasty jersey halfway through the second half. Luckily for him, his 20 points versus the Greenhorns probably mended fences with his teammates.

29.) Rainbow Warriors 0-5 (BS) Four of their five losses have been to some of the worst teams in Bloomington. They have also lost each game by double digits. I can’t see this team winning a game this season and will probably continue to lose by double digits throughout.

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