Hertha: ”Günther, the KFC was the easy part. What are we going to do with the mess in the SHC? There are so many teams still involved!”

Günther: “I know. We muddle through and see what happens. You can start with SHC West, Hertha. That should be easy enough.”

Hertha: “Sure. The Knights have long since clinched this division. White Wolves were in the contest until week 10 with 12 points and a 5-2-3 record, but their latest results is noting to be excited about. Two draws against Marauders and Sharks, and before that two losses against the Knights and the Sluggers means they are stuck at 14 points with two matches left, and that against the Thunder and the River Bandits. They will be lucky to get 1 point out of that, far too little to reach a wild card spot. So…Knights it is, and no other from this division.”

Günther: “I agree. The South division currently holds three teams that are looking at play-offs. With two rounds left, Wreckers are in the lead with 19 points after their surprise win against the Buccaneers in week 14. Buccaneers are at 17, and this season’s big surprise Avalanche are at 16 points, despite their loss in week 14 to the Bruisers. Week 15 are all internal matches, with Bruisers against the Buccaneers and Avalanche against the Wreckers. I think Wreckers will show their mettle here and beat the Avalanche to take the divisional title. Their final match is against the Griffins and should result in two more points to bring their total to 23. Avalanche should be able to beat the Thunderbolts and end up with 18p, which may be enough for a wild card. Buccaneers need two more point to get to 19p which will almost certainly be enough for a wild card. Bruisers have surprised us several times, and may do so again against the Bucs, but Bucs should manage the Classics and thus end up at 19p or more and one wild card spot. Thus, I call this division for the Wreckers, with Bucs for one of the wild card spots at 19+ points, and Avalanche as a likely one for the second at 18 points.”

Hertha: “An exciting match there between Avalanche and Wreckers next week that will decide a lot, then! But that’s what we really love, right? These tight matches that make the difference between Heaven and… well… let’s not be religiously biased! But Günther, I remember that you said Bucs were the best team in that division… were you wrong?”
Günther: “Apparently. And even though Buccaneers have taken 220 rating points of losses during the season, compared to “only 130” for Avalanche, and half of it in their loss of Randall Cunningham last week, Wreckers have lost 410 rating points, more than these two teams together. So it’s just amazing what Wreckers have managed with the resources available to them. But as we all know, what we self-declared experts can’t catch is always the ones that outperform their expectations. We know there will be some, only not who they will be…”

Hertha: “An impressive bit of self-insight there, Günther! Next on our list is the East division. Technically the race is not yet finished here, since with 3 matches to go, Legion has 17p, Manticores 13p and Greenskins 12p. There is only one internal match left between these teams, and that is the week 14 meeting between Legion and Greenskins. If Legion can win this match that should be sufficient for them to clinch the divisional title, and that’s good, because in their last two matches they meet Foxes and Unicorns, and they are both tipped to get wild card spots in KFC, so getting any more points will be hard. Thus, we tip Legion for 19-20 points."

Günther: “Yah. And since we expect Greenskins to loose both against the Legion in the internal match and against Universe in week 15, they will end up with a maximum of 14 points if they can overcome brutal Rangers, and that will certainly not be enough to get a wild card. Manticores will also struggle. They shoud be able to overcome the Cardinals in week 14, but Rangers in week 15 will be tough, and Universe in week 16 almost impossible. Thus, with an expected 3 more points, Manticores can end up with 16p, which won’t be enough for the wild card. They will only have a shot if they can pull off a small miracle against the Universe.”

Hertha: “So from this division we expect only the Legion to go to play-offs, and that as divisional winner. The others won’t be even close.”

Günther: “And that leaves us with the North division. Once again, the Vikings should take the divisional title. They are at 17 points and have three matches left, and Scimitars should be easy prey. And then they have the match against the Crimson Cascade which will decide the title decisively, and everything points to another Vikings win there. In the final match against the Grizzlies, Vikings are favoured, but we believe it may be a draw, and thus place Vikings at 22 points and champs.”

Hertha: “And you were right when you said at midseason that Crimson Cascade is once again going to narrowly miss the play-offs. We predict that since they lose against the Vikings, it does not matter much what they do against the 49ers. Even a win will only bring them 18p and that’s probably not enough for the wild card, which will likely go to Avalanche.”

Günther: “Right. Even though they were on their way to something great after recovering from the loss of Krukenberg and posted four wins in a row in week 9 to 12, they lost Althoff late in the game against Scimitars and have two narrow losses against the Grizzlies and Razorbacks, and that is one loss too many for the wild card place. Their only chance is to pull off a miracle against the Vikings, and we do not think that will happen.”

Hertha: “And the Wolfskins and Grizzlies have no chances at all for a play-off place this season. So this means only Vikings from the North division.”

Günther: “Yep. So this means Knights, Wreckers, Legion and Vikings as the divisional champions and Bucs and Avalanche for the wild card spots. With Crimson Cascade as the only remaining challenger.”

Hertha: “And as a final bonus to our listeners; here are some match-ups that may prove pivotal in deciding the outcome of the play-off race; Legion vs Greenskins in week 14, Crimson Cascade vs Vikings in week 15, Wreckers vs Avalanche in week 15, White Wolves vs Thunder in week 15, Universe vs Manticores in week 16 and Unicorns vs Legion in week 16.”

Brought to you by Hertha Wendlinger and Günther Schiele, Carroburg Tageszeitung.