Fastbreak News Power Rankings: Week 3
Voters: Jacob Ehrlich (New York Titans), Caleb Williams (Chicago Prowl), Cameron Castilaw (Austin Outlaws), Naresh Edala (Unaffiliated), Maya Hinebaugh (Austin Outlaws), Jack Levy (Detroit Innovators), Ben Mertens (New Orleans Curse), Sierra Delk (Boston Forge), David Banas (Detroit Innovators), Nadja D’Rainah (Minneapolis Monarchs)
This power rankings article was delayed due to personnel and technical issues. It was written before Week 5 of MLQ and is being posted on Tuesday, July 2.
New York Titans (149) (9)
Chicago Prowl (136) (1)
Boston Forge (135)
San Antonio Soldados (112)
Detroit Innovators (102)
Kansas City Stampede (92)
Austin Outlaws (91)
Minneapolis Monarchs (76)
New Orleans Curse (76)
League City Legends (74)
Washington Admirals (56)
Charlotte Aviators (39)
Toronto Raiders (33)
Cleveland Riff (19)
Ottawa Black Bears (11)
Methodology:
Voters rank every team 1-15. For each ballot, each team is assigned a point value based on where they were placed on the ballot. Points are summed for each team across all ballots and then totals are sorted in descending order, resulting in the final ranking. First number after each team represents the total number of points the team received. Second number represents the number of first place votes (if any) the team received.
Analysis:
We’re now about halfway through the MLQ season—four weeks of play past and five weeks of play left. Since our preseason article, we’ve seen upsets, disappointments, and a level of parity previously unseen (we’re only counting post pandemic) in MLQ, with only two undefeated teams left across all divisions, and after this weekend, we might have one left based on our rankings. Standings are up on MLQ’s website and our rankers have cast their votes once more and decided who they believe will win the coveted Benepe Cup going into Week 5.
With the midseason approaching, we’ve seen a lot of movement in the middle ten teams on our list from the preseason to now, with the top and bottom remaining stagnant.
In the East, Boston has raised the hammer, exceeding expectations against New York and dominating Charlotte for an expected East 2nd place finish, and more potential to come (BOS 116→135). New York sits comfortably at the top of the league, showing that even with subpar performances in the Washington and Boston series, they can still triumph like a Titan (NYC 146→149). Charlotte has barely taken flight this season with lukewarm performances against all East Division opponents but New York, though has four more weeks to continue training their depth before facing off against New York (CLT 64→39), and Washington sets sail amidst shaky expectations, meting out a comfortable six wins, and all but clinching their Benepe cup qualification (WAS 58–56). Ottawa fights valiantly against the other two lower East Division teams, but is unable to win a game yet this season (OTT 10→11).
In the North, Chicago shows their claws and reminds everyone how they earned their finals appearance last year with a sweep against Monarchs after a tumultuous but victorious series against Innovators (CHI 122→136). Minneapolis was unable to re-establish their reign in a rocky start to the season, losing their only series to Prowl in a blowout (MPLS 100→76). Detroit comes out stronger than…ever? Devising new plans that take a game from Prowl as they prepare to fight the Raiders for a series win this weekend (DET 91→102). Toronto sweeps up Riff, silencing any ability for Riff to make some noise in their premiere series. They’ll both look to steal some wins and more ranking points as they face the rest of the North teams between now and August. (TOR 33—>33; CLE 20→19).
Finally, in the most exciting division (yes, yes, we know NYC @ BOS was “an electric series”), the South gets shaken up the most, with a new highest ranked team. San Antonio shines early in a series sweep stopping Stampede, showing a strong premiere at home (SA 116→112). Kansas City cooks, even amidst their loss to Soldados, rising in expectations for their season (KC 84→92), while New Orleans premieres at home and shows that a full 21 means they can do more this season (NO 59→76). Finally, in the most surprising MLQ script entry, League City makes history defeating Outlaws at home and a premiere loss to Curse (LC 39→74). Austin gets sent to the brig by the Legends, losing the faith of our rankers and falling deep into the rankings (AUS 141→91).
Overall: Who are the winners and losers so far this season?
Sometimes, outside of the results, people luck out (or are victims) to circumstances of the season. Schedule, weather, or other details might lead to “winners” or “losers” to those circumstances. I considered each division, and the league as a whole, and decided on who I think benefited or hurt so far.
North Division
Winner? Detroit Innovators by far.
In a season shining with new leadership and a deeper roster at all positions, Detroit has managed to take a game from the expected North Division champions (Prowl), and still gets to face off against Toronto at home, hoping to take a series win, one we haven’t seen in this matchup post-pandemic. By facing Chicago Prowl first, they needed to hit the ground running, but with the close knit strategies of Michigan State (Ethan Wanous / David Banas), Michigan (Rei Brodeur / Ryan Hsu), and Detroit Demons (Kaegan Maddelein) heralded across the entire coaching staff, they were able to mesh together to knock a game off Chicago and keep another one competitive, only behind 35 in their “blowout” game (if you can even call it that). They now get to host, at home, a Raiders team in a division that is question marks from 2nd-4th. With the home field advantage, Detroit could work to take the series win and catapult their chances to the easiest Benepe Cup seeding they’ve ever had. Perhaps all the tension online in Facebook comments and potential Redditors is meant to distract us, the MLQ script is working heavily in Innovators favor this season…all they need to do is capitalize on it.
Loser? Toronto Raiders
Toronto comes into this season after a high placement at Benepe Cup last year and now need to fight an uphill battle. While they swept in their first series against the Cleveland Riff to show that they’ve got spunk at home, the rest of your season being an away series in Detroit, and then only three weeks later they face the top team in the division,* before a final series only two weeks before champs is rough. In a season with new coaches and new blood, Head Coach Sinan Keyder will need to rally his team and scour every inch of film they have if they hope to reach higher heights than last champs and take the Benepe Cup across the border.
East Division
Winners? Boston Forge
With a masterclass coaching staff and the interlocking culture of the MQC system, Boston is ready to quiet all the naysayers from last year…and probably did against New York and Charlotte. Normally we hate talking about missing pieces in a series but regardless of the series result, Boston Forge showed the potential of their team across two series, with swapped pieces and no premiere yet of chaser Sena Morimoto and chaser/seeker Eli Fighter. A few small injuries have affected them so far, but Boston has lit a fire into their franchise performance and are a likely contender for the Benepe Cup. And they’re only gonna get better the rest of this season, with another home series to face off against the Washington Admirals on July 20 and an early August away series against Ottawa to polish everything else. Their on field management and usage of timeouts and substitutions shows a trust of their entire roster, and willingness to play with each other no matter the line on the pitch.
Loser? Ottawa Black Bears
Each season, Ottawa knows that their chances of champs comes down to beating the 3rd or 4th team to clinch the last East Division spot. This year, that came in the form of a hot, away SuperSeries with a previously untested team. While starting late may seem a great way to work on practice time as much as possible, no testing is as important as a game against another team, and Ottawa had to walk into this SuperSeries not knowing what actually connects. Both their opponents, on the other hand, came into the weekend after adjusting—Charlotte had their Boston series to work off of, and Washington started the season against New York. The Black Bears certainly showed fight and grit, but their Benepe Cup chances were all but shot down by travel, heat, and opponents ready to scrap.
South Division**
Winners? San Antonio
The San Antonio Soldados welcomed back multiple returners this season, in addition to the premiere of coaching core Milena Sousa, David Avila, and Raghu Achukola. This coaching staff allows different parts of the team to connect and work together, and even holds a non-playing piece for game management, while return of veterans Jess Markle, Daniel Williams, and Miguel Esparza allows the coaches to trust high level communication and adjustments to take place on field as well. Even better, after a loss to League City by Austin Outlaws, Soldados are in a great place to clinch the South Division title. If they can continue to sweep every other opponent, winning one game against Austin will win them the title (provided Austin bounces back this weekend the way I expect them to). Soldados maintains an ability to run consistently in the Texas heat across all lines, willing to try out new setups when things aren't working. In a pinch, the pair of Jess Markle and Daniel Williams can decide the other team isn't allowed to score anymore, and have shown an ability to create stop after stop with the team until the game is over... even if it takes three in a row to do it. If you think all you have to do is get past them to win, you've still got Kris De La Fuente, Milena Sousa, and a whole core of chasers to reckon with. We've only seen one series from them, however, and I'm excited to see what's next.
Loser? Austin Outlaws
The easy answer based on precedent for the loser of the South Division is Austin Outlaws. We saw them drop a series to League City in historic fashion, and the rankings all dropped to match. What I'm holding bated breath for, however, is the bounce back this weekend. While everyone focuses on the series result, I think Outlaws walked into the series planning on using it to fix the key to what they'll need to earn the Benepe Cup—their half court. Even with the returning pieces of Outlaws and the addition of Jay Stewart, the implementation of three-max means strategies will change. Both in the chasing and beating game, everyone knows Outlaws can run in the half court, and their beater roster has only gotten deeper. Do I think it was cocky to predict a series win walking in? YES. But does it matter? If you plan on making the Benepe Cup and believe you can beat everyone to get there, now is the time to make yourself the most masterful. For a team filled with USQ club team THC Heat and pieces from UT Longhorns, I think of their transformation between the Oklahoma City Qualifier in February to nationals. Both teams faced losses that made the field doubt their ability, yet bounced back to exceed expectations at USQ Cup. UT beat UVA in Day 1, and Heat made it to the final 4, ultimately falling to the Warriors. I think it's crime time this weekend, and Outlaws will use the SuperSeries to steal back the respect they deserve.
**- The thing is, I don’t think there are any winners and losers to the South Division so far. The easy answer is to congratulate League City on their historic victory, but they’ve still got a lot more season to play to make it to champs again.
League-Wise
Winner? Howard County, Maryland
No matter what happens between now and August 4th, the fact is that Howard County, Maryland are the far and away winners of this season. A great venue every time, we know we're getting good quality fields, nice hotel accommodations, a bar/ restaurant that'll host our tournament up on the screens, and a bunch of locals/ staff that turn a blind eye to scores of drunk parties on Sunday night. In return, Howard County hosts the niche sport they love, and rake in the dough from our high economic impact (flights, food, fast cars, and fun) across the weekend. Whether you're competing, volunteering, officiating, or spectating, I look forward to seeing you all there August 17 weekend... and hopefully that Monday for Take Back the Pitch.
Loser? FBN Rankings
Dearest Gentle Reader,
This humble writer simply receives the rankings each week and is left to interpret the rankings with my own view of the 2024 season. That being said, I do wish I could lend the pen to the rankers behind the curtain to know their thoughts. I ultimately can't tell if they're ranking who they think would win if champs were tomorrow, or what they think the rest of the season will show. This is not meant to insult them, as ranking each week is hard and watching (at minimum) 9 hours a week is tough, even tougher if you played in some of it. They could be closing their eyes to anything but what's in season, ranking game results and on field actions over historic ability of players. They may have faith that some teams will adjust (or not) based on their culture, or expect "the best athletes" will win. There's no "correct way" to rank this sport, even if I want to know the way each ranker is thinking. Until I know for sure though, I ultimately question some of the movement from preseason to now, eagerly waiting for the new rankings to drop every other week—but maybe that's really the point.
Yours Truly,
Christian Barnes
