2023 Power Rankings-Playoffs 2

## Introduction

What a difference a loss makes.

In week 7, Shotti lost to Mattness by less than 6 points. Jameson Williams scored 0 in his flex spot. On his bench was Henderson (19), Elliot (11), and Rice (18). Any of those players start, and Shotti finishes the season 8-6 intead of 7-7. Better seeding, better odds...right?

Except because of that narrrow loss, Shotti was the 4th seed instead of the 3rd seed, and faced the lowest ever score in the quarterfinals.

If he had been the 3, he would have faced Idiots and lost by 16.82. That would have set up a semifinals of Idiots vs. Paddock 9, where Paddock would have been the heavy favorite.

Instead, Idiots is sent to the Cinco De Lose-0, where he will face momma in another Glory Bowl XII rematch. There will be no threepeat appearance for him, and no repeat performance from momma.

Shotti advances to face Paddock 9 in a matchup that he currently projects to win. If, somehow, Shotti goes on to win the Glory Bowl, he could trace the beginning of his run to a loss, of all things.

The same can be said for Sweet Dee, who lost Burrow and Mark Andrews and has not lost a game since. In the face of adversity, Dee has exploded for the most points over the last month. And it's also poetic that the injury to Joe Burrow ignited this run, because it was an injury in the Bengals game last season that brought her Heart and Soul Bowl scoring to a hault and ultimately led to her bargaining with Mattness for the 1st overall pick, which landed her CMC.

What we do ripples across eternity. And now Sweet Dee and Shotti, for all their shortcomings, are favorites to meet in the Glory Bowl.

But The two double digit win teams have not had to play a meaningful game in a long time, and they are well rested and ready to go. They will have something to say before it is all said and done.

It's the last week of the season for all ten teams taking the field at the same time. And it is the final bow for the two Glory Bowlers from a year ago. It's Semifinals week in the LOC.

## Matchup Recap

* Sweet Dee continues her miracle run by knocking down a two-time semifinal winner in The Stupid Idiots (5-6). **Next Matchup: 2024**
* The Shotti Bunch takes down long-time rival and emerges as a potential new dynasty in a blowout win against defending champion ma ma momma said (12-12). **Next Matchup: 2024**

## All-Time Quarterfinal Performances

This week we saw a record broken, but probably not the one this team was hoping to break. You have to scroll pretty far to see it...

Hell yeah! Way to go Jared! Worst ever, wow, what a treat to witness. It's a little easier to stomach than Shotti's 3rd worst score ever losing to Mattness's 4th worst score ever, and WAY WAY WAY easier to stomach than 2013's 284.46 point performance from Duck Punchers becoming the highest score ever for a losing team.

## Lowest Postseason Scores Of All-Time

Most of us are on this list, but nobody is on this list as often as momma. REALLY makes you think.

## Total Quarterfinals Points Scored by Year

Thanks in no small part to Jared's all time stinker, 2023 was one of the worst years in history for scoring in the opening round of the playoffs.

## Above and Below

A chart to track how many games above/below projections for each team.

## Trade Tracker

### Nacua for Kupp

Starts (Paddock 9):

* 10

Starts (RIPDab)

* 11

Seems pretty clear to me who won this trade.

### Monty for Howell/Mostert

Starts (Paddock 9):

* David Montgomery - 4

Starts (Papa's Posse):

* Sam Howell - 1
* Raheem Mostert - 4

## All-Time Franchise Playoff Records

Below is the list of all teams who have played in the post-season in the League of Champions. In the case of team name changes, the most recent name is used. See also All-Time Regular Season Franchise Records.

Updated through 1/21/23

## Teams with No Playoff Appearances

No ACTIVE team has never reached the playoffs

Four defunct teams never reached the playoffs during their franchise's history.

* Brak and Yellow - In 2011 this team tied for 6th place (7-6 record) but lost the tie-breaker with soon-to-be champion Papa's Posse (Then NK Anacondas) by way of Points For. The team folded that off-season.
* Big Sacks - Folded after its first season with a 6-7 record.
* bob's bananas - Missed the playoffs in 2011 after a four-game losing streak and folded that off-season.
* GregCincoDos - Finished 4-9 after an 0-5 start in their first and only year. They folded at the conclusion of the 2011 season.

## The History of the Top Seed

Every top-seeded team that won the semifinals has won the Glory Bowl. If Paddock 9 wins this week, that trend is in his favor. Unfortunately, the majority of 1-seeds have never made it out of the semifinals. THAT trend is not in his favor.

## Active Playoff Appearance Droughts

From missing playoffs to being the last four teams remaining. Quite a story for the 2022 Consolation Tournament managers.

## Semifinals Appearances by Team

Shotti becomes the first team to play in eight semifinals games. Mattness ties Duck for the 2nd most appearances, but is the only team among those three without a Glory Bowl win.

## Power Rankings - Week 14

### 1(3). Sweet Dee

Already is 3 for 3 with her starts in the semifinals, with Austin Flight Deckler piloting the roster to an above-projection start. Tyler Boyd turned to Tyler Mand before our very eyes as he nutted up and came down with some crucial grabs, and even Kyren Williams was able to muscle his way above projection despite a slow start. Sweet Dee is in a great spot to get back to the Glory Bowl, but will have to endure some tougher matchups as the week goes on with Russell Wilson facing a stout Patriots Defense and CMC facing his toughest challenge yet in the Ravens.

### 2(1). The Shotti Bunch

Alvin Camera was far from picture perfect, but Shotti has already seen several of Paddock's players fall short of the mark so its easy to see him returning to his Glory Bowl days of yore. He was the league's second highest scorer and he has a 20 point projected advantage heading into action today. The main concern for Shotti is whether he is going to make the right call at QB, where Jared Scoff and Justin Feels have flipped between laughingstocks and feeling the force each week of the season.

### 3(2). Paddock 9

You could sense the vibes were off this week when Pat got stuck in a Whole Foods plaza for so long that he abandoned his car and live texted from the back row of a matinee Hunger Games: Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes showing. During his second playoff run, Stefon Diggs was THE GUY. His Monday night performance against the Patriots in 2020 brought P9 back from the brink and delivered him a Glory Bowl trophy. That's not the case this year, as Diggs dug his own grave vs. the Chargers. With Keenan "Tim" Allen out, Paddock is in need of some home improvement if he wants to come from behind yet again. It's not over, and this team is loaded with talent. But it's unhealthy, older talant, facing tough opponents. The odds are stacked against him.

### 4(4). Multiverse of Mattness

Deja Vu all over again. Mattness has been here before, facing Sweet Dee at her hottest and getting pummeled by a fucking Rams runningback. But championship teams have to earn it, and that's what it will take today. Self-isolated in a hotel room with COVID, the only Christmas gift Mattness wants is his team not shitting the bed before Santa comes down the chimney. Can Trevor Lawrence shake the cobwebs? Is Bijan the Blocker Robinson going to be given enough to do? Are you there, Justin Jefferson? It's me, Margaret. This team is loaded. Fucking loaded. But will they show up?

### 5(6). Papa's Posse

Sneakily had an amazing bye week score without even setting his lineup, meaning Josh Jacobs was still in there and he still outscored three of the active playoffs teams. This week he will have to hope Purdy's MVP hype is real as he takes on the Ravens on MNF. And if he is on the nice list, maybe Amon-Ra can recapture some Christmas magic against the Vikings. Papa is typically a strong consolation team because he brings the same winning energy to every matchup, so we'll see if he can make it to a historic 5th Heart and Soul Bowl appearance.

### 6(5). Duck Punchers

Figures that Duck is favored to win the Heart and Soul by a mile and is getting curb stomped by RIPDab. That has been the whole story of Duck's season, and his entire franchise history really. Duck is the worst postseason team by win%, and has never won the opening round of the consolation tournament. With Michael ArmPittman out, there might not be a deoderant stick strong enough to prevent this team from stinking it up in week 16.

### 7(7). The Stupid Idiots

I actually feel bad for the Idiots. Their team overperformed last week, but they were on the wrong end of the unstoppable freight train that is Sweet Dee. Idiots made some really smart moves to end the year, getting Stafford and Zeke at the right times. But the horseshoe up his ass finally dislodged and he was relegated to another Cinco De Lose-O matchup with momma.

### 8(9). Pain Train

The Tennessee Titans of fantasy teams, Pain Train is a team that nobody has really spoken about this year but they have just as much a shot as anybody at claiming the 1st overall pick in next year's draft. And we cannot forget that they managed to accumulate picks from both Mattness and Paddock, who appear to have sold their souls for 10-win seasons and nothing else. That said, if Pain Train beats Papa on Christmas that is a bad look because Papa is without his son this year, so don't be rude.

### 9(10). RIPDab

RIPDabs plan since like week 4 was to win the consolation tournament. So his team has sucked dick all year and now, in the opening round, has come alive against Duck. It's incredible that these guys were able to remember how to football just in time. I cannot help but applaud this man.

### 10(8). Ma ma momma said

An all-time stinker to end the title defense. Down Ja'Marr Chase this week, it might be a second Cinco De lose-O loss to the Stupid Idiots since 2019 for the homie. But on the bright side, if Paddock 9 blow it as bad as he's trending to blow it, nobody will remember this utter meltdown from momma in the quarters.

## Matchups of the Week: The Consolation Kings

This week, the four consolation teams from the previous year face off in the semifinals for the first time in LOC history. It is my greatest triumph as a Commish. It is also the first time that the semifinals will feature managers with a combined 7 trophies.

Unquestionably, the biggest game this week is the Baltimore vs. San Francisco finale on Monday night. Paddock 9 will have Gus Edwards going against Shotti's George Kittle and Baltimore defense. Mattness will have Deebo up against CMC, OBJ, Aiyuk, and Justin Tucker.

### Semifinals 1: Six Trophies, One Winner

Shotti vs. Paddock represents 50% of the trophies won in the LOC throughout it's 12+ year history, and if either of them want a shot at a repeat title they will need to go through the other. Shotti and Paddock had never met in the postseason until last year, when they faced off in the Million Dollar Game. Now, one year later, they meet for a chance at the highest honor:

Shotti is already off to an amazing start, but Paddock has plenty of players left to close the gap. Aside from Bal vs. SF, P9 has Hurts, Brown, and Kelce all playing on Christmas day. Shotti's team will mostly take the field Sunday afternoon and will set the tone for what Paddock 9 needs to keep his season alive.

## Semifinals 2: La Classique

It may seem to some like this is a case of class vs. ass in the LOC, but if that were true than the reality is that Mattness is the assness. Because Commish comes into the semifinals as the only remaining team without a championship to his name. It's Sweet Dee, not Mattness, who has hoisted a championship trophy.

Over the years, this has been one of the most closely contested contests in the LOC.

Sweet Dee had a commanding 8-5 series lead against Mattness until Commish went on a run from December 2021 until November of this year, flipping the series to a narrow 10-9 lead. But Dee is 2-1 in the postseason against Mattness, having only lost the controversial Heart and Soul Bowl last year. In 2018, it was the stellar performance by

At 1pm, Dee only has her Cleveland stack of Ford and Njoku taking the field, giving Mattness the space to try and close an already widening gap with three players, including Jefferson and Bijan, and his NYJ defense. In the late window, Mattness will gamble on the health of Trevor Lawrence in hopes that he does not reaggrivate any of his numerous injuries against a stout TB defense.

Sweet Dee is also in trouble at QB, as Russ Wilson has been okay but not stellar of late and faces a tough defense in NE on Christmas Eve.

Both contests should come down to Monday night, with two teams getting gifts and two teams getting coal.

## Conclusion

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good fight.