by Alana Klein
Three out of the four games this weekend settled head-to-head tiebreakers, helping to determine the #1 seed and the other of which could end up deciding who keeps playing deeper into July. With the season at its midpoint and teams beginning to see opponents for a 2nd or 3rd (or 4th!) time, the head-to-heads should really start to fill out. We also have our first tiebreaker that was settled by point differential because the teams split the season series (Beaumont over Washington).
I have included an explanation of the tiebreaker when 3+ teams are tied in winning %. While this is irrelevant this week, it was needed last week and very well could be next week.
Highlights of the week:
- Nashville went into Friday’s game scoring an average of 57.80 PPG and allowing 30.00 PPG. After winning 58-28, those numbers barely moved. Their scoring average went up to 57.83 (+0.03) and their points allowed decreased to 29.67 (-0.33). This is a basically useless observation, but I thought it was remarkable. (There’s a reason why this is called “The Numbers Game”.)
- Beaumont & Washington gave us another instant classic.
Into the record books:
- While a quick search didn’t yield any results, Minnesota FB Shannon Brooks’ 47-yard run is by definition one of the longest runs in arena football history, irregardless of league. (And yes. I know that ‘irregardless’ isn’t a word, but it’s such a great non-word.)
Tiebreakers clinched this week:
- Beaumont clinched the head-to-head over Washington by virtue of point differential.
- Michigan clinched the head-to-head outright over Oregon.
- Kentucky clinched the head-to-head outright over Oceanside.
Standings
| Team | Winning % | Points Per Game | Set Tiebreakers | |
| 1 | Albany | 1.000 | 51.67 | H2H: MIN, ORE, WASH |
| 2 | Kentucky | 0.833 | 51.00 | H2H: MICH, NSH, OCN |
| 3 | Nashville | 0.833 | 57.83 | H2H: OCN, ORE |
| 4 | Minnesota | 0.600 | 33.40 | H2H: MICH |
| 5 | Beaumont | 0.333 | 38.83 | H2H: WASH |
| 6 | Washington | 0.333 | 33.33 | |
| 7 | Michigan | 0.286 | 39.43 | H2H: ORE |
| 8 | Oceanside | 0.167 | 44.33 | |
| 9 | Oregon | 0.167 | 27.67 |
* NOTE: I use points per game instead of total points because there will not at any point in the season be a time when all teams have played the same number of games until the final whistle of the final game. Therefore, PPG is a more accurate indication of where teams would stand using the “Total Points” tiebreaker.
# In the event of a tie between 3+ teams:
– Compare head-to-head results in a round robin-style elimination.
– Compare total points scored in a round robin-style elimination.
– If a team can be seeded after a step, remove that team from the tiebreaker and (if there are still 3+ teams) start over with head-to-head, repeating the process until there are only 2 teams remaining.