'24-‘25 SoCal and National Forecast and Updates

[Tim Powell]

With only one Southwest 2009 league game remaining, the top eight qualifiers for playoffs look to have been decided. Any opinions or surprises with the standings? Do you think combining the Sonoran and Mojave together helped or hurt any teams?

Some of my thoughts…

- I think the final 8 makes sense overall
- I’m sure most who are close would say the biggest surprise would be Beach having a rougher season this year after winning the league last year. They had a key player in Europe all year and also dealt with a lot of injuries based on what I know. They should make it into the playoffs unless somehow Pats beats SD Surf by 5 goals this week.
- From my own personal preview: SD Surf, Legends, and Koge were the strongest teams. These were the 3 opponents we faced where it wasn’t a competitive game - or maybe it was tight for a half before the doors were eventually blown off. My guess is they are who do the most damage in the playoffs.
- LV Heat Surf probably had the harshest end to the season: losing 2 of their last 3 and, by virtue of their loss to Phoenix Rising in their last game, dropping from the Champions League to (likely) Showcase A
- Places 8-13 are/were really tight. 6 teams all with .37 PPG

 

[rainbow_unicorn]

Combining divisions this year was great for this age group cutting down games from 24 to 16. With college showcases and camps this year 24 games would have been too much. At 16 league games we still play more games than any other division (other than Nor Cal).

 

[rainbow_unicorn]

If Surf win Thur then they’ll get #1 playoff seed. AZ Arsenal and Legends will narrowly get #2 and #3 seeds. And then Sharks, HBK, Royals, Eagles, Beach will all be #4 seeds. If you’re outside of SW you will not want to draw any SW teams, especially as a #4 seed. We just beat each other up in SW division so nobody has a great W-L record or GD.

 

[Darmah]

I was thinking that Legends SD(Sharks) probably benefited the most with having one division. They seemed to always be the 4th team in the Sonoran just missing out on the Champions League. Surf, Koge, Blues(not since the breakup) and Arsenal seemed to be too much for them. On top of some of the challenges Tim Powell sated about Beach, maybe Beach not getting to play the Mojave division twice effected their Point Per Game in a negative way. Either way they are a very good team and will likely win their group even at the 4 seed. I would love to hear Mars predictions when the playoff groups are announced.