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2017 Playoffs: Semifinals Preview

In the first round of the playoffs, a couple games went down to the wire, but the favorites held on in each contest. The top four seeds remain alive in each conference, but half of them will see their season end after Monday. Here's how it went down in Week 14 (click on the images to view the full conference on Yahoo!):

AFC

NFC

PFC

That leaves us with 12 teams competing for three jerseys:

When you're finished, take this poll to vote on the winners of each matchup.

The two participants in last year's Thunder Bowl are back as the defending champion Redlegs and the Doughboys look to make it back to the championship game. They're joined by the Hooligans, hoping to pull off one last victory before RB Ezekiel Elliott returns, and the Warm Bodies, who have been a threat all season. Click on matchup titles to view them on Yahoo!

Warm Bodies	Tale of the Tape	Redlegs
9-5	Record	11-2
138.37	Points Per Game	159.13
169.11	OPR	190.22

The Redlegs have been favorites all season, and that continues this week, as they're projected to win by 14 points. Look for Zerger to get to his second-straight Thunder Bowl. For the Warm Bodies, they'll need huge games from LeSean McCoy and Kareem Hunt.

Doughboys	Tale of the Tape	Hooligans
10-4	Record	10-3
147.12	Points Per Game	139.65
178.72	OPR	166.65

The Hooligans deserve a lot of praise for winning 10 games while dealing with the Ezekiel Elliott suspension, but I don't see them as seriously competing here. If they pull it off, they get Elliott back from the championship game, but I think the Doughboys will win easily.

There are some fascinating re-matches in the NFC semifinals. First, the 'Mericans face the Dirty Hippies, who knocked them out of the playoffs last season. And Lucky Enuf plays SoonerJack. Those two teams infamously played the 2008 OIL Bowl to a tie. Click on the matchup title to view on Yahoo!

Dirty Hippies	Tale of the Tape	'Mericans
9-5	Record	11-2
122.25	Points Per Game	158.52
146.26	OPR	191.79

The 'Mericans were unlucky enough to face Le'Veon Bell (and the Hippies) in the first round of the 2016 playoffs, and Bell's 51 points knocked them out of the championship chase. But Trovillo no longer has Bell, and Cliburn's squad is stacked. This is a revenge game that (I hope) will get ugly.

SoonerJack	Tale of the Tape	Lucky Enuf
11-3	Record	10-3
130.90	Points Per Game	155.05
165.41	OPR	187.53

SoonerJack rode a lot of luck to notch 10 wins while averaging only 130.90 points per game, but here is where is luck runs out. No team is projected to dominate Week 15 like Lucky Enuf. Pyle gets back to the OIL Bowl for the first time since 2008.

The PFC field includes the 2015 champions, the 2016 champions, the 2015 top seed, and the 2017 newcomer in the Vandals (whose manager, if not team name, is new for 2017). Click the matchup title to view on Yahoo!

Enforcers	Tale of the Tape	Dirty Dogs
10-4	Record	10-3
143.50	Points Per Game	142.95
170.18	OPR	169.83

These teams are incredibly even-matched. The Enforcers are projected to win, but I'm deeming it too close to call. The Dirty Dogs are the defending champions and number-one seed, but this will be a shootout.

Vandals	Tale of the Tape	Brawlers
10-4	Record	10-3
146.33	Points Per Game	148.76
170.91	OPR	176.41

This is another matchup that may be too close to call, as the Vandals are favored by just one point. But there is a lot of intrigue here, as the Vandals originally had the two-seed and first-round bye before a stat correction gave it to the Brawlers. The Vandals then had a very tough matchup in Round One that came close to knocking him off. Now, he gets to have revenge against the team that stole his bye week.

Published on: December 6, 2017

2017 Playoffs: First Round Preview

It's finally here: the PLAYOFFS. 18 teams are competing for three conference trophies and one OIL trophy. This year is a mix of old and new as perennial contenders and newly-competitive managers will battle over the next four weeks. To the matchups!

Click on team logos to view manager pages on okiraqi.org. Click matchup titles to view the matchup on Yahoo!

Congratulations to Zerger, Cliburn, Pyle, Lutonsky, Buehre, and Neely on finishing in the top two in their respective conferences. Enjoy your wins this week.

For the second-consecutive season, defending champion Lance Zerger and his Redlegs have clinched a first-round bye. Joining him is Sir Neely and his Hooligans, making their first appearance in the top two.

Joining Zerger and Neely in the AFC playoffs are Green, Nye, Schuster (making the playoffs for the first time), and Peacock.

Cocks	Tale of the Tape	Doughboys
7-6	Record	9-4
126.88	Points Per Game	147.12
146.71	OPR	178.72

Both these managers are returning to the playoffs after being strong contenders in 2016, but neither could pull off the championship last season. Look for the Doughboys to make a strong statement that they are not over their 2016 Thunder Bowl defeat.

Negligent Discharges	Tale of the Tape	Warm Bodies
8-5	Record	9-4
135.36	Points Per Game	138.37
157.96	OPR	169.11

UPSET ALERT! Schuster's Discharges are making their first OIL playoffs appearance against Nye, who was a front-runner for a first-round bye all season. Nye has a better record and higher points-per-game and OPR, but I'm picking Schuster to make it to Week 15.

In the NFC, Cliburn's 'Mericans have secured their first first-round bye since 2012, while Pyle was Lucky Enuf to clinch a bye for the second-consecutive season.

Joining Cliburn and Pyle in the championship hunt are Bruesch, Trovillo, Duffy, and Morgan. Five of the six NFC contenders are previous champions, with Duffy finishing third twice.

Whackers	Tale of the Tape	SoonerJack
7-6	Record	10-3
129.83	Points Per Game	130.90
144.62	OPR	165.41

Morgan's Whackers have been incredibly unlucky this season, first losing Aaron Rodgers and then Jordan Reed and JuJu Smith-Schuster (first to injury and now to suspension). But he's facing the lowest-scoring 10-win team in OIL history. So perhaps there's a chance. I'm of the belief that, were they at full strength, the Whackers would upset SoonerJack . . . but they're not at full strength, so they won't.

Hangovers	Tale of the Tape	Dirty Hippies
7-6	Record	8-5
140.81	Points Per Game	122.25
164.36	OPR	146.26

At first glance, the Hangovers would seem to be favorites. Although they have a worse record, their points per game are 18 points higher than the Hippies' and their OPR is significantly higher. But their 140.81 points per game is deceiving, as they averaged just 120.76 over the final three weeks of the regular season . . . all losses. Look for Trovillo to beat Duffy and move the Hippies closer to a second-consecutive championship.

Newcomer Rob Lutonsky took over a fledgling Vandals franchise midseason last year and turned them around in one season, earning the number-one seed in 2017. The other first-round bye goes to defending champion Scott Buehre and his Dirty Dogs.

UPDATE: A stat correction (LAR DEF +1 sack) gave the Blue Falcons the win over the Vandals, which gave the first-round bye to the Boomtown Brawlers and moved the Vandals to number three.

2015 champion Zack Brake and his Boomtown Brawlers secured the third-seed, while the final three teams are Straily, Gray, and Bellar.

The Xtreme	Tale of the Tape	Vandals
7-6	Record	9-4
125.40	Points Per Game	146.33
142.57	OPR	170.91

This may be the most lopsided playoff matchup of the season. Kudos to Bellar for leading his Xtreme to a third-consecutive winning season, but his team is not on par with the Vandals.

Great Plains Drifters	Tale of the Tape	Enforcers
7-6	Record	9-4
131.76	Points Per Game	143.33
155.94	OPR	170.08

It's not often you see a team with a 9-4 record end up the number-four seed, but here we are. The Enforcers are the victims of some incredible teams at the top of the PFC. Should they win, which I think they will, it'll set up a Week 15 of four teams at 9-4 or better.

Published on

December 5, 2017

Final 2017 Regular Season Standings

the-oil-blog

After a wild Rivalry Week, the playoffs are set. Look for a comprehensive Playoffs Preview post later. In the meantime, click on the standings to view each conference's playoffs bracket on Yahoo!

AFC

NFC

PFC

The league history spreadsheet is updated as well. All 42 manager sheets are up to date and the main page (Rankings) is only missing the data for "Points Against."
Published on

November 28, 2017

Week 12 Standings

the-oil-blog

With one week remaining in the regular season, seven of 18 playoff spots are still up for grabs. Rivalry Week will be huge. Click on the images below to view the league on Yahoo!.

AFC

NFC

PFC
Published on

November 26, 2017

2017 Rivalry Week Preview

the-oil-blog

The last week of the season is reserved for our rivalry games, and 2017 is no different. Beginning with the AFC, let's go through each of the Rivalry Week matchups as we prepare for the playoffs. The winner of last year's Rivalry Week matchup is the home team.

The overall record between the two teams is listed beneath the matchup. Click the matchup title to view the matchups on Yahoo!. For an explanation of the rivalries, click here.

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