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AC West Conference Finals: Denver (11-6) -4 at Utah (11-6)
This aging UTA squad have still got it -- producing the most lopsided victory of the modern Bees era last week against Phoenix. Now we welcome marvelous & the Denver Grizzlies for an AC West Rematch in the Conference Finals.
A lot of parallels to draw to last season, when AC West / top-2 seed #1 Denver hosted AC West #2 Utah in the 2024 conference finals. Utah, after being riddled by injuries on the Denver turf, escaped to advance to the bowl game. That's something we hope will be different in our turn to treat the Grizzlies to a salty Salt Lake welcome: no injuries for either side, and a #1 seed, home victory.
Denver is loaded to the brim with starpower, and Utah will be without two starters after Brent Driscoll tore some knee cartilege vs Phoenix (it's our third long knee cartilege tear injury to a starter this season! sheesh). The Grizzlies are 4-point favorites. Hopefully our recent playoff success will give our side the edge....
...but we all know we can only hold off the young guys so long, specifically these young guys, before 1.01 rookie WR Grant Liening and all the other mega-studs on that Denver roster take over the league for good.
Roster: This will be a battle of star-power vs depth. Utah is credited with the league's top roster rating, largely on depth, and not counting the current injuries...while Denver has non-kick specialists rated 91 (S), 83 (CB), 76 (RB), 75 (DT), 75 (SLB), 73 (DE), not counting Liening (WR). Both kick specialists are rated near-90. Utah, on the other hand, has only two non-kickers rated over 70: a 73-rated CB and a 70-rated C.
It's a test of Cohesion vs the New Dream Team.
Nasty Conference Finals: Morgantown (12-5-1) at Las Vegas (15-1-1) (-4)
Morgantown's finally poised to make the big game! Featuring onetime Utah quarterback Britt Meyer, in his fourth season for the Maniacs, and the league's hottest secondary: Wood, Genatalia, Lily, and La Flame.
Las Vegas, though, is having a charmed year. One of the deadliest DLs in the league, a solid bunch on offense, improbably but heroically led by 3rd-year nobody Kurt Poston at QB. Poston owns the league's highest QBR this season among qualifiers, with 106.0, and one-upped that with a near-perfect 148.4 effort in their playoff *dismantling* of almighty Yuma.
Frankly, as impressive as Morgantown has been, it looks like there is simply no stopping Las Vegas this year. They are on a tear, and have to be considered right now, the runaway favorites to win the bowl. Morgantown's also got a key injury in star RB Roger Salinger, whose stupid bursting appendix may have cost his team a shot at the bowl...I guess LVS is missing their starting QB, but that seems like a blessing at this point.
In Closing:
A pretty neat Final Four. Familiar faces on the AC West side, and some new ones from the other conference.
NLB's breakout season was cut short with a one-and-done in the playoffs this week, thanks to Morgantown, but Rip's run in Las Vegas is just going unimpeded. Morgantown is making the most of their current window, while LVS and NLB look like future heavyweights. With Columbus aging, Morgantown has a chance to assert themselves in that tough division, as well.
As it has been for years in the AC, the Old Guard are treading water and doing their best to fend off the Grizzly Menace. Punxsutawney fell off this year in transition, but OHV, Utah, and Washington are still fighting the good fight, and will for as long as good stands true against evil.
Going to be two worthy bowl contenders no matter how this all shakes out. Good luck to everyone!
This aging UTA squad have still got it -- producing the most lopsided victory of the modern Bees era last week against Phoenix. Now we welcome marvelous & the Denver Grizzlies for an AC West Rematch in the Conference Finals.
A lot of parallels to draw to last season, when AC West / top-2 seed #1 Denver hosted AC West #2 Utah in the 2024 conference finals. Utah, after being riddled by injuries on the Denver turf, escaped to advance to the bowl game. That's something we hope will be different in our turn to treat the Grizzlies to a salty Salt Lake welcome: no injuries for either side, and a #1 seed, home victory.
Denver is loaded to the brim with starpower, and Utah will be without two starters after Brent Driscoll tore some knee cartilege vs Phoenix (it's our third long knee cartilege tear injury to a starter this season! sheesh). The Grizzlies are 4-point favorites. Hopefully our recent playoff success will give our side the edge....
...but we all know we can only hold off the young guys so long, specifically these young guys, before 1.01 rookie WR Grant Liening and all the other mega-studs on that Denver roster take over the league for good.
Roster: This will be a battle of star-power vs depth. Utah is credited with the league's top roster rating, largely on depth, and not counting the current injuries...while Denver has non-kick specialists rated 91 (S), 83 (CB), 76 (RB), 75 (DT), 75 (SLB), 73 (DE), not counting Liening (WR). Both kick specialists are rated near-90. Utah, on the other hand, has only two non-kickers rated over 70: a 73-rated CB and a 70-rated C.
It's a test of Cohesion vs the New Dream Team.
Nasty Conference Finals: Morgantown (12-5-1) at Las Vegas (15-1-1) (-4)
Morgantown's finally poised to make the big game! Featuring onetime Utah quarterback Britt Meyer, in his fourth season for the Maniacs, and the league's hottest secondary: Wood, Genatalia, Lily, and La Flame.
Las Vegas, though, is having a charmed year. One of the deadliest DLs in the league, a solid bunch on offense, improbably but heroically led by 3rd-year nobody Kurt Poston at QB. Poston owns the league's highest QBR this season among qualifiers, with 106.0, and one-upped that with a near-perfect 148.4 effort in their playoff *dismantling* of almighty Yuma.
Frankly, as impressive as Morgantown has been, it looks like there is simply no stopping Las Vegas this year. They are on a tear, and have to be considered right now, the runaway favorites to win the bowl. Morgantown's also got a key injury in star RB Roger Salinger, whose stupid bursting appendix may have cost his team a shot at the bowl...I guess LVS is missing their starting QB, but that seems like a blessing at this point.
In Closing:
A pretty neat Final Four. Familiar faces on the AC West side, and some new ones from the other conference.
NLB's breakout season was cut short with a one-and-done in the playoffs this week, thanks to Morgantown, but Rip's run in Las Vegas is just going unimpeded. Morgantown is making the most of their current window, while LVS and NLB look like future heavyweights. With Columbus aging, Morgantown has a chance to assert themselves in that tough division, as well.
As it has been for years in the AC, the Old Guard are treading water and doing their best to fend off the Grizzly Menace. Punxsutawney fell off this year in transition, but OHV, Utah, and Washington are still fighting the good fight, and will for as long as good stands true against evil.
Going to be two worthy bowl contenders no matter how this all shakes out. Good luck to everyone!
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