May 11 Analysis - Top 10 Shakeup Edition

Major changes in the Top 10 after this weekend's games. After a loss at Pacific Northwest rival Rose City (#14, 1-1) in March, the Rat City (#10, 1-1) girls hit the road again and took advantage of some massive jams to take down, then #3 Bay Area (#11, 1-1), 182-117. It was their first home game in 3 years and dropped the gold domers out of the Top 10 to the 11 spot and moved Rat City into the Top 10 for the first time this season. This game also sent Angel City (#30, 2-1) tumbling out of the Top 25 as their recent 56 point loss to BADG no longer looks quite as good.

Madison (#8, 1-0) faced off in their first game of the 2009 season against Cincinnati (#25, 3-1) who had been having a strong season (winning 4 straight going back to last year's Derby in Dairyland). The Rollin' Dolls put a pretty decent spread on the board, winning by 58 points, 108-50. This win moves MRD just above Steel City (#9, 7-0) to the #8 spot with Cincinnati barely staying in the Top 25 at #25.

After going winless since June of last year, Providence (#27, 2-1) has put 2 big wins on the board in the last month and have rocketed up the rankings, this time moving up 9 spots to #27 after a 110-59 victory over Maine (#48, 1-3). Sioux Falls (#23, 2-2) makes their way into the Top 25 after their 98-52 win over Omaha (#45, 1-3).

Dallas (#13, 3-0) drops from the Top 10, party because of Rat City's and Madison's rise, but also because of the leap-frog by the Oly Rollers (#12, 3-0) whose win over Rose City is looking better after Rat City's big win this weekend. With super-tight ratings from #12-16, some slight changes in ratings pushed Kansas City (#16, 2-0) to the back of the pack.

The West just keeps getting more confusing, with 4 teams ranked from #10-14. Denver (#4, 4-1) is out in front of the pack right now, even with their narrow loss at Olympia last month. By transitive property, however, Oly beat Rose who beat Rat who beat Bay Area, the young Oly Rollers may be the front runner out West which is pretty surprising considering the West is probably the second strongest region as it sits right now. I do want to see Oly play in another venue, however, which we won't see until the Cosa Nostra Donnas travel to LA for a date with Angel City on August 15. Oly has a strong chance of going into regionals as the undefeated #1 seed (currently #2) which is pretty impressive for a team in their first season of WFTDA play.