Following Tank’s lead, I make my own picks of this weekend’s North Central Regional tournament, which differ slightly. This is just for fun, and we’ll see when it’s all over which of us gets more right. The beauty of making game predictions is you only have a 50% chance of getting it right, and on average you’ll get it wrong half the time.
Game 1: Arch Rival vs. Naptown
One of the best games of the weekend happens early, and the upstart Naptown Tornado Sirens secure their first tournament win to cap off a successful season.
Winner: Naptown
Game 2: Minnesota vs. Omaha
Experience and balance wins out over speed and heart in this one.
Winner: Minnesota
Game 3: Cincinnati vs. Brew City
Cincinnati is by far the more talented and disciplined team here, but distractions could easily spell trouble. If focused, CRG takes the lead early and holds it to the end.
Winner: Cincinnati
Game 4: Madison vs. North Star
Madison’s much deeper bench will allow the Dolls to prevail over the exciting and fun SuperNovas.
Winner: Madison
Game 5: Windy City vs. Naptown
Naptown will put up a fight, and we may see a few close jams early on, but WCR pulls away and gives us a chance to run to the store for a six pack in this blow out.
Winner: Windy City
Game 6: Detroit vs. Minnesota
This is just a plain old mismatch, Detroit makes it look easy in this one.
Winner: Detroit
Game 7: Omaha vs. Brew City
The home team is gonna be pissed after losing out on day one, and they’ll take it out on Omaha, who again are outmatched in terms of experience.
Winner: Brew City
Game 8: Arch Rival vs. North Star
This will be another great game, as these team match pretty evenly. I don’t believe third time’s the charm in sports, NorthStar continues their ever-so-slight dominance over the rival Arch Rivals.
Winner: North Star
Game 9: Windy City vs. Cincinnati
Without Sadistic Sadie, WCR is just too much for the Black sheep to handle.
Winner: Windy City
Game 10: Madison vs. Detroit
See my Game 8 comments about third time not being the charm. Motown mows down Madison. [EDIT: My mistake, this is only the second meeting since last years regional game won by Madison, not the third.- Caesar]
Winner: Detroit
Game 11: Brew City vs. Naptown
This is a very intriguing matchup and hard to predict. I think this will be a close one, and without too much confidence I’ll give the nod to the home team.
Winner:** Brew City**
Game 12: Minnesota vs. North Star
The SuperNovas shine over cross town rivals.
Winner: North Star
Game 13: Omaha vs. Arch Rival
The Arch Rivals aren’t going back to St. Louis without a win.
Winner: Arch Rival
Game 14: Naptown vs. Minnesota
Two out of three ain’t bad! This will be a fun upset to watch.
Winner: Naptown
Game 15: Brew City vs. North Star
I concur with Tank: “They matched up earlier this year and Brew City easily took the W by 80 points. Expect more of the same here.”
Winner: Brew City
Game 16: Cincinnati vs. Madison
Again- if Sadie were playing, Cincinnati would be heading to Nationals. As it is, the Black Sheep aren’t deep enough to contain Dairyland.
Winner:** Madison**
Game 17: Windy City vs. Detroit
This will be a great game. It will be close. There will be lead changes. The winds of change ain’t blowing just yet. Windy City comes out on top.
Winner: Windy City
North Central Wrap-Up
I agree with Tank that we won’t see too many surprises. The fact is, parity in the WFTDA is not very good this year, and most teams are not capable of competing with the elite. The North Central, while evenly matched in the mid-ranges, is still dominated by the top three. I don’t see that changing for a few more years at least. Windy City, Madison and Detroit will cruise, and are essentially playing for seeding advantage this weekend. Still, we will be treated to some great games among the rest, and I certainly look forward to that.
Your thoughts? Use that comment box below!