Final 2021 Power Rankings and Playoff Preview

Here are Final power rankings and playoff predictions.

Usually this would be two separate articles, but life's been busy, especially without the week off before playoffs.

Final Power Rankings:

1. Larocca
2. Wallman
3. Conti
4. Goddard
5. Pollock
6. Dimarco
7. Pingaro
8. Seidenberg
9. Lombardi
10. Kessler

 

Goddard may be 12-10 overall, but they are 11-3 in last 14 games. Plus they lost each of their first three games by one run.

Since getting shut out by Pingaro in game 3, Larocca has gone 15-4.

Kessler and Lorocca are the only two teams to lost two games in a row only one time this year. Wallman also only had one losing streak, but it was three games. 

This is the third year in a row Team Pollock has finished with the best runs against average. This is 5 years in a row we have finished in top 2. People who have been in the league for awhile might remember us known for drafting strong offense/ so-so defensive teams. Times have changed!

Playoff Predictions:

There are three common factors that most championship teams have had in common since 2010. Some of this data is a matter of coincidence but it's fun to look at and if this year follows the usual trend, we can narrow the potential champions to only a few teams:

 

Factor #1: Championship teams tend to finish in the top half of the runs scored category:

 10 out of 11 winning teams have finished in the top half. The 2018 Applebaum team is the only exception(They actually finished last in runs scored).

 Here are the teams that finished in the top 9 in runs scored:

 Dimarco, Conti, Wallman, Seidenberg, Larocca, Goldfarb, Goddard, Kessler, Marrone 

 

Predictably, this list includes most of the teams that are atop the power rankings. The most notable exceptions are my own and Pingaro.

 In case you are wondering about defense, 7 out of 11 champion championship teams finished in the top half of runs against. That’s more than half the championship teams but not as impressive as the runs scored number.

           

Factor #2:No rookies drafted in the first three rounds.

 The last time a championship team won with a rookie as one of their first three picks was way back in 2010 when Lapine won with Polzer as their third round pick. With the constant influx of great talent, I except there to be more exceptions to this rule in the future but for now, it is a championship criteria.

 Most teams fit this criteria, so it is easier to list the teams that do not:

 Marrone, Pingaro, Goddard, Larocca

 Hell of a season, Larocca. But stats are stats and you have a top rookie.

Goddard and Marrone are two other teams that passed the first criterion but not the second. This means we have six teams unscathed going into #3.

Factor #3: NO TEAM THAT HAS WON THE CHAMPIONSHIP WHEN ENTERING  PLAYOFFS ON A WINNING STREAK.

 Caps are annoying but that stat is amazing. Every championship team since 2010 has either lost their last or penultimate regular season game.Championship teams are only 3-8 in their last regular season games.

 Teams who enter the playoffs  on winning streak:

Wallman, Conti, Goddard, Pollock, Polzer

 

Sure the stat can be just a coincidence but I think there is something to be said for the psychological hit that losing a playoff game can have on a team that’s been on a roll. All it takes is one loss to put you on the verge of elimination. The team that wins the championship is the team that can bounce back quickly.

 

Teams that have survived the first three key criteria:

 Dimarco, Seidenberg, Goldfarb, Kessler

 So which one of the four is my pick to win the championship? Each team has something to like.

 Goldfarb was getting hot a few weeks ago and has potent lineup. They have a tough first round matchup though in Wallman.

 There were times this year where Seidenberg looked like the best team in the league. They still have the potential to cause damage but sometimes losing their captain could be a dynamic changer that hurts.

 Kessler- I like that they’ve never slumped. The biggest problem is they’ve had trouble scoring runs. They scored single digits in each of their last seven games. That’s the second longest streak by any team all season.

 That leaves my pick to win it all based on the criteria…..Team Dimarco

 

Dimarco is 8-3 this year when everyone is there. They’ve had only four games this year when they’ve scored in the single digits, by far the fewest  this year(the next lowest team total is 8). This kind of consistency is needed in the playoffs.

 So while teams like Larocca and Wallman are rightfully getting the attention for being favorites to win the championship, watch out for Dimarco.