We’re two weeks into the MLR preseason regular season. While no one is winning any trophies in the first quarter of the year, it’s possible a team or two may fall too far behind to catch up. With that, let’s look at the tables.
Eastern Conference
Coming into the year, I had the East divided into three tiers.
Tier 1
- RUNY
- NOLA
- Toronto
Tier 2
- Old Glory
- ATL
- New England
After two rounds, the standings reflect that… mostly. I question the sustainability of DC’s hot start. They’ll need to find a more complete form instead of relying on Danny Tusitala to fix everything. That said, their midfield is showing real promise.
I’m not ready to give up on Toronto. Several players took the field with basically no team reps last weekend. I think time is their biggest friend. On the other hand, this team doesn’t have a bye until the back half of May. For a team that could use training reps, that’s a massive blow.
Western Conference
The West is… surprising. I assumed three tiers would emerge here.
Tier 1
- LA
- San Diego
- Seattle
Tier 2
- Houston
- Austin
Tier 3
- Utah
Is Utah real? Maybe… but I’m not sold. I picked Toronto last week, but it took about 10 minutes to realize this group need more training time together to really compete.
Austin keeps reminding me of the Cleveland Browns of a couple years ago: getting good, but probably a year away from the playoffs. (I’ve used the Browns comparison for Austin before. Gilgroniacs should start pulling for a Cleveland Super Bowl win.)
I’ll ask the question we’re all kind of wondering. Is the Seattle dynasty over? Sure, they have a habit of coming on late. But this comp is not going to allow a team to drown for six to eight weeks before getting hot and into the playoffs. Their loss to Houston looks even worse after the Free Jacks dismantled the Cats. This team isn’t buried yet, but if they can’t figure something out soon, they’ll risk falling from serious contention before June. Their Round 3 bye could be make or break.
RugbyFootballTalk 