UK Dynasty Playoff Outlook

It all comes down to this, the final week, this is the time where hearts start to be broken, and dreams turn into reality. To follow will be a view of Each Teams playoff needs and a view at the Johnny Race. For the Purposes of this article, anything more than a 50 point swing is being considered impossible as otherwise, anyone can make playoffs.

We start in the North.

North

• The Wigan Wombats are in and will almost certainly be the #2 Seed.
• The Nottingham Bandits are in a “Win and you’re in” situation. Beating the Wombats secures their place as the #5. Winning, the Sandslashers Losing and a 41-point swing to the Bandits gives them the #4. Losing is OK, but the Bandits need either the Oxford Seahawks to lose too, or to outscore the Lurgan Leopards by 6 points.
• The Lurgan Leopards are in as long as they are not outscored by the Nottingham Bandits, or the Bandits win. This would secure them the #6 as Highest Point Scorer.
• The Gateshead Spartans need a miracle 59 Point swing over both the Leopards, Bandits and Cobras to secure the #6. So… we can just discount that, and I can sit here and worry about the Johnny all weekend.

Onto the Midlands

• The Derby Otters win the division as long as they are not outscored by the Cymru Cobras by 22.5 points. Winning takes points out of the conversation. Derby likely to be the #3.
• The Cymru Cobras can either get into playoffs via a win & 22.5-point swing over the Otters to get the #3. Or they need a 23.5-point swing over both the Leopards and Bandits to secure the #6. Either way, a high scoring week is needed from the Cobras.
• The Flitwick Fireflies and Coventry Eagles can ignore playoffs. Worry about who’s taking Johnny home.

And the South

• The Oxford Pythons have the #1.
• The Andover Sandslashers are guaranteed Playoffs. A win vs the Oxford Seahawks secures the #4. Worst case scenario is a 41-point swing to the Bandits (who would also have to beat Wigan) and a loss gives Andover the #5.
• The Oxford Seahawks need to beat the Sandslashers, and hope for a Nottingham Bandits loss to make it into the #5.
• The Chippenham Beavers are currently occupying the Johnny Spot as the lowest scorers in the league.

Johnny

Our Johnny Race is still quite up in the air, 4 possible teams could be taking Johnny home.

• As we enter the final week, all of the above teams are tied on record. None of these teams are to play one another this week so everything is up in the air.
• The Gateshead Spartans can save themselves with a win this week, but a loss is fine as long as one of the other teams also loses.
• The Flitwick Fireflies can also save themselves with a win, if the Spartans lose. A loss is still fine if either the Eagles or Beavers lose.
• The Coventry Eagles need to win to give themselves a chance, but if they equal the Beavers’ result and are not outscored by 45.5 then they will avoid last place.
• The Chippenham Beavers need to either get a win and hope another team loses or equal the Eagles’ result, and hope for a 45.5-point swing over them.

Final Thoughts

It all comes down to this, and the big swinger matches for playoff qualification are Sandslashers vs Seahawks and Wombats vs Bandits. We’ll be watching on keenly to see where things fall. There’s always drama at this stage of the season, so what will be this year’s twist? The Johnny race could be where the drama falls with it so tightly packed down there. Things look bleak for the Beavers but, are the Pythons on holiday now that the #1 is secured and a bye is in store next week? Who knows where this is going to drop, but the main thing is that this has been a very entertaining year in UK Dynasty, and while Thanksgiving was last week, I am thankful for you all for making this a very enjoyable 9th Season. Roll on the 10-year celebrations next season!