Tomorrow (February 25th) is actually the first game of the AFL Season for me ... an exhibition game between the Chicago Rush and the Iowa Barnstormers, which does not show up on any schedule, and is reported to be taking place at the I Wireless arena in Moline Illinois. Unfortunately, I have yet to find any hint that the game will be televised for those who would like to see it, but can't really make the trip to Moline. I stand by my prediction that as long as Chicago takes the game seriously, they will win.
I know its early, but let's take an early look at Week One:
Let's start off with the Chicago Rush. Week One they will be taking on the Tampa Bay Storm in Chicago. These two teams did not meet in Inter-Conference play in 2011, but they will meet on March 10th.
Tampa Bay finished the 2011 Season with a record of 7 wins 11 loses. They were 4-7 in Conference play, but they were in a strong conference, which included the AFL Champs Jacksonville Sharks. But they only averaged 44 points per game during 2011 while allowing their opponents to average 56 points per game..
Chicago finished 2011 with a record of 13-5, and finished in Second Place in their conference, losing to the Arizona Rattlers in their final playoff bid to return to the Arenabowl. They came out of the 2011 season with an average of 53 points per game and only allowed their opponents to average 46 points per game. So, I'm going to go with history, and Chicago has a strong AFL history, I am going to call this one for the Chicago Rush.
The Iowa Barnstormers will be taking on the Spokane Shock in Spokane. These two teams only met once in 2011 with Iowa hosting. The result of the game was a one point win by Iowa as the home team.
In 2011 the Spokane Shock made it to the first round of the playoffs where their season was ended by the Arizona Rattlers. Spokane finished 2011 with a regular season record of 9 wins and 9 loses, averaging almost 58 points per game while allowing their opponents to average 57 points. They were 6-5 in their own Conference, but the interesting little piece of information here is that they were only 2-7 when playing away.
Iowa finished 2011 with a record of 5-13 with a home record of 4-5. They averaged 51 points per game, but allowed their opponents to average 62 points. Looking at the two teams stats, I find it hard to believe that Iowa is going to beat Spokane in Spokane. If it was the other way around, if Iowa was at home, then I could see giving them the benefit of the doubt, but I have to call this one for Spokane.
So, Week One: Chicago over Tampa Bay - Spokane over Iowa.
Oh, Kansas City has a bye Week One.
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