posted April 25, 2008 at 15:03 in Other Articles

(CURRENT) (TEAM) (W/L OVERALL & W/L FOR WEEK) (ATS RECORD) (LAST WEEKS RANK)

1) Dallas Desperados (7-0/BYE) (5-2 ATS) The Despo’s come out in the top spot in the first edition of this years power poll. Head Coach Will McClay’s club managed to keep its mark unblemished when superstar QB Clint Dolezel rode the pine for four weeks with a separated shoulder, and most recently upended the Southern Division’s 1st place team, New Orleans, 55-44 its last time out. The 11-point win saw them cover the 6.5-point spread and snap its two game losing streak ATS. They lock horns with the league’s only other undefeated team, Philadelphia, Monday night in a game that will be aired live on ESPN2 at 8:00 ET. Surprisingly, they’re nice sized underdogs in this spot, and they’ve covered the spread in 6 of their L/7 on the road.

2) Philadelphia Soul (8-0/1-0) (5-3 ATS) The Soul have gotten off to a fabulous start to their 2008 campaign. Jon Bon Jovi’s club has won all eight of its games, and handed out some sever woodshed beatings in the process; including last weeks 76-55 road thrashing of Columbus that saw them easily cover the 11-point spread. Their best moment to date has to be the 20-point comeback they pulled off at San Jose to win SU by a 58-57 final count. They’ve had QB issues as well as stud QB Tony Graziani was injured back in Week 3 against NY, but back-up and former ArenaBowl champion QB Matt D’Orazio has more than picked up the slack. The offense is still the #1 ranked unit in the league (66 PPG) with him at the helm, but it will get tested mightily this week against Dallas’ #1 ranked defense (43 PPG).

3) Orlando Predators (6-2/1-0) (5-2-1 ATS) This year’s version of the Predators is quite unlike any we’ve seen in the past. Instead of the defense dominating and the offense just scraping by, the offense is the 2nd best unit in the league (59 PPG), while the defense is average ranked 10th allowing opponents to score 57 PPG. QB Shane Stafford is having a monster season completing 68% of his passes for 2243 yards with a TD/INT ratio of 43/9. WR T.T. Toliver will smash a majority of Orlando’s all time receiving records, and WR Chas Gessner is making a push for the rookie of the year award. They’ll welcome in what’s been a disappointing Tampa Bay club this weekend in the first “War on I-4” installment, but they best not overlook the Storm whom they wiped the floor with in both match-ups last season.

4) Chicago Rush (6-2/1-0) (4-4 ATS) Chicago completely retooled its offensive make-up this past off-season, and it took some time for it to gel. That said, the offense has looked pretty darn good even though QB’s Sherdrick Bonner and Russ Michna have shared duties throughout the first eight games. The offense is tied with Orlando’s at #2 scoring 59 PPG with newcomers Travis LaTendresse and Donovan Morgan being excellent compliments to OS Damian Harrell. The defense has played shoddy the last couple weeks, but still comes in ranked #2 allowing opponents a measly 45 PPG. They’ll visit the Pepsi Center this week to take on the Colorado Crush who they stonewalled back in Week 4, 70-35, as 10-point home favorites.

5) New Orleans Voodoo (6-2/1-0) (6-2 ATS) After watching New Orleans suffer through a gutwrenching 2007 season, it’s a breath of fresh air to see Head Coach Mike Neu’s club at the top of the standings in the Southern Division. After being in the lower half of the standings in both offense and defense a year ago, the VooDoo is ranked 3rd defensively allowing 47 PPG and 6th offensively scoring 58 PPG. Rookie QB Danny Wimprine has put a charge in the VooDoo’s passing attack throwing for 1910 yards with a TD/INT ratio of 39/3. This teams complete turnaround can only be attributed to the coaching staff that put a winner on the field throughout its first couple seasons in the league before Hurricane Katrina wiped out its 2006 campaign. They’ll welcome in the winless Utah Blaze this weekend, and oddsmakers believe they’ll improve to 7-2 on the year considering they’ve been installed 13-point favorites in the contest.

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