posted May 22, 2008 at 13:38 EST in Other Articles

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

1) Chicago Rush (9-2/1-0) (6-4-1 ATS) (LW: 1) The top ranked Chicago Rush looked fantastic in their alternate jerseys Monday night, and let it be known to the rest of the league that they are most definitely for real. This club had a bunch of new faces on it to start the season, but it looks as if they’ve gelled to the point of being one of the most dominating forces the league has to offer this season. What they did to the Avengers Monday night might be considered illegal in the other 49 states in their dominating 72-28 SU win and cover. AFL bettors that backed the Rush were able to turn the game off at the half and watch the rest of the exciting NBA Game 7 match-up between the Spurs and Hornets. The 28-points they allowed were the fewest the defense has surrendered all season long, and the offense reached the 70+ point plateau for the third time this season. The resounding victory clinched the Central Division Title and earned them a first round bye in the post-season. Overall, Arena Football bettors have gone 6-4-1 ATS backing the Rush, and made some change backing the under (6-5 ATS). Head coach Mike Hohensee has a tremendous club on his hands, but it will be interesting to see how they fare over the next five weeks with absolutely nothing to play for. They’ll travel to Energy Solutions arena this week to take on Danny White and the Utah Blaze.

2) Philadelphia Soul (10-2/1-0) (6-6 ATS) (LW: 2) The Soul got back to their winning ways by sweeping the season series against the Columbus Destroyers Saturday night, but they had a tougher time putting them away this time around. The first meeting saw the offense do as they pleased, but Columbus put forth a much better effort to cover the 15-point spread ultimately losing by eight as 15-point underdogs. Injuries have hampered the Soul’s play on the field of late, and they played without six starters leaving them to rely on contributions from newcomers and players activated from the practice squad to earn the SU win. After failing to run the clock out at Georgia and lose in shocking fashion two weeks ago, they made it a point to see this one through to the end and held onto the ball for the last 4+ minutes of the game. The pointspread loss was the third in a row suffered by Philly, and this solid group’s only managed to cover two of its last eight overall to bring them to 6-6 ATS on the year costing Arena Football bettors juice. They’ll have another short workweek before they host the Kansas City Brigade in the Wachovia Center on Thursday night.

3) Georgia Force (6-5)/1-0) (5-6 ATS) (LW: 9) That’s what I’m talking ‘bout baby!!! Way to go Georgia, and keep on keeping on!!! Not only did the Force cash our big AFL bet on them last week, but they went into New York and disposed of a hot Dragons team that was on a five-game winning streak. A number of Force players set or tied numerous club records, which includes Rookie WR Tiger Jones whose 224 receiving yards surpassed the previous high of 194 set by teammate WR Troy Bergeron, and QB Chris Greisen who completed 32 of 39 passes for a career and franchise-high 403 yards with nine touchdowns. The Force offense also recorded a franchise single-game high 432 total yards of offense. Head Coach Doug Plank and the Force now sit a game over .500 at 6-5, and they’ve rattled off three straight covers for AFL bettors against top-notch competition the last three weeks. It doesn’t get any easier for them in Week 13 as they take a trip to New Orleans to take on the Voodoo whom they smashed 66-39 back in Week 12 as 1.5-point home underdogs. The online sports wagering contest can be seen Monday night on ESPN2 HD at 8:00 ET.

4) Dallas Desperados (9-2/0-1) (5-6 ATS) (LW: 3) It was only a matter of time before the Desperados dropped a game like they did against the Arizona Rattlers last Saturday night. This club has struggled offensively all season long, and the defense has had to bail them out on a number of occasions. It didn’t happen this time around though as the Rattlers were able to hit paydirt on the final play of the game to pull off the shocking 55-54 SU win as 16-point road underdogs. Dallas has nobody to blame but themselves for this gutwrenching defeat as Arizona got in their heads by talking smack and taking cheap shots that the Despo’s got caught countering. In the past, Head Coach Will McClay’s club has proven that a strong mental make-up isn’t one of their strong suits. They fizzled like paper champions in last years post-season battle against Columbus when a couple things didn’t go their way, and they by no means played like the reigning Eastern Conference champs in Saturday night’s penalty-riddled game with the Rattlers. The loss saw them relinquish the top spot in the Eastern Division, and they’ll have to regroup on the road over the next two weeks in a pair of tough venues against Orlando and Cleveland. This club has been putrid to AFL bettors since QB Clint Dolezel has returned by going 1-5 ATS.

5) New Orleans Voodoo (7-4/0-0) (7-4 ATS) (LW: 5) The Voodoo still remains in the fifth spot even though they’ve lost the last couple weeks on the road at Georgia and Tampa Bay, but they’ve never really been any good on the road within the Southern Division. We’ll see if they can bounce back in the comfy confines of “The Graveyard” before we drop this club a couple notches in the poll. Head Coach Mike Neu has stressed how badly penalties and turnovers have cost his club during their two-game losing streak, so expect the home team to be crisp on both sides of the ball Monday night against a white-hot Force outfit. However, a loss to Georgia will solidify the fact that they’ve run out of steam after getting out to a fabulous start.

6) Cleveland Gladiators (7-4/1-0) (6-4-1 ATS) (LW: 7) This club just continues to impress me with every passing week. Bernie Kosar and the front office have done a tremendous job revitalizing this Gladiator franchise, and they now sit in the thick of the Eastern Conference race sporting a 7-4 SU mark after going into Colorado and picking up the impressive road win and cover. The victory evened up their road mark at 3-3 SU on the year, and they’ve made their AFL bettors some nice coin by posting a 6-4-1 ATS mark overall. They’ve now won and covered four of their L/5 and continue to gain confidence as we head towards the second season. The offense has been solid all season long currently ranked 5th scoring upwards of 57 PPG, but the defense has come around the last two weeks limiting opponents to fewer than 50 PPG. They have many similarities with the Columbus club that shocked the AFL nation a year ago by reaching the ArenaBowl as a six seed. This weekend’s game at Tampa Bay should be a thriller.

And the rest….

7) Orlando Predators (8-4/1-0) (6-5-1 ATS) (LW: 4)
8) New York Dragons (6-5/0-1) (6-5 ATS) (LW: 6)
9) San Jose Sabercats (7-5/1-0) (5-7 ATS) (LW: 10)
10) Tampa Bay Storm (5-6/1-0) (5-4-2 ATS) (LW: 11)
11) Arizona Rattlers (5-6/1-0) (5-6 ATS (LW: 12)

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