The first AUDL Power Rankings of 2017 were released yesterday, with little change at the top from last season’s final rankings and a log jam officially declared at the top of the East Division. The rankings are led by #1 Dallas and #2 San Francisco, the latter back in front of Madison thanks to all the new signings after falling to 3rd at the end of 2016. The Breeze find themselves at #6. Madison holds onto 3rd, followed by a revamped Raleigh squad that moved up 3 spots. Notably missing from the top 7 are the Seattle Cascades, who fell 7 places to #12 after a mini-exodus of talent following their run to the title game last year.
From there it gets interesting for East Division fans Toronto, DC and New York taking spots 5, 6 and 7, respectively. And then the rest of the East finds itself in another log jam at 18, 19 and 20. Notably Philadelphia jumped out of the cellar with their big signings after going 1-27 the last two seasons. Here are all the East Division teams:
- #5 (-1) Toronto Rush
- #6 ( – ) DC Breeze
- #7 (+2) New York Empire
- #18 (-2) Ottawa Outlaws
- #19 ( – ) Montréal Royal
- #20 (+6) Philadelphia Phoenix
Here’s what the rankings had to say about DC:
“While the loss of a few top players from last season—notably Helton, Nicky Spiva, and Tom Doi, who were clutch performers for the team in 2016—will be felt in the early going, the Breeze are only looking up coming off their best season in franchise history. DC hit its stride towards the end of the regular season, winning five straight games before an overtime loss to the Rush ended their season two goals shy of the final four. The offense, led by Jeff Wodatch, Markham Shofner, and Jonathan Neeley, were consistent-to-great, and DC’s defense was the best in the league at generating takeaways, averaging 18 per game. The return of Nate Castine and some athletic offseason additions should lead to even more blocks and more points in transition.”
See the entire list with write ups on each team here:
AUDL Preseason Power Rankings