The bids are in...
All the regionals have finished up, and predictable as club qualifiers can be most years, there were a few interesting developments this year. Monster took SW#3, Justice League didn't qualify out the Northwest, Truck Stop advances in the MA over rebuilding Pike and Potomac squads, and Doublewide misses out on qualifying from the South.
If the seedings were based on RRI (corrected for obvious contradictions like Sockeye/Furious):
1) Furious 2767
2) Sockeye 2832
3) Ring 2725
4) DoG 2714
5) Revolver 2704
6) Bravo 2691
7) SZ 2686
8) Rhino 2684
9) Condors 2673
10) Chain 2665
11) Vicious 2711
12) Metal 2585
13) TruckStop 2559
14) BAT 2553
15) Machine 2609
16) Monster 2378
I'll take a stab at the real rankings later on this week. My initial impressions:
The Sleeper Pick That's So Obvious That They Shouldn't Be Considered a Sleeper: Rhino (have pulled off some impressive wins when they decide to play up for big games against big teams. The question is, can they pull of a bunch in a row to get to quarters.)
The Real Potential Sleeper: Vicious Cycle (This is a complete guess not based on their RRI score, but they have bolstered their roster with some good Florida college experience, reminiscent of G-Unit 2003. However, they haven't beaten or played anyone of consequence outside of Metal.)
The Top 8 Team Poised for a Fall: Revolver (my initial thought was Bravo, but their mental block is firmly placed right inbetween quarters and semis, which always keeps them in the top 8. Much like the Vicious Cycle sleeper pick, I have no hard evidence, just hunches and guesses. Although, like Condors and Ring last year, it's much harder to guess who is falling than who is rising.)