WBL gets started; the MAC is on deck

The WBL began conference play last week, so from now on, league members will win half and lose half of their games, unlike last week when WBL teams were victorious seven times.

Three games in the WBL featured winners from the first week up against teams who had lost their opening game. Two of the three contests saw the 0-1 team emerge victorious, so the league is wasting no time in its annual attempt to achieve parity with the exception of the top team or two. This makes the WBL a fascinating conference to watch every week, but it doesn't earn the league a lot of playoff teams.
   The number of undefeated teams in the WBL fell from seven last week to just three (St. Marys, Wapakoneta and Ottawa-Glandorf). However, only one winless team (Lima Shawnee) remains at this point. That means the majority of the teams in the conference (Celina, Lima Bath, Elida, Kenton, Defiance and Van Wert) are now 1-1.
   The MAC was still in non-conference play, but teams from the conference collected five wins and five losses on the weekend. The difference in this league was that all five winners had also won the week before, so the MAC still has five undefeated teams (Coldwater, Marion Local, Minster, St. Henry and Fort Recovery).

Versailles and New Bremen are both 1-1 while Anna, Delphos St. John's and Parkway are winless and already in postseason trouble.
   The complete computer points for the four regions involving most area teams can be found throughout the season at http://www.nktelco.net/bdmonnin/football.htm
 
Region 10:
Team  - Ranking (Computer Points)
St. Marys - 2nd (6.55)
Wapakoneta - 9th (5.50)
Celina  - 11th (3.15)
   Though it can be argued that computer points do not mean much for another couple of weeks, it is nice to see St. Marys almost at the top of this region. The Roughriders and Wapakoneta are two of the nine undefeated teams in this region, while Celina is one of the 13 other teams with a 1-1 record. Only five teams have 0-2 records, which makes this the toughest looking region of the four containing area teams that we are tracking.
 
Region 18:
Coldwater - 1st (5.60)
Versailles - 11th (3.30)
Anna - 19th (0.00)
   This region has 10 undefeated teams after two weeks, but it also has 10 winless teams to even out things a bit. Coldwater is sitting on the top spot since both Kenton and Delphos Jefferson won their other game besides losing to the Cavaliers. Versailles is the highest 1-1 team in the region, thanks to Celina's win over Elida. Anna had two opportunities to earn big computer points but could not capitalize with a win against either Arlington or Brookville.

Region 22:
St. Henry - 2nd (4.90)
Marion Local - 7th (3.85)
Parkway - 20th (0.00)

With 10 undefeated teams and only seven winless squads, this region is looking to be quite competitive. St. Henry should earn big points from its wins over Covington and Eaton, which is why they are in second place already. Marion Local already started to collect some of the points they will get from their win over McComb. Beallsville, in contrast, will likely benefit the Flyers the most by only playing seven varsity games, which will lower their second level points divisor from 100 to 97 by the end of the year. This will likely gain Marion Local about a tenth of a point on its final computer-point average. Parkway is probably going to need six MAC wins to see the postseason.

Region 26:
Fort Recovery - 4th (3.50)
Minster - 4th (3.50)
New Bremen - 12th (1.75)

Only seven teams are 2-0 in this region, with 11 others at 1-1 and nine without a victory. Minster and Fort Recovery have the same computer points because they each beat the same two teams. MAC play will be needed to separate these two, especially their game in Fort Recovery during the seventh week of the season. Although it is ridiculously early for such predictions, it appears six wins should get either team (or New Bremen) into the playoffs, with a seventh win needed to gain a home playoff game.
 
Other Regions of Interest
   Though they each have a win, Defiance (16th) and Elida (20th) are in the bottom half of Region 8, but they are placed much better than winless Shawnee.
   Ottawa-Glandorf is currently the top-ranked team in Region 12, while Kenton (eighth) and 1-1 Van Wert (11th) are among the top teams with a loss. Bath is the worst ranked of the 1-1 teams since its win was over a winless Division VII school.

Last year, Delphos St. John's reached the playoffs in Region 24 with only two MAC wins after winning its two non-conference games. This year, the Blue Jays are 0-2, one of 15 winless teams in the worst region in the state. It appears they will need five MAC wins to see the postseason this year.