Week 9 Power Rankings
Last week, I was not exactly bullish on Kelly’s chances.
Despite her 4–4 record, she sat at 10th in the Power Rankings (tied with me; not a good sign) and had the fewest points in the league. Her playoff odds were just 17%—behind Josh despite the fact that he had the worse record.
But then Week 9 happened. And if I had gotten this post out on time, we might have done a full deep dive into Kelly’s big week—her career-high 172.3 points. It was the most she’d scored in a single game all season, the most of her career, and more than she put up in Weeks 7 and 8… COMBINED. It also earned her the first weekly prize of her career. (Kelly, go ahead and send Alex a Venmo request for that luxurious $10.)
The player most responsible for this offensive eruption was Brock Bowers. The 26th overall pick in this year’s draft finally looked recovered from his knee injury and delivered on that preseason promise, dropping 43.3 points and lifting Kelly to a win over Chelsie—not insignificant, considering Chelsie is also fighting for one of those coveted playoff spots.
No doubt, if this post had come out on time, it would have jinxed Kelly and Bowers into oblivion. But you can’t pin that one on me. I got this up late. And now Bowers has already logged his Week 10 dud (which we’ll break down in the next post).
But for now—for one glorious moment, ignoring the week to come—Kelly’s big Week 9 win has lifted her right back into the thick of the hunt.
The Power Rankings
Geoff still #1. Josh, Greco and Kelly make moves up the rankings.
With his win over Samantha—a potential playoff preview—Geoff extended his regular-season win streak to nine games this year and 12 straight dating back to last season’s playoff run. That nine-game streak ties Gray’s legendary run from 2016 (Weeks 5–13). Naturally, Geoff remains firmly planted at the top of the Power Rankings.
Samantha, Chelsie, and Jess still make up the tier right behind him, even though two of them (Samantha and Chelsie) took losses in Week 9. The top tier stays the top tier.
As for the week’s biggest climbers, Kelly wasn’t the only one making noise. She was joined by Josh and Greco—each jumping two spots after posting top-three scores in Week 9. On the other end, Alex and Erik slid down, with Erik’s TW% rapidly approaching his actual record. Sorry, bud.
Finally, Gray, Brandon, and Beth Ann remain at the bottom, with Brandon snagging a lucky win over Gray—two of Week 9’s lowest scorers. But a win’s a win, and I’ll take it any way I can get it.
The Playoff Picture
I’m not going to spend too much time on this—mostly because we’re already a week behind—but Week 9 did throw a little chaos into the mix.
Kelly is in if the playoffs started today. But the computer still likes Alex, if only by a hair.
Last week, we basically declared Geoff, Samantha, Jess, Chelsie, Greco, and Alex as close to playoff locks as any group could be with six weeks still to go.
But then Josh and Kelly said “not so fast!”
Their big Week 9 wins—and subsequent jumps up the rankings—have given both of them a meaningful boost to their playoff odds. Kelly, in particular, is now essentially a coin flip with Alex for the final playoff spot. Josh isn’t far behind either.
And if the playoffs started today (or I guess last week since this post is outdated), Kelly is actually in… and Alex is out.
Alright, let’s put a pin in this week’s rankings so I can start inputting Week 10’s data. The home stretch is approaching fast.
