It's interesting to see the discussion(s) in reference to the B side polls. I've stated this a few times, but ultimately what is going to clear things up are more OOC games. Not only with and by adjacent conferences! The B teams have to get out on the road. No doubt the poll is better than last season with the increased cross-over games. However, I hate to say this, but I'm not sure if it's anywhere near as accurate as it will be in the future.
The B side is growing very well in some instances. Not as far as number of teams, but in depth of organization and quality. Personally, I think we're seeing some imbalance in the strength of conferences. People tend to think teams are "down" instead of the teams they are playing are "up". For lack of better words.
PLULax stated:
The CCLA has become another B division conference with a lot of depth and balance. It will be interesting to see if there will be a "Cinderella" that gets hot at the end of the season and wins the AQ in the CCLA, SELC or GRLC. All of these conferences have a bunch of solid teams that seem to be able to knock each other off "on any given Saturday."
I think PLUlax said it best. However, I would have to disagree with the Cinderella statement in reference to the CCLA. A Cinderella would have to be underrated and not expected to win. The CCLA won't really have an underdog in the conference tournament. Yes, Dayton is the clear cut favorite at this point. The league will finish the season with 2 to 3 teams that are CCLA tournament worthy that won't make it for sure. In the CCLA and nationally what we are seeing are not necessarily ebbs and tides for teams. We're seeing an increased playing field as far as quality of teams. For sure teams are going to have there ups and downs with graduation and new recruits. The difference however has proven to be the off the field organization, logistics, quality of coaching, and player commitment.
