NYGL's Case for the Wildcard Bid

This year, the PUL created a Ranking Committee to determine the winner of the wildcard bid. The guidance for that selection is the following:

• Primary factors, to be weighed equally:

  • Game results.

  • Strength of schedule.

  • Location of games (home / away / neutral).

  • Scoring margin.

• Additional guidelines:

• All games should be evaluated equally. No penalty or bonus when a game is played within the season.

• If two teams are very closely separated, voters should consider:

• Head-to-head results.

• Quality of wins and/or losses.

• Player attendance of the opposing team.

• Game progression - e.g, a 4-point loss where the winning team pulled their starters after a commanding lead is less impressive than a 4-point loss where the game was within one or two until the final minute.

The divisions have been ranked, and as we all know, there was a 3-way tie between New York Gridlock, Philadelphia Surge, and DC Shadow. Based on our division rankings, the East turned out to be (1) Shadow, (2) NYGL, and (3) Surge. However, for the ranking committee, since NYGL and Surge are “very closely separated,” they should consider the head-to-head and quality of wins/losses.

NYGL lost to Surge in their first game of the season 17-13. With respect to player attendance, Surge had their full roster and NYGL was missing six starters: Tulsa Douglas, Yina Cartegena, Elizabeth Mosquera, Stazi Tangherlini, Sydney Harris, and Aki Younge. In this game, NYGL had 17 offensive points, was broken 6 times, and had 7 clean holds. For defense, NYGL secured two breaks. 

After this game, the starters returned and had a huge impact on the team’s efficiency. Based on team stats, NYGL’s portfolio is as follows:

We believe these stats illustrate a high quality of wins/losses, but we’d need Surge’s stats for comparison. Without these, we can look at the records and the point +/-. For the three common opponents (Rising, Shadow, and Torch), NYGL is +22 and Surge is +7 (when the two Rising games averaged (10+4)/2 = 7).

What does this look like when compared side-by-side? Is a stronger team clear? Obviously we are biased, and would love to grab the wildcard spot, but what do you think?