� DIVISION REALIGNMENT FOR 2003

With the demise of the Bottlerockets and Weathermen -- both AFFC members last season -- divisions will have to be realigned this season. Going by the system I've used for the past several seasons to configure the schedule, the 2003 divisions would have looked like this:
AFFC: The Jayhawks, Carolina Killers, Jellypop Fighters, T-Bird2, new team;
NFFC: The Gamblers, Wile E. Coyotes, the Berserkers, Heelbillys, new team.

In case you haven't noticed already, the AFFC's first four would account for six of the seven league overall titles, plus the overall runner-up for the past two seasons (Fighters). Historically speaking, a superconference such as that one isn't all that fair. So, in leiu of the old system, I think it's best just to take this on a year-by-year basis and try to even out the divisions as much as possible. Here's what the 2003 breakdown looks like:

The AFFC
The lineup: The Berserkers, Carolina Killers, Fresh Meat, the Jayhawks, T-Bird2
Who's new: The Berserkers, Fresh Meat
Who's out: The Bottlerockets, the Weathermen (both franchises folded)
The skinny: Basically we're just moving the Berserkers over, grouping TFFL's four longest-tenured franchises with one of the new teams. Six of the league's seven titles are still here, but two of those teams (the Killers and T-Bird2) haven't placed in the top three overall since 1999 (obviously meaning they will dominate this season). The AFFC gets Steve's friend Michael Price (Fresh Meat).

The NFFC
The lineup: The Gamblers, Heelbillys, Jellypop Fighters, Wile E. Coyotes, new team
Who's in: New team
Who's out: The Berserkers (moved to AFFC)
The skinny: In contrast to the old system, this just moves the Berserkers over instead of Jellypop Fighters. Historically speaking, Kev hasn't enjoyed a tremendous amount of success, never having finished higher than fifth and averaging a 7.5 finish in six seasons (but we still love him, and I'm sure 2003 is his year). Two of the league's top three teams in each of the past two seasons are here (Gamblers and Fighters), and the Coyotes placed a franchise-high fourth in 2002. The new team will be Wayne's friend Jerry Helisek.

After reading over this, I recognize there is little method to this madness, but whatever. If you've got a problem with it, you know where I live! Anyway, here's how the returning eight teams graded out under the aforementioned old system:

DIVISION ALIGNMENT FORMULA
 
Team
Avg. Finish
(Pts. for Rank)
Seasons Played
(Pts. for Rank)
Avg. Points
(Pts. for Rank)
 
Final Totals
Overall
Rank
The Jayhawks 2.7 (1) 7 (2) 1037 (2) (2+7+1)/3 = 1.6 1
Carolina Killers 4.4 (3) 7 (2) 899 (4) (3+2+4)/3 = 3 2
Jellypop Fighters 4 (2) 3 (7) 1048 (1) (2+7+1)/3 = 3.3 3
T-Bird2 5.1 (4) 7 (2) 885 (6) (4+2+6)/3 = 4 4
The Gamblers 5.6 (5) 5 (5) 932 (3) (5+5+3)/3 = 4.3 5
Wile E. Coyotes 6.5 (6) 4 (6) 890 (5) (6+6+5)/3 = 5.6 6
The Berserkers 7.5 (7.5) 6 (4) 840 (8) (7.5+4+8)/3 = 6.5 7
Heelbillys 7.5 (7.5) 2 (8) 871.5 (7) (7.5+8+7)/3 = 7.5 8


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