The Luchadores have picked up this season right where they left off last season, not having lost a game yet in 10 tries. The biggest victory of the year was the Game 1 win over 9-1 Harrisburg, a 20 point win.
With Conference 31 being a bit less competitive (but still #4 in the conference rankings), there hasn't been a huge test for the team since the conference schedule began, even though they did get by a resurgent 7-3 Carson City team. But now the Roswell Awesomeness beckon in Game 11. It's tough to say how competitive this game will be, but it will be one of the better measuring sticks for the team this season.
If the local media were to select a team MVP this season, the voting would probably be unanimous in favor of Sr Shawn Rawlings. Rawlings is averaging 19.4 ppg and 8.4 rpg to go along with some nice defense and hardly any turnovers. It will be a tight race between he and SLC's Chandler Holt for Conference POY honors. Vernon Glenn hasn't done quite as well as expected, but he's had a tendency to start each season slowly during his career and finish up very strong. If he does that again the Luchadores will again be very tough to beat in the NTT.
Jose Roehrig is also running maybe the best point in the league. 5 apg with a 1.3/0.4 stl/to ratio is mighty fine.
As was mentioned on the other side, Conference 31 is not as strong as last season, but still is pulling the #4 spot in the conference rankings. The conference has shaped up differently though. Rather than having almost a handful of very talented teams that are setting the bar, there is more parity and not a truly bad team to be found. The Tucson Court Jesters are the lowest ranked team at #181, better than the worst team in most conferences.
Eugene is really hurting from the losses of Ethan Guenthner and Carl McGraw to graduation. Those seasons when Coach Jerem wasn't giving the team his full attention in recruiting are haunting them now. Here's hoping they return to their rightful place in the conference hierarchy soon. Things feel better all around in the NHL when Montreal has a good team, and the same holds here.
My pick for best freshman in the conference so far is Roswell's Raymond Fitero. Long Beach's David Bruce is a man also and may have slightly better all around numbers, but Fitero plays on an 8-2 team so I'll give him the nod. In general, last season brought in some really good in conference recruits, and it will be fun to watch them develop for 4 years.