Two rule changes this year. Keepers dropped from a maximum of three to two, forcing some difficult decisions at the roster-building stage. And the playoff field shrank from eight teams to seven, with the #1 seed earning a first-round bye. That last change mattered a great deal to exactly one person: Matthew Beyer.
Matthew Beyer. Champion. Finally. The man who has led this league in scoring more times than anyone cares to recount, who has finished runner-up twice, who has been the answer to "who was the best team that didn't win it" for the better part of a decade. He went 11-3, won the regular season title, led the league in scoring with 1,736 points, earned the first-ever first-round bye under the new playoff format, used it, and then beat Alex Benedict 124.6-120.22 in the championship. A clean sweep. Regular season champ, high scorer, champion. Matthew Beyer did everything right this year and the bracket, for once in its miserable life, agreed.
Alex Benedict, in his first championship appearance after nine seasons in the league, came within 4.38 points of the title. A strong run for a guy who has quietly been one of the more consistent teams in the league without ever getting the spotlight. He'll be back.
Andrew Vinz, the 2-seed at 10-4, finished 4th. The bracket remains capable of cruelty to anyone. Phillip Redenius, the defending champion, finished 10th. The fall from grace was swift and total, but Phillip Redenius has his name on the trophy and nobody can take that away.
Wesley Hoops finished last at 1-13, posting the third worst record in modern league history and the season's biggest blowout victim, absorbing an 87-point loss to Bernard Lynn in Week 4. Wesley Hoops won the first championship this league ever had back in 2009. He is now planning the banquet for the man who won the most recent one. Seventeen years of history between those two sentences. This league is something else.
Wk4
Wk1
FINAL STANDINGS
| Finish | Owner | Record | Points For | Points Against | Reg. Finish | Net Payout |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Matthew Beyer | 11-3 | 1,735.6 | 1,483.8 | 1 | +$385 | |
| 2 | Alex Benedict | 10-4 | 1,559.2 | 1,578.4 | 3 | +$100 |
| 3 | Dennis Lynn | 9-5 | 1,681.4 | 1,574.7 | 5 | $0 |
| 4 | Andrew Vinz | 10-4 | 1,631.0 | 1,406.2 | 2 | $-60 |
| 5 | Jarod Hilmer | 9-5 | 1,697.7 | 1,493.1 | 4 | $-55 |
| 6 | Ryan Wingerson | 8-6 | 1,597.6 | 1,552.6 | 6 | $-60 |
| 7 | Derek Hilmer | 6-8 | 1,591.0 | 1,648.8 | 7 | $-55 |
| 8 | Paul Loveland | 6-8 | 1,566.9 | 1,611.8 | 8 | $-60 |
| 9 | Bernard Lynn | 5-9 | 1,694.3 | 1,700.3 | 9 | $-50 |
| 10 | Phillip Redenius | 5-9 | 1,667.5 | 1,707.6 | 10 | $-50 |
| 11 | Jeft Cavey | 4-10 | 1,341.4 | 1,630.0 | 11 | $-60 |
| 12 | Wesley Hoops | 1-13 | 1,346.3 | 1,722.6 | 12 | $-55 |