Being the top two teams in the league would seem to imply that those teams played each other for the ACFW championship. However, history shows that isn't as common as it seems like it'd be. Season 6, Season 7, Season 9, Season 10, Season 11, Season 12, and Season 13 all featured at least one team ranked below 2nd. In fact, Season 11 and Season 12 were both #3 vs #4 following upsets in the playoffs. The last time #1 played against #2 for the championship was all the way back in Season 8, when Ben and Austin scored a combined 226 points in a single night. That changes this Sunday, when #1 Ben faces off against #2 Tess in the first championship match between the top two teams in over three and a half years!
Ben has finished ranked #1 following the regular season in four consecutive seasons. This is easily a record and not one that will soon be broken. However, being the best hasn't always meant victory for him. In Season 11, he lost as a huge favorite against Terry in the playoffs. In Season 12, he lost as a huge favorite against Jeff in the playoffs. But, in Season 13, the rule was changed and the #1 team got a bye to the championship game. This allowed Ben to avoid a potential upset loss in the playoffs and put him in position to tie Terry 76-76 to win his third championship.
Now, it's Season 14, and #1 got another bye to the championship game. And once again, Ben is #1. That puts him on a collision course with possibly the best rookie to ever play the game...
Tess, in her first season playing, has scored over 500 points, defeated two amazing teams in the semifinals, and is currently favored to beat the greatest of all time for the ACFW Championship. The only other rookie to ever have this good of a season was Bo, who defeated Ben in the playoffs of Season 7, then went on to win the championship. Can Tess become the second rookie to win the championship?
'Then. Now. Forever.' That's what this season has been about. It's about celebrating what happened then...
Seeing what happens now when the 14th championship game happens this Sunday night...
And seeing what happens in the future...
A new championship belt is up for grabs. Will it be the unbeatable rookie? Or will Ben become the first ever four-time champion? Tess is an 8-point favorite as of this writing. Can she defeat the greatest of all time? Or will Ben score another victory in a championship game?
