How long does it take to win a championship? The answer depends on who we're talking about. In this post, we'll be taking a look at how long it took each ACFW champion to win their first title. Let's start with the player who took the longest...
Austin: 8 Seasons
Before he'd won 4 championships and became one of the teams people didn't want to have to play against, Austin was simply not that good at this game. A 7th place finish in Season 1, 8th in Season 3, 5th in Season 4, and 6th in Season 5 do not look anything like the Austin from the last few seasons. Apart from a playoff loss in Season 6, he only reached the playoffs one other time in the first 7 seasons.
Season 2 Austin was actually a really good team, maintaining first place all the way to the championship game where he lost to Terry. It wasn't until Season 8 when he would finally reach the top of the mountain and defeat Ben 122-104 to win his first ACFW championship.
Jeff: 5 Seasons
Jeff's teams were all over the place in the first 5 seasons. Finishing last in Season 1, no one expected him to nearly upset Terry in the Season 2 playoffs. And then came the Season 3 draft. While everyone else drafted teams for Season 3, Jeff decided to draft a team for Season 5. At the time, we'd decided to turn the league into a keeper league. Everyone would keep their teams from Season 3 for Seasons 4 and 5 also.
It was one of the best examples in league history of someone planning ahead. Even though he finished 6th in Season 3 and last in Season 4, his team was built for Season 5. And he would go on to finish with a 9-1 record and his first championship.
Madelyn: 4 Seasons
In Season 13, Madelyn's team was damaged by Roman Reigns being sidelined for the entire season. In Season 14, she was less than 2 points away from winning the playoffs and going on to face Ben for the championship. In Season 15, she couldn't quite break away from the middle of the pack.
And then came Season 16. Madelyn won almost every game she played, escaping with narrow victories in several of those games. In week 1, she scored a record 63 points and it definitely ended up being a sign of things to come. With Edge's win at the Royal Rumble, she earned her first championship in her 4th season playing.
Terry and Brandon: 2 Seasons
Terry lost in the playoffs in his first season, losing 41-35 against Chris in Season 1. Brandon lost in the playoffs in his first season also, losing 33-32 to Austin in Season 2. However, both teams would rebound in spectacular fashion in their second seasons.
Brandon drafted Roman Reigns at the start of Season 3 and it ended up being a great decision as Reigns would lead his team to a 56-50 championship win against Jordan.
Terry battled all throughout Season 2 to secure second place going into the playoffs, then defeated Jeff in a very close playoff match to advance to face Austin for that season's championship. And he won that game 62.5-44 to win his first championship.
Ben, Bo, and Tess: 1 Season
To conclude this list, we have the three players who didn't waste any time with their first championships. We have Ben in Season 1 who picked up Batista right before the playoffs and then won the championship game by 3 points due to Batista.
We have Bo who debuted in the same season as Ross. Both of those teams would score upset victories over Terry and Ben to advance to a championship match that featured exclusively first-time players. Bo would win that match 70-32.
Finally, we have Tess who debuted in Season 14 and managed to stay in the top 2 in the standings for the entire season. She'd win the playoff game in a triple threat against Jacob and Madelyn. And then she picked up Goldberg. Goldberg would go on to defeat one of Ben's wrestlers (Dolph Ziggler) in the opening match and Tess would end up winning 80-72.
All three of these teams had amazing first seasons. With our current list of players for Season 17, we won't have any first time players this time around. But we do have the potential for a first time champion. Chris, Jacob, and Phillip are looking to be added to this list. Only time will tell if one of them can do it.
Season 17 starts in just 19 days!
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