Continuing from yesterday, today I'll be revealing the games I ranked #11 and #12 on my list. Everything from #5 to #12 could certainly be debated as most of these games were at a similar level of entertainment value. That range is really what I'd call the typical ACFW championship game. Not particularly great (like the top 4 were) but certainly good games that made for some interesting conclusions to their respective seasons. Now, let's take a look at #12...
#12) Season 5: Jeff defeats Brandon 72-42
The keeper league lasted three seasons, starting with Season 3 and ending with Season 5. We had one draft before Season 3 and whatever team you drafted is what team you kept through Season 5. Jeff drafted his Season 5 team from the start and played the long game. It worked as you can see from the final score as he was able to dethrone Brandon, who'd won the two previous championship games.
This game's storyline (Jeff climbing up through the ranks over 3 seasons to win his first championship) was great. One of the reasons this game ended up so low on my list is because of the length of the season. Season 5 was only 7 weeks long, our shortest season so far, so that Wrestlemania 32 could be our championship game. With it being that short, there was little time for the anticipation to build up. The other reason is that it wasn't particularly close and essentially ended as soon as Daniel Bryan won the Intercontinental Championship in the opening match of the show. Roman Reigns failing to win the title in the main event only made the difference in score worse.
#11) Season 10: Terry defeats Bo 66-54
This was one of the most difficult games for me to rank. It obviously had a fantastic built in story around it just because of who was in it. It also had the story of Terry rising from last place (in the week 3 standings) all the way up to 4th place to compete in the playoffs. And then he won it all. I certainly would have a hard time arguing against someone who'd rank this one higher than #11.
The ranking here is because the game went exactly as expected. Terry was a 8-point favorite and won by 12. All of the matches went the way they were expected to, no wrestler hit more finishers than they were supposed to, and any chance of a Bo victory was gone not long after the show started. This also took place at Wrestlemania 33, which is when WWE decided that Wrestlemania should be double the length it used to be.
So, perhaps it was bias from me having to score it, but overall, this game felt like it dragged on forever. It was, however, a huge milestone for the league as it was the first championship game of the second era.
I expect these two selections will be more controversial than my first three selections yesterday. So, for those who disagree, which games would you have ranked #11 and #12? Tomorrow, I will reveal #9 and #10 on my list.
Here is a full list of the championship games:
Season 1: Ben beat Chris 64-61
Season 2: Terry beat Austin 62.5-44
Season 3: Brandon beat Jordan 56-50
Season 4: Brandon beat Jacob 90-30
Season 5: Jeff beat Brandon 72-42
Season 6: Ben beat Terry 72-50
Season 7: Bo beat Ross 70-32
Season 8: Austin beat Ben 122-104
Season 9: Jeff beat Bo 60-46
Season 10: Terry beat Bo 66-54
Season 11: Austin beat Terry 88-60
Season 12: Austin beat Jeff 48-36
Season 13: Ben tied Terry 76-76
Season 14: Tess beat Ben 80-72
Season 15: Austin beat Jacob 74-68
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