Spoilers Warning: Dozen Weekly Recap

CoachDay
May 6
4 min read

Boy oh boy, the heavy hitters were out in The Dozen this past week, with Minihane, The Yak, and the #1 Experts all in action. We are very quickly approaching the playoffs, and we now have an official date for the Boston Final Four: June 26th! This means keep an eye out for tickets, people, they should be going on sale any day now. The league is really beginning to tighten up, and the questions are getting tougher and tougher.

Minihane Holds Against Tough Gen XYZ Squad

Minihane is a very balanced team in terms of knowledge but also has an MVP in Kirk. Well, he showed up when needed against the upstart Gen XYZ, dropping 12 points in a 16–13 victory to move to 4–2 and keep pace in the rankings. A loss this late for a top team could be crucial, as you may not get a chance to avenge it. The magic number, of course, is staying in the top six to avoid the play-in. With this victory, Minihane may have locked themselves into that top-six group. You’d guess they only have one more match, and a loss there shouldn't drop them too far, especially considering their strength of schedule.

One concern moving into the tournament will be the era of sports questions they get, if the 1990s and early 2000s dominate the game, they can make a run. But recent sports history could lead to an early upset exit.

Gen XYZ, on the other hand, missed a major chance to firmly place themselves in the play-ins. Now they'll be looking for help and hunting another big win. Their issues remain: second-guessing themselves and lacking a big-time scorer. The roster has lots of Robins but no Batmans. That’s proving to be a real problem in close games. Another tight loss doesn’t doom them, but it leaves them 2–3 and still searching for a playoff spot.

Yak Improves Chances of No Play-In

Two teams stuck in the play-in or no-playoff zone...Charity Case and The Yak; squared off in what was not one of the prettier trivia events we've seen. Rone, yet again, was the deciding factor for The Yak, leading the way with 7.7 points in a 13–10 win.

The Yak made their feelings clear about the play-in tournament—they don’t want to be in it. The bad boys of trivia are stirring the pot again. Still, play-in or not, The Yak just doesn’t look like a championship contender this season. They’ve clearly taken a step back. If they want to make noise in June, a turnaround needs to happen now.

Charity Case may have sealed their lottery-pick fate. Coming into this one at #14, they needed it badly. Scoring only 10 points all but ends their season. At this point, a 2–0 finish against better teams is their only hope. Mintzy has been lights out in sports, but Rudy and Gia just haven’t been as sharp as we know they can be. The offseason will be important for this expansion team. Will they mix it up, or run it back and train together?

Experts Dismantle Fading Ryders

The #1 team is flexing its muscles, this time against the Ryders, who just couldn’t keep up. Brandon Walker kept pace with Kirk in the MVP race, leading the way with 11.7 points in an 18–11 win.

Let’s start with the Ryders. They looked like title contenders early this year, but now they’ve lost the magic. Kelly Keegs continues to carry the boys, scoring 9 points, but KFC and Rico combining for only 4 won’t get it done. They’ve probably done enough to at least stay in the play-in mix, but unless Keegs’ teammates step up, playoff per diems aren’t coming.

The Experts, meanwhile, are peaking...and hopefully at the right time. Brandon, PFT, and Fran are extremely locked in. Dozen hardos know how the championship has eluded this original squad for years. So the question now is: Can they finally carry this momentum through the playoffs? With the double-elimination format for the final eight, you’ll need to be at your best. We’ll likely see the Experts again before playoffs, but right now, they’ve got to be the clear favorite.

First Bracketology Is Here!

Speaking of tournament talk… we have our first bracketology of the season!

If the season ended today, here’s what we’d have:

The Yak vs. the Ryders in a play-in game would feed Stoolies’ families for years. Let’s just make it happen. The 4/5 and 3/6 matchups? Final Four caliber, and we’re getting those in the first round. How lucky are we?

Also, with it being double-elimination, that’s huge for anyone who stumbles in round one. We’re still over a month away, but man...this gets the blood pumping.

Week 14 Overall Rankings

As mentioned, the Ryders should hold their position due to a tough schedule. The interesting one is Mostly Trivia, sneaking back into the mix, but with no margin for error this late in the season.

This week’s matchups have serious shake-up potential. The big names are everywhere, and also #9, #12, and #13 all playing top ranked teama have a chance to really mess whole thing up!