Wane McGarity Bowl Championship Preview

So here we are. Down to 2 teams. This season saw a run made by an unlikely team, Ryan's who steamrolled through the league with 11-2 record and yet despite that, and despite making the finals against a 6th seed, it feels like Ryan's the underdog in this matchups. So many things historically are working against Ryan. No #1 seed has ever won a title so far. That means #1 seeds are 0-6, while being 0-2 in the actual Finals, also the #1 vs #6 isn't new. I was the #1 seed in 2011 against Albert's #6 team and he absolutely destroyed me. So the #6 seed is actually undefeated in Finals Appearances. Let us not forget to, that the last time Alex and Ryan faced off in Week 3 was the infamous Delanie Walker inactive play. Alex would've beaten Ryan had he plugged in his backup tight end, Jimmy Graham, over Delanie Walker who didn't play that week, proving that indeed Alex can beat Ryan. So in a weird way, this is the ultimate underdog game....for the #1 seed, which is pretty unique. With all the odds stacked against Ryan, will he break down the barriers and make history? Or will Alex dispatch Ryan just as easy as he dispatches the #2 and #3 seeds? We'll find out starting Saturday when Wane McGarity Bowl VII begins!

Wane McGarity Bowl VII

"The Reverse Underdog Bowl"

Hoosier Daddy (Ryan)

vs

SCLSU MudDogs (Alex)

Ryan McKinnis (Hoosier Daddy)

#1 Seed (11-2 Regular Season Record; 1-0 Playoffs)

How He Got Here: Ryan's drafting Zeke in the first round was the franchise leading player he needed to get over the hump after 6 years of being on the outside looking in. Ryan's been in the league since it's inception and his best years were 3 years ago when he was coming off back to back 3rd place finishes. Ryan had been a major slump since then, finished no higher than 8th the past 3 years (including two 11th place finishes). This year was simply his year, a 7-0 start, best record in the league, 2nd best record in league history, most points scored this season, #1 seed and on the back of Zeke Elliott a narrow win in the semi finals against Albert's loaded team. His draft was great with Michael Crabtree, Mark Ingram, Ben Roethlisberger, and DeAngelo Williams all playing big parts of his success along with key trades for Greg Olsen and Demaryius Thomas and waiver wire adds like Steve Smith, Kenny Britt, Thomas Rawls have all contributed to his success in one way or another. He might not have the most "loaded" team, but he has a very deep solid team led by an absolute beast in Zeke. Zeke has proven he can single handedly win games and he'll definitely need to be on his A game for Ryan to win this year's championship.

Alex Kronberger (SCLSU MudDogs)

#6 Seed (7-6 Regular Season Record; 2-0 Playoffs)

How He Got Here: Just like Ryan, Alex took a huge gamble taking a suspended Le'Veon Bell with the 4th overall pick of this past year's draft. That combined with Alex not keeping anyone (everyone else kept two players) and all signs were pointing to what could be Alex's worst year since joining back in 2014. Alex has had moderate success so far in the league since replacing Mike Posey. He made the playoffs in his first year in, and literally missed the playoffs last year by .4 points when he lost to Leland in Week 13 last year. Thanks to the Bell suspension and Julian Edelman playing without Tom Brady for 4 weeks, Alex had a rocky start, starting 2-4, but there were glimpses that his team was definitely capable of competing for a title. In Week 1, even without Bell he narrowly lost to Mayra in what was a shootout in which he scored the 2nd most points in the week but played against the team that scored the most. He could've beaten Ryan (who ended up on a 7 game winning streak to start the season) in Week 3 had he benched Delanie Walker who was inactive for Jimmy Graham. When he had his team fully healthy and ready to go, he'd end up finishing the season on a 5-2 run and continued that dominance by blowing out both Mayra and Eugene as a 6th seed going against the #3 and #2 seeds respectively. Thanks to the Bell gamble, good ol reliable Drew Brees, a solid supporting cast of Julian Edelman, Larry Fitzgerald, Carlos Hyde, Delanie Walker and Jimmy Graham, and unlikely contributions from guys like Bilal Powell and Theo Riddick, Alex finds himself in his first ever Wane McGarity Bowl Championship. His next challenge..knock off the #1 seed with the 2nd best record in league history. Does he have enough firepower to do that?

Matchup Stats

Alex Leads Series 4-1

Last Matchup

Ryan Beat Alex 92.18-87.64 in Week 3 of the 2016 Season

Position Matchups 

QB

Ben Roethlisberger (Hoosier Daddy)

vs

Drew Brees (SCLSU MudDogs)

Overview: Man these individual matchups are going to be super close, but what else would you expect with two of the top teams in the league? So luckily for both guys, Ben and Drew have home games (both are terrible on the road). Gotta give the slight edge to Brees for a couple of reasons, I think he's the better QB for fantasy purposes for one and also with Alex having Le'Veon Bell, Ben needs Bell in the passing game to have some of his success so Bell could potentially eat into Ben's points. Slight edge to Alex here at QB.

Advantage: Alex

WR

Michael Crabtree (Hoosier Daddy)

Demaryius Thomas (Hoosier Daddy)

Steve Smith (Hoosier Daddy)

vs

Larry Fitzgerald (SCLSU MudDogs)

Julian Edelman (SCLSU MudDogs)

Tavon Austin (SCLSU MudDogs)

Overview: Here's where Ryan has an advantage. I like Ryan's group of guys better than Alex's. This is probably Alex's main weakness as Larry Fitzgerald has been struggling recently and now takes on the Seahawks secondary, while that WR#3 position (filled by Tavon Austin) has been the weakest spot on Alex's entire team. Edelman should be fine, but this is where Ryan can make up some ground with great receiver play from his trio of Crabtree, Demaryius, and Steve Smith. 

Advantage: Ryan

RB

Ezekiel Elliott (Hoosier Daddy)

Thomas Rawls (Hoosier Daddy)

Mark Ingram (Hoosier Daddy)

vs

Le'Veon Bell (SCLSU MudDogs)

Carlos Hyde (SCLSU MudDogs)

Bilal Powell (SCLSU MudDogs)

Overview: This is where the heavy hitters are. Zeke vs Bell, the two main guys who got their respective teams here. I think both will be the heavy contributors they are all year and I basically considering them a wash as far as advantage goes. The rest of the crew though, I feel like Alex has a distinct advantage. Rawls has been super disappointing since returning from injury and you really never know what you're going to get from Mark Ingram. I do think, Ingram gets fed a little more after that little tantrum he threw in the last game when Tim Hightower vultured him. I just really feel like Alex got lucky with Bilal Powell taking over lead duties with Matt Forte's injury and he's going to be the difference maker in the matchup. Carlos Hyde also has a ton of upside and if Alex does win, it's going to be because of the play of his Running Back Trio.

Advantage: Alex

TE

Greg Olsen (Hoosier Daddy)

vs

Jimmy Graham/Delanie Walker (SCLSU MudDogs)

Overview: Well while Alex has to decide which Tight End to use between Jimmy Graham and Delanie Walker (both good choices, but there's a chance he picks the wrong one) Ryan doesn't have to worry about choices and has what looks like to be the #1 Tight End Play this week in Greg Olsen. Olsen had his struggles, but when it mattered, he more than came through for Ryan, and his 6 catches for 85 yards helped finish off Ryan's epic comeback win over Albert. Olsen has a great matchup and should be able to put up some points this week. Going with Ryan and Olsen here.

Advantage: Ryan

Final Predictions 

Yahoo Says: Alex wins 112-108

I Say: Alex wins. In my opinion, this is going to be just as close as Ryan and Albert's matchup was and honestly these rosters are pretty evenly matched overall. I just think having the QB and RB advantage is a big deal and if they play up to par, that'll be the reason Alex takes home the Championship. I expect a highly contested matchup. 

Good luck to Ryan and Alex and may the best team win!!