Everyone’s favorite poll is back for another year.

The USAFL Top 20 Poll returns for its fourth season, as we’ve again assembled our crack, nine-person super-secret expert panel. Each panelist votes for who they think are their top twenty USAFL teams. Each first place vote is worth twenty points, nineteen points for each second vote, and so on.

The poll results will be used as a tool by the Nationals Seeding Committee to help determine who each team will play when we get to the 2018 USAFL National Championships in Racine in October. We’ll do a poll at the end of each month, and hopefully that will draw some banter from our teams and fans as to whether or not they agree with our panel.

Got all that, good, here we go.

For most of 2017, our panel ignored Golden Gate in favor of the multiple-premiership winners from Austin. As we get ready to go into the magical roadshow that is the Regional Championships Series, the panel this year made no mistake as to who they think is the team to watch.

Also Receiving Votes: Columbus Cats (0-0) 21; Baltimore Dockers (1-4) 12; Arizona Hawks (0-1) 9; Nashville Kangaroos (0-2) 9; Ohio Valley River Rats (1-1) 4; Oklahoma FC (1-3) 1.

The Golden Gate Roos got all but one of the first place votes on offer to start off the season as the nation's number one men's team. The Roos have been focusing on their GGAFL metro season, but did score an early season win over Sacramento in the midst of their metro campaign. The LA Dragons, last year's D1 runners up, tied with Austin for the number two seed, but the Dragons got higher votes than the Crows from five of the nine panelists. Both teams played well in the AFLX format, with the Crows taking out the events in Phoenix and Baton Rouge. Both also begin their local derby series this month, with the SoCal and Texas Cups finishing out the month.

Dallas, who will be one of the two teams that Austin will tangle with in the Texas Cup, begins the year in fourth. One point behind them is Denver, who went 2-2 to start the year in the Des Moines 10s tournament, but will look to spool the party of the Magpies and Crows, among others, at the Central Regionals in Nashville on July 14th. New York's road issues, including a loss to Philadelphia for just the second time in two decades, has them in sixth. Orange County's 3-0 record in SCAFL play has them up in seventh, as they hope to possibly get back into D1 in Racine. Houston and Calgary round out the top ten, as the Lonestars look to make some noise in the Texas Cup.

Minnesota's 3-1 showing at the Des Moines tournament got them out of the game fast, and they sit in 11th. Quebec is one spot back in 12th; it will be interesting to see how they flow the rest of the year considering their USAFL slate is done. Chicago's 4-0 romp in Des Moines turned some heads on the panel, as they get up into 13th. Sacramento is tucked in behind in 14th, and they'll be busy as we head towards them hosting regionals on July 28th. Defending D3 champions Seattle begin in 15th; at 2-3, they are holding their own in BCAFL play but will be licking their chops ahead of regionals. Boston, DC, Philly, and Carolina take up four of the last five spots as they jostle for positions in an even East, with San Diego poised in 17th. Columbus misses the poll for the first time in their history, but could jump back into the fold with a good showing this weekend in Philadelphia.

NEXT POLL: AUGUST 1st