New England Paintball Power Rankings Well it is time to stir up the pot again. It is halfway through the 2014 season and it is time to see what people think. The thread is meant to be discussed, debated and argued over. I would ask that my name not be revealed by the administrators of the nation but I will take PMs to discuss why I ranked teams where they are. PLEASE POST YOUR OWN RANKINGS along with explanations.



How I ranked the teams are as follows:

Recent performance (strength of competition/head to heads & activity or lack thereof)

Big Event performance (Nationals/Playoffs)

Season performance (consistency)

If they played today (roster and style matchup)

Team history (long term sustainability & cohesiveness)



The importance of the categories are in the order they are listed. I put recent performance first as in if they played recently who won or beating mutual opponents recently. I place higher importance on pressure situations such as playoffs and nationals. If you won two events over the course of the year but missed an event and another team placed above you in the season standings I find the team that winning an event to be a better indication of a great team. One of the hardest things to do in paintball is to win an event. If they played today is entirely subjective. A good example however would be a team that has 3 years of xball experience would get the nod over a good 7man team that has no xball experience. Team history is the tie breaker. If the team has not played each other but one has been around longer it stands to reason that they will continue to have success.





Rankings



1. 187 Crew – Pro champions division and now consistently sending really good teams down to challengers. Next step is making Sundays. There is no argument for who is the best team in New England



2. Boats & Hoes – No loses in two years and only two matches lost in three. Filled with former pros and high level divisional winners. They are the bar that local teams need to beat if they want to be competitive on a national level. (For the purposes of the rankings riptide is included with boats and hoes because of the large amount of crossover but missing a few key players.)



3. Section 8 – Always one of the top ten teams in New England now that they have stopped drinking (as much) and are practicing on a regular basis this veteran team that has been playing together forever are consistently winning. Winning creates confidence and they have won 3 of the last 4 NEXLs.



4. Rod Squad – I know what some of you are thinking WHAT? They don’t even play in the highest NEXL division. They also didn’t even make playoffs this last NEXL. In NEXL 3# they lost to section 8 in a close match then just missed winning the game they tied by seconds on a field with a nonfunctioning time clock. They are second in foxball and have an NEXL event win under their belts. Consistency of roster and play style keeps this team at the top of the table. They slightly edge invasion because of the recent head to head win.



5. Invasion – Event 1 winners and having beat teams below them in the standings. The addition of Chris Wedge has brought veteran leadership that has shown in Invasion’s higher level of play. The one weakness may be speed to stretch the field. They however compensate through above average laneing and gunfighting.



6. (tie) Savages/SIN – The Irvin crew has shown their ability to be able to beat any team on any given day. They however have not been able to consistently string together wins or break through in the playoffs. They are on the cusp.

(tie) NEAA – But….they have only played 4 matches… and they are 2-1-1. Yes, but they took boats and hoes to overtime which is the closest they have been to losing in almost two years. They also took a loss to Rod Squad when they may have been playing their best paintball of the year. Consistency of roster and veteran leadership make this team a threat to anyone.



8. Bay State Bandits – 4th, 2nd, 1st are we seeing a trend? The Bandits may practice more than anyone in New England outside of 187 crew and this young group is coming together. The question before NEXL 3 was could they do it under pressure after two tough losses in playoffs. They finally proved their metal. Playing under NE United’s vacated spot in majors they will have the chance to move up this list quickly with games against SIN, Rod Squad and NEAA.



9. New England Legacy – The squad with something to prove. They have done so thus far in Foxball with a perfect record and +22 in only 4 matches. When your beating your opponents by 5 every match your showing dominance. A showdown next even with Bad intentions will show who should own the top of the Foxball minors table.



10. Bad Intentions – I have been told this is a “throw together” but they sure don’t seem to play like it. They sit atop the foxball minors standings with only an overtime loss to their name. Can they continue the success. We shall see.

Also considered – Hivi Wrecking Crew (not really a NE team but might have been in bottom half), UConn (they did take second at ncpas), Fotron (solid team that took second with a skeleton roster). Grind (event 1 nexl winners) Last edited by NEPBRankings : 07-14-2014 at 11:39 PM .