Aaaaand that's a wrap on Gut Check. Despite the tough matchup, Nathan pulled even farther ahead in the standings and is close to clinching his first playoff appearance. The middle of the standings, however, are a mess. Unfortunately, there are still over 33 million outcomes possible so I can't quite map out the playoff routes yet, but next week when that number drops to 1 milly I can do a little analysis for you hungry hungry hippos.

Standings Mayhem

With five weeks remaining (and 10 points available for each team), we have quite the race. Nathan, already leading the pack, doesn't play any team currently in the top 4 for the rest of the season, so his odds are looking extremely strong.

The next three teams are all scratching and clawing at the 2nd spot. Garrett, TK, and Tyler are neck-and-neck behind Nathan, and it's not hard to imagine a world where all three go to the playoffs. TK plays both Garrett and Tyler in the next two weeks, and only plays one of the three teams I've dubbed the "Trash Pile" (Ryan, Austin, and John Luke). Garrett and Tmo both play two Trash Pile teams, which may give them an edge for retaining higher spots.

The following three teams, all tied for 5th and lagging behind Tmo by just 1 point, are Jake, Mike, and Collin. Jake is probably the most fucked of the bunch. In his last five games, he plays all the top 4 teams. Collin plays 3, avoiding TK, and Mike plays two, finishing the season against his brother. However, Collin and Mike turn around from their matchup this past weekend and have an immediate rematch this coming weekend. Collin, who also beat Mike in week 1, has already secured the season series so he'll own a tiebreaker no matter what, but Mike avoiding the sweep would make for a huge statement entering the home stretch.

The final three teams wouldn't normally be worth mentioning, but I guess I will anyways. John Luke is, for all intents and purposes, eliminated from the playoffs. He is 9 points behind the 4th place seed right now, and even if Tmo goes 1-9 and JL goes 10-0 beating him in the process, he would need to outscore Tmo by so much that I just feel like we're more likely to hit a crowd-sourced 10-leg parlay. Austin and Ryan aren't quite as out as John Luke, but I think they've both seen the writing on the wall.

King of the Hill

Another one bites the dust. The question of who would get the axe between Garrett and Collin came down to Monday Night, which made watching interesting for that. Mike also picks up his 2nd strike. So Nathan stays clean, Tmo keeps his 1, and two are on the brink as we near the end.

RECAPS

Sorry fellas I can't dive into per-game recaps this week. Too busy on the short week and I'm headed to Athens to support my flailing Dawgs. Speaking of the Dawgs:

Are You Better than the Georgia Bulldogs?

Okay back to business, a perfect week from the boys. Let's hope this doesn't spell a loss for the real team on Saturday (hold me).