Call us the BCS if you want - there are some questionable changes at the top of the Power Ranking. A big win for Shox meant a big move...
10. Hyperflight (0-6) - Trailing 33-23 at the half against Uptempo despite playing with four guys, Hyperflight couldn't cling to that 10-point deficit much longer. But there were some good things that Hyperflight can build off from this one - three of their scorers finished in double figures for the first time in a while. Can they work a balanced attack against Generation and pull out a win?
9. Delta Force (2-6) - There was a time this year when Delta Force was on the cusp of being a Top 5 team in the League. But then they ran into Dunk in Week 7, and haven't looked up to par for the last two weeks. 'Force didn't share the ball particularly well last week, tallying only three assists. Part of the reason for that low number is that their three-point shots weren't falling. They finished 3-18 from deep against Term.
8. Terminator (2-4) - If we had a telestrator on this site, we'd circle Terminator as the hottest team in NRF right now. Dan Gladstone and Brendan Callahan are starting to play with some swagger - the pair combined for 34 points in last week's win. Can these guards keep their momentum rolling when they face off against Huarache?
7. Foamposite (2-4) - Foamposite was sitting pretty at No. 5 in the NRF Power Rankings with an opportunity to move up into the vaunted Top 4, knowing that No. 3 Shox and No. 4 Dunk were slated to square off at 9 PM. But they couldn't get past Generation. In fact, they got cracked. This is like when a team has a 2-on-1 fast break, but they turn the ball over and end up giving up a three on the other end. It's a five-point swing and it feels like you just got kicked in the groin.
6. Huarache (2-4) - Coming off a bye week, Huarache is one of only three teams in NRF standing still at the same ranking they had last week.
5. Dunk (3-3) - After holding down the No. 4 spot for such a long time, Dunk only drops to No. 5 following a big loss to Shox. Bobbito Garcia struggled to get clean looks at the rim. You know that the next time a team makes the foolish mistake of zoning Dunk, he's going to rain from deep on them and they'll be right back in the Top 4.
4. Generation (3-3) - This might be the biggest surprise ranking. Who would have said that going into Week 9, Generation would be holding down the No. 4 ranking? They figured out that Rafael DaSilva is a firestarter who can get in the lane and rain from deep. Is it too early to say that he's a right-handed PG built in the mold of Paul Rivera? That's as high as high praise gets.
3. Uptempo (7-1) - Here's where the BCS comes into play. Though Uptempo did not lose last week, they drop from No. 2 to No. 3, their lowest ranking of the season. Honestly, we had to count some point against them for going into the half in some sort of game with Hyperflight playing only four guys. But ultimately, the Uptempo rookies - Stalley and Scott Williams - combined for 45 points, and ran away from 'Flight's four-man crew. However the real reason that Uptempo fell one spot is because...
2. Shox (6-1) - Shox killed Dunk. Mr. Consistency Will Blunt was held in check (5 points, 4 boards) for basically the first time ever by Jason Burke. And the biggest knock on this team - on NRF's longest winning streak (6 games) - has been largely disspelled. Those who said that Shox couldn't battle against a zone watched Justin Leonard, Josh Gotthelf, Will Eberhart and Burke run the hi-low pretty darn well.
1. Air Force 1 (5-0) - Is this the time to start the undefeated talk? We're just over 40% done with the season, and AF1 doesn't play a team currently ranked in the Power Ranking Top 5 until Week 17, May 6th. That doesn't mean that they won't be tested though...