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Alright folks, it's here, it's now, it's the playoffs in League V.72!! Who will hoist the big championship trophy, and who will go home? Over the next two weeks we'll have our answer.

As is fitting, all of the human operated teams have safely made it into the playoffs. For the first round, the matchups look like this:

Big 8
#1 Njord's Hakarl host #4 Texas Longhorns. Texas was human operated for multiple seasons, but went late this season after failing to log in. At that point, the three best players on the team departed for better pastures, leaving a skeleton of the old team.

My prediction: The Hakarl beat the Longhorns twice this season, even with their better players, and there's not much reason to doubt they'll win a third time against the remaining players.

#2 Knoxville Eagles host #3 Alliance Knight: This should be a pretty good matchup. The Knight beat the Eagles in their first matchup this season, but that was before OSyouthclub22 made some crucial additions to his squad, including the recent pickup of the german forward Sven Franck. In their second match up the Eagles narrowly defeated Alliance Knight.

My prediction: I'll pick the Eagles on account of home court advantage and the improved interior play after adding Franck. Plus, the Eagles actually know what enthusiasm is.

Great 8:

#1 MrWinless host #4 Heat95:

Not much to see here, as Mr Winless were able to maintain the top seed over the minnesotagreeners, and would have even had they lost that last matchup. They face a bot controlled team in the Heat95, who were yielded two of MrWinless's 20 wins.

My prediction: The big Englishman O'Byrne and his teammates will dominate the heat. No problem advancing here.

#2 minnesotagreeners host #3 Virginia Vipers: This may be the most intriguing match up of the first playoff round. VGcollector brings his much improved squad into the green center to take on the highest scoring offense in the league. The two teams split their season series, though the Vipers did win by 15 when the greeners came to their building earlier this month. But the injury bug has bitten both teams, with the greeners missing their starting SF Mezgis and their starting PG Andrioli, who were both injured in a disastrous scrimmage on 13 October. The Vipers are missing the offensive attack of Rajko Rankovic, who was injured in the final game of the season. In his place the Vipers will likely call on 19 year old Gilbert Ratliff to put the ball in the basket.

My prediction: This is kinda tough, but likely none of the injured players will be able to return for this game. In that case, I think the Vipers will be able to win, despite being on the road. Both teams have gameshape issues, but the greener bench is so thin that it will be hard for them to compete fielding just 7 players total.

Let the games begin!!!!

Well, three of the four games weren't terribly exciting, and turned out as I had predicted.

But wow, that was an epic game between the greeners and the Vipers! Decided by just two points at the end, the greeners fought back in the fourth quarter and outscored the Vipers 36-19. Though their bench was thin, and four greeners were forced to play nearly the entire game, they overcame their opponents. Free throws were a big story in the win, as the greeners went to the line 22 times, and came away with 19 points.

Great job greeners, and now it's on to face MrWinless.

Over in the Big 8, the Hakarl will host the surging Eagles in the semifinals.

Very impressive win, tangosz. Hopefully, i can score more points that Texas did on you. I really believe my squad can finally pull an upset on your team this time.

After the vipers win over Mr Winless, I thought the Vipers might be able to beat the greeners.

Well, best bring your A game!

i would of won but the loss of my starting SG hurt alot, that and my SF was shut down and in the other games that we succeeded he went off and was top sorcerer of the games

Yeah, losing Rankovic is definitely a killer there. And that's not the first injury for him this season. What level doctor do you have?

level 1 or 2

Hmm, I'm using a level 3, and I've had a couple injuries that lasted more than just the game they occurred in. Maybe 3 in two seasons? Maybe it's worth it.

yea im stilly a little depressed i lost was so close lol

Yeah, it was really super close. But there's still things for you to do in D5. You can train your young guys up for another season (and do "out of position" training), and also you might think about expanding your arena. Many teams in D4 have much bigger arenas than yours, which will let them buy better players, and support higher salaries. And that includes staff salaries, like a better doctor to reduce those injuries, and a better trainer.

Also, it's a good time to think about managing enthusiasm. Your game shape ended up pretty good, though.

Hang in there!

Two super big games tonight will determine who heads to the finals and a possible league championship, and whose season ends.

In the Big 8, the Knoxville Eagles will travel to Njordheim to face the regular season top team Njord's Hakarl. The Eagles have been playing some excellent basketball in the 2nd half of this season, fueled by new additions Didier in the backcourt, and more recently Sven Franck in the paint. But can they solve the Hakarl's tough defense?

In the Great 8, the minnesotagreeners bring their depleted roster to face the conference champion MrWinless. The greeners are still without veteran point guard Andrioli and small forward Inocentas Mezgis, and will likely rely on their force under the net of Julius Anderson. On the other side of the court, MrWinless is anchored by league MVP Michael O'Byrne, the big English center. The bodies might fly tonight, as O'Byrne has a tendency to commit fouls. Can the greeners force him to the bench to help limit the damage?

My predicitions: I'm going to go with both the home teams here. The Hakarl defeated the Eagles at their building recently, on less effort. So, despite the addition of Franck, the homecourt advantage and a slightly higher enthusiasm should carry the day.

MrWinless won both of the regular reason matchups versus the greeners, most recently a 13 point win at the green center. Since the greeners are still thin in terms of players, I don't see how they overcome MrWinless at his house.

But, there's a reason they actually play the games. Who knows what can happen!