Mid-Missouri Outlaws Advance to Playoffs

Despite having the 5th best percentage in the league, the Mid-Missouri Outlaws have advanced to the playoffs.   Here is the official statement of the playoffs proceedings for this year as according to the American Professional Football League:

The first round of playoff games will be July 7-8. The Council Bluffs Express (9-3) earned the number two seed in the past few weeks with victories over the Kansas Koyotes and the Oklahoma Defenders (9-3, #3 seed). The Express will host the Defenders at the Mid-America Center in Council Bluffs on Saturday night July 7 at 7:05 p.m.

The second game of the weekend pits the regular season Champion Sioux City Bandits (12-0, #1 seed) against the number four seed Mid-Missouri Outlaws (7-5). The game is set for Sunday, July 8 at 4:05 p.m. at the Tyson Events Center in Sioux City, IA.

This year has been unprecedented one for the APFL. There were two ties in the seeding of the playoffs. The Council Bluffs Express earning the #2 seed tie-breaker over the Oklahoma Defenders via the head-to-head point difference. The Mid-Missouri Outlaws won the #4 seed by virtue of a ruling from the league based on the number of wins the Kansas Koyotes accumulated as a result of forfeit.

The winners will play for the 2012 APFL Championship on Saturday, July 14 at 7:05 p.m. at the venue of the highest remaining seed following the semifinal games.

Now for those confused after reading the press release, here is the breakdown of how this occurred.  The APFL had two teams drop out this season,  the Cheyenne Warriors and the Colorado Lightning.  The Springfield Wolfpack also stopped playing home games and the league kept the team in tact for away games.

Here’s how the Outlaws became eligible for the playoffs: The Kansas Koyotes and Mid-Missouri Outlaws played each other twice.  The Koyotes won a game by six and the Outlaws won a game by five.  As a result, the tie breaker went to the Koyotes. However, the rule is that each team is to play 10 league games in order to be eligible for the playoffs.  The Koyotes did not do that as they had to forfeit twice to Colorado and twice to Springfield, since the Wolfpack did not show up to the game.    As a result, the tie breaker went to the Mid-Missouri Outlaws.