NFL Power Ranks: Conference Championships

Well, we're officially at the half-way point of the NFL pre-Super Bowl media circus, and I'm doing my best as usual to avoid it. I have literally steered clear of all sports channels for the past week, except to watch the occasional old NFL Films Super Bowl highlights video, and I even went to my first NBA game in 2 years on Thursday (Suns vs. Mavericks).

Let me start off by saying I love this Super Bowl matchup, this is the first Super Bowl in a long time where I won't be heavily rooting against a team because I don't like them. This is the matchup everyone has waited all season to see, and these 2 teams held the top 2 spots in my rankings for almost the entire season. One one side, you have the Colts, who are just all around good guys and definitely to "good guys" in the rivalry against the evil patriots over the past few years. On the other side, you have the Saints, who are making their first appearance after a history of being truly awful at everything. They are playing for a city which was devastated by a hurricane 5 years ago, and their quarterback, Drew Brees, is another great guy (and Purdue alum). New Orleans has never won a championship in any major professional sport.

So how did the conference championship games affect the ranks? the Colts win kept them at #1, while the Jets loss dropped them 4 spots back to #7. The Saints win catapulted them 5 spots to #3 and the Vikings loss dropped them 1 spot to #5. As a result of the games, The Cowboys moved up to #4 ahead of the 2 title game losers but fell behind the Saints. The Packers dropped a spot to fill the void left by the the Saints as they moved up, and due to weird strength of schedule changes, the Broncos and Bears, and Redskins and Chiefs flipped spots yet again.

So the ranks are predicting a Colts victory in the Super Bowl. Makes sense to me. Personally, I'm going to be rooting for the Saints this year. I appreciated the Colts when I lived in Indianapolis, but they already got a Super Bowl 3 years ago. I'm going to stick with my college loyalties and root for Drew Brees to become the 3rd Purdue quarterback to win the Super Bowl, and hopefully increase his chances of joining the other 2 (Griese and Dawson) in the hall of fame.

So.....
"Who dat? Who dat? Who dat say dey gonna beat dem Saints? Who dat? Who dat?"
(I hope the NFL doesn't sue....)

Full Ranks:
1. Colts - 72.34 - Even
2. Chargers - 71.39 - Even
3. Saints - 69.15 - +5
4. Cowboys - 65.71 - +1
5. Vikings - 65.42 - -1
6. Texans - 65.33 - Even
7. Jets - 64.46 - -4
8. Packers - 63.89 - -1
9. Ravens - 62.62 - Even
10. Eagles - 61.95 - Even
11. Falcons - 61.40 - Even
12. Patriots - 61.09 - Even
13. 49ers - 60.36 - Even
14. Panthers - 59.63 - Even
15. Steelers - 58.84 - Even
16. Titans - 52.35 - Even
17. Cardinals - 50.05 - Even
18. Bengals - 48.48 - Even
19. Browns - 44.97 - Even
20. Bills - 44.63 - Even
21. Broncos - 43.88 - +1
22. Bears - 43.47 - -1
23. Giants - 41.57 - Even
24. Dolphins - 38.68 - Even
25. Jaguars - 35.39 - Even
26. Buccaneers - 32.40 - Even
27. Redskins - 30.76 - +1
28. Chiefs - 30.63 - -1
29. Raiders - 27.79 - Even
30. Seahawks - 23.62 - Even
31. Lions - 15.37 - Even
32. Rams - 11.10 - Even