So as Dave requested, I’ve taken a look at how many teams who started 0-3 were able to turn it around and edge into the playoffs. By my counts we’ve had nearly 40 teams since 2001 start winless through the first three weeks. Most of those teams went 0-3 obviously, but Trigger did manage to sneak a 0-2-1 record in there one year.
So Dave’s question regarding how many of said teams went on to make postseason appearances, does have an answer, and to date, that answer is SEVEN.
These are the teams that got in, and how they finished;
| MAN. | YR. | TEAM | START | RECORD | SEED | FINISH |
| Chris | ’08 | The QB Black Hole | 0-3 | 8-5 | 2 | 1 |
| Jim | ’11 | 3 Weeks of Awesome | 0-3 | 7-6 | 7 | 3 |
| Byrd | ’12 | Playoff Bound | 0-3 | 7-6 | 5 | 3 |
| Matt | ’10 | ICE’D | 0-4 | 7-6 | 7 | 4 |
| Byrd | ’13 | The Fighting Suh | 0-3 | 7-6 | 7 | 7 |
| Mark | ’07 | Rainbow Pride | 0-4 | 7-6 | 5 | 8 |
| Jim | ’04 | 11 Men and a Truck | 0-4 | 6-7 | 6 | 8 |
CHRIS:
As you can see, Chris managed to swing his 0-3 into a Title Run in 2008, and three different teams actually started 0-4 and still got in. Something else you might have noticed – all seven of these teams made it in when we still had 8 Playoff spots, so with modern rules, Matt (2010), Jim (2011) and Byrd (2013) all would have missed. And Jim’s 2004 run was an oddball year when we had only 10 teams, so while a #6 seed would be good enough, it’s likely that we wouldn’t see a team with a 6-7 record beat out six other teams for that spot. All that said, it makes Kaiser’s 2007 run that much more impressive – starting 0-4 and still grabbing the #5 seed in a 12-man field.
How do these teams stack up in our power rankings? Glad you asked…
| MANAGER | YEAR | TEAM | PF | PA | W % | Weighted Score |
| Chris | 2008 | The QB Black Hole | 10 | 4 | 10 | 8.2 |
| Jim | 2011 | 3 Weeks of Awesome | 9 | 4 | 6.5 | 6.75 |
| Matt | 2010 | ICE’D | 6 | 5 | 7.5 | 6.15 |
| Mark | 2007 | Rainbow Pride | 6 | 4 | 7 | 5.7 |
| Byrd | 2012 | Playoff Bound | 7 | 1 | 7.5 | 5.35 |
| Jim | 2004 | 11 Men and a Truck | 2.4 | 4.8 | 6.6 | 4.38 |
| Byrd | 2013 | The Fighting Suh | 3 | 3 | 7.5 | 4.35 |
No real surprise that Chris’ title run ranks the highest of these teams, but we see all seven faced pretty weak Strength of Schedule ranks, with Matt’s 2010 squad displaying the toughest competition on the list, and he only had the 8th hardest schedule that season. Byrd’s 2012 run actually was the easiest, finishing with the fewest points against for that season.
So this is all to say that while the odds are not in their favor (about 18%) to make a run for the playoffs, Dave and Cork are both still alive, even once one of them loses this week. And we are overdue for it to happen, with Byrd’s 2013 team the most recent to do it. Another advantage is the season is a week longer now, so there are more chances to catch up.
And while I didn’t make note of all of them, I did notice while going through these that several teams who started off hot (Kronner, 4-0 in 2012; Chris, 5-0 in 2020) went on to miss the dance altogether, so at this point, its way too early to rule anyone in or out.
SC League Forever 