Europe’s Top 20; Losses in Germany, France, Italy Reshuffle the Rankings
Week 3 of AFI’s Top 20 presents our weekly ranking of the Top 20 best American football teams in Europe in 2015. Let’s review the moves!
The Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns remain at #1. The Unicorns are still undefeated in Germany after dominating the Rhein-Neckar Bandits 49-7. The Unicorns have earned a place in the Eurobowl final June 20 where they will face last year’s finalists, the Braunschweig New Yorker Lions.
At #2 are the defending German champs, the very same Braunschweig New Yorker Lions. QB Casey Therriault made his triumphant return to the Lions, who climbed up in the rankings after dismantling the Dresden Monarchs 47-17.
The Kiel Baltic Hurricanes (#3) round out the German trifecta. The Hurricanes hammered the hapless Berlin Adler 44-9. They are an outstanding ball club and could get on a roll. QB Blake Bolles leads the German league in passing, averaging 290 yards per game.
The #4 Swarco Raiders continued their BATTLE4TIROL series, hosted in Innsbruck, Austria. The Raiders topped UK’s twice defending champions the London Warriors (#18).
Dresden drops to #5 after their loss to Braunschweig. Star RB Trevar Deed appeared to suffer an injury against the Lions. This could be disastrous for the Monarchs’ German title hopes.
Sweden’s Carlstad Crusaders topped the Kristiansand Predators 56-28 and remain at #6.
The Saint Ouen l’Aumône Cougars (#7) of France stay undefeated topping the Flash de La Courneuve in the French semi-finals. They will face off against the #11 Thonon-les-bains Black Panthers, who barely snuck by the Aix-en-Provence Argonautes in Aix on Sunday.
Vienna Vikings (#8) were idle and the and Prague Black Panthers (#9) continued domination of the Czech portion of their schedule defeating the Brno Alligators 42-7.
The London Blitz (#10) who were idle this past weekend, still hold on to 10th.
The Tyreso Royal Crowns (#12) defeated the Uppsala 86ers 26-19 and remain undefeated in Sweden. They could well challenge for the Swedish crown this season.
Italy’s Lazio Marines, #14, were idle but moved up a bit due to losses ahead of them. The Parma Panthers enter the Top 20 at #17. The Panthers finished their regular season at 8-2 with a 35-14 victory over the Milano Rhinos. The Ancona Dolphins (#19) dropped a bit after a regular season finale loss to the Bologna Warriors. The Italian play-offs start this weekend!
The Allgau Comets, (#15), drop down as well after back-to-back losses, most recently 17-14 this weekend to the Stuttgart Scorpions (#13).
The Wroclaw Panthers (#16) from Poland are dominating the Polish top league and have one of the best running backs in Europe in Marcus Sims.
The Helsinki Roosters (#20) make their first appearance in the Top 20. They’ve opened their Finnish schedule with a victory over the Seinäjoki Crocodiles 38-29.
Losses have dropped the Novi Sad Dukes and the Aix-en-Provence Argonautes out of our Top 20.
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