It's been a while since we have had the #1 seed facing #2 in a Hughes Bowl. In fact, we have to go back to 2013 when the #1 Bombers swept aside the #2 Blizzard to find our last 'Top Two' Hughes Bowl Matchup.
Three, four, shut the door.
Both winners came back from early deficits and used some big performances to close out their wins.
Five, six, I pick the Sticks.
Okay, I'm stretching with this one, but 'six' and 'Nats' don't rhyme. TBH, I have no idea who will win this game, None. It's been a year of unpredictability. Why would it stop now?
Seven, eight, don't be late.
Don't be late signing in to the Second Season contest this year. Check out the details below. (Yeah, I was going strong until I got to this one.)
Nine, ten, a big fat hen.
About here, I realize this was a bad idea, but I'm committed. And I did consider 'A big, Nat hen' but that seemed dumb, even for me. Lucky for you, I'm done.
The Semis, in brief... It looked good for the Legends when lunatic manchild Puka Nacua went off for 40+ points on Thursday night, but they couldn't sustain above-average output while the Nats spent Sunday breaking out the heavy hitters. The result was a Nats lead going into Monday that Lincoln had no chance of denting. The final was a stroll for Dan as he won by over 35 points. If he can maintain anything near his Week 16 output, he's got a very good chance of getting the Nats a seventh Hughes Bowl crown.
Things were just a touch more dicey for the Sticks in their win over the Blizzard. The top-seeded club held a decent lead after Sunday, and with McCaffrey and Taylor still to come, it appeared that Paz had little hope, even with Purdy left to play. But for just a bit in that Colts-Niners matchup, I had to back away from my keyboard. With Purdy racking up points at a fierce clip, there was suddenly a chance my Nats versus Sticks research would become moot (To say nothing of that Hughes Nursery Rhyme!). But McCaffrey wasn't going to let that happen. He grabbed a couple of Purdy's endzone tosses, and with them, he also grabbed the brass ring for Keith.
Ladies and gentlemen, we have a Clash of Titans on our hands. Both clubs went 11-3, and they were the top two scoring clubs this season, separated by less than ONE point! Here we go to:
Hughes Bowl 45!
As seen in the graphic, we have the top two seeds squaring off this year. That's a rarity. I dug into HB results going back to 2004, the start of our Performance Scoring Era, and came up with this chart (click it to expand it):
If you're scoring at home, you will see that only three times over the last 21 Hughes Bowls (team names in blue) have we had #1 vs #2, and only in 2013 did the #1 beat the #2. And while I was counting shit, I went and highlighted the games that were, in theory anyway, 'upsets'. Those games, with red seeding numbers in the chart, were won by the lower seed.
Now, something we all know is in play here. Seeds are frequently a 'false' rating. Time and again, the #4 seed finished second in their division but were a 'better' team than one, if not both of the other division winners. It happens. The Flyers were one catch over the course of the season (0.5 points) away from being the #1 seed last year, but ultimately finished as the #4 seed. Hell, if I dug a bit, I could find a #5 that was a stronger club than a #3, but you take what falls your way and go with it.
The table below shows how each bye slot fared in Hughes Bowl games since 2004. Note that we had a #7 seed (the Bliz) in 2022, which was due to me adding an additional team to the postseason. Interestingly, the #3 seed had made more HBs than any other spot. And 3/4s have as many teams in the title game (17 total) as 1/2.
Make of all that what you will.
Let's look at the history of the two teams over the years in postseason play. First, separately:
The Sticks are making their fifth Hughes Bowl game and are coming in with a 3-1 mark in their previous title games. Their last was in 2021, which was their only Hughes Bowl loss.
The Sticks have played 27 postseason games since their founding in 1984, and are 15-12.
The Nats are playing in their 13th Hughes Bowl, breaking a tie for the most appearances with the Flyers. They are 6-6 on our big stage and looking to reverse last season's HB loss and break their two-game losing streak in title contests. Here is how they have fared:
They are 25-19 in 44 Postseason games through this past weekend. Oh, and a win (their 7th) would set the standard for franchises, again breaking a tie with the Flyers, for most championships.
Something that surprised me a great deal is that these two teams have only met twice previously in playoff games. In 1986, Hughes Bowl 6, the Sticks beat the Nats, 47-40. It wasn't until 2015 that they met again. In a Wildcard encounter that year, the Sticks prevailed by a single point, 106-105. Counting those two games, the Nationals hold a 26-17-2 lead over the Sticks in our history.
The Postseason Contest!
I re-upped our site for a 25/26 NFL Playoff contest. Check your email for an invite, or just go to the site directly at this link: 2025/2026 Second Season.
The league will work as it did last time. Details are right there on the front of the site. I will 'pay' a small bonus in 2016 Waiver cash to everyone who participates, in addition to the prize winnings for the top finishers. You will be able to select your roster as soon as the NFL regular season wraps.
It takes just a couple of minutes to pick your players, and after that, there is nothing you need to do. There's no reason to skip this.
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