2017 PNW Northwest Washington 40 & over local playoffs this weekend - Who are the favorites? Who gets a wildcard to Sectionals?

This year in the Seattle area, our 40 & over league started right off the bat in January and we are having our local playoffs earlier than normal, this weekend!  Teams will be vying to win (or finish second, see below) so they can advance on to Sectionals to be held in the Portland area August 25-27.

The Pacific Northwest Sectionals typically have eight teams at most levels, split into two sub-flights of four each, each sub-flight playing round robin and the sub-flight winners facing off for the opportunity to go to Nationals.  But while the section does have eight different districts, several of them often don't send teams (Alaska, Idaho, British Columbia) resulting in there being wildcards granted to second place teams from the districts that are sending teams.  Here is the wildcards for 2017:

• 2.5 Women - Each of NWW, NO, SWW, EW
• 2.5 Men (4 teams) - SWW and NWW
• 3.0 Women - NWW, NO
• 3.0 Men - NWW, NO, SWW, EW
• 3.5 Women - NWW, NO
• 3.5 Men - NWW, NO, EW
• 4.0 Women - NWW, NO, SWW
• 4.0 Men - NWW, NO, EW, SWW
• 4.5+ Women - NWW, NO, EW
• 4.5+ Men - NWW, NO, SO

EW = Eastern Washington
NO = Northern Oregon (Portland)
NWW = Northwest Washington (Seattle)
SO = Southern Oregon
SWW = Southwest Washington

So at some levels, four districts are going and each gets to take two teams, in others there are fewer wildcards.

This means that this weekend, just getting to the final may be enough to make it to Sectionals.  Some teams will still want to win it all, but others will use the final to get more players some playoff experience.

Since NWW has a wildcard at every level, just for fun, here are who my ratings say the top-2 teams are for each level/gender.  Note of course, I'm using the top-8 average from each roster which tell us who should be strongest if they play their best line-up, but some teams may not have their best available, don't know who their best eight are, or just get bad match-ups or have upsets, so there is no guarantee the teams below will win.

• 3.0 Women - BC-Bloch, ETC-Stewart
• 3.0 Men - MI-Preston, STC-Anderson
• 3.5 Women - TCSP-Iyer, NTC-Burvill Holmes
• 3.5 Men - BC-Camara, MI-Mattox
• 4.0 Women - CP-Keogh, STC-Suver
• 4.0 Men - BTA-Smed, CAC/SL-Stanley
• 4.5+ Women - NTC-Ogborn, BC-Strieb
• 4.5+ Men - NTC-Dalkin, CAC/SL-Tinsley

Note, in many cases above, the top-2 teams by my ratings are the same as the top-2 seeds from the standings, but for several, it isn't the case so there could be surprises.

If you don't see your team listed and wonder where you stand, or want to get more details on a level/gender or team, it isn't too late to do a team report or sub-flight report and do some scouting.  Both are a great way to find out what to expect and arrange your line-up to give your team its best chance of winning and advancing.

Good luck to all, may the best teams win!