Some might fixate on Toronto’s big rise in the Great Lakes, or Seattle falling flat defensively after their big moves in the offseason (poor Thor Odinson has been so bad. FHM hates us). Me? The true story is down where the stars at night are big and bright.

The Texas Renegades’ rise is the biggest story. Led by a breakout season from young Edward Williams, the Renegades have steadily been building to this culmination. Coming out of expansion, they were stuck losing some good players no matter what based on how well they drafted. They’ve steadily kept rising and this season their center group (Williams, Kubinec, and Kvalheim) are as dominant as any team down the middle. Add in a deep and skilled blueline and a dominant goalie tandem, and Texas is as tough as any team in the league. Sure, they get to have rebuilding teams in the Western Conference (SFP and NOLA most notably) make them look better in relief, but I think Texas’ roster and management could go head to head with much of the Great Lakes and still come out strong. Unfortunately, if they keep it up that sets them up for a battle with the eventual winner of the Great Lakes blood gauntlet prior to the Challenge Cup. I don’t see LAP having enough gas to keep up or catch up, so TEX should comfortably win the Southwest. Whether TEX can hold off the other top dogs in the league to win the President’s Trophy is anyone’s guess.