The NCAA just announced their four teams for the College Football Playoff. The Playoff will begin on Jan. 1 with Oklahoma and Georgia facing off in the Rose Bowl at 5:15 p.m. ET, followed by the Clemson Tigers facing off against the Alabama Crimson Tide in the Sugar Bowl at 8:45 p.m. ET.
That got us thinking. If there were a playoff for all of the indoor and arena football leagues, who would be in the top four?
4. Jacksonville Sharks
The Sharks left the Arena Football League to join the National Arena League in 2016. They played in the AFL from their inaugural season in 2010 until 2016. In their first season in the NAL, they lost just once and won the inaugural NAL title.
Having success in two leagues is a very interesting thing. That is the big reason why they would be in the top four. However, there are three teams still better than them.
3. Sioux Falls Storm
Up until last season, Sioux Falls had ran the Indoor Football League for most of the league’s existence. They had won seven consecutive United Bowl titles before the Arizona Rattlers snapped that streak last July. Still, a streak such as that deserves a spot in the top four.
2. Philadelphia Soul
Everyone will see this and talk about how the Soul run the league because the league is currently at five teams. It wouldn’t matter if there were two teams in the AFL. Philadelphia has been the team to beat over the last two seasons.
They became the first team since Arizona from 2012-14 to win consecutive ArenaBowl titles. They even defeated the Rattlers in 2016 to win ArenaBowl XXIX, their second in franchise history.
Still, they can’t beat out the team in the desert as #1.
1. Arizona Rattlers
Arizona was one of the most successful franchises in AFL history, winning five ArenaBowl titles. Had they not turned the ball over three times so early in ArenaBowl XXIX, they would’ve had their sixth title.
That offseason, like the Sharks, they left the AFL for another league. Arizona took their talents to the IFL. After an 0-2 start, the Rattlers picked it up and went on to end Sioux Falls’ reign, winning United Bowl IX.
While they did the same thing Jacksonville did in winning a title in another league, they did against more talented teams, including stopping who everyone thought was the unstoppable. That’s why they would be the top team in an all-arena/indoor football playoff.
Inside the Arena 