06/28/2006 12:40 PM - CHICAGO - The Florida Firecats have maintained their No. 1 ranking in the Weekly Coaches Poll, the arenafootball2 (af2) league office announced today.
Florida collected 260 of a possible 264 points and 18-of-23 first place votes in securing the top position. The Firecats defeated the Birmingham Steeldogs in impressive fashion this past Saturday on the road, 60-27, to improve to 9-2. Florida has won four straight games and currently leads the South Division.

The Memphis Xplorers (9-3, 228 points, 1 first place vote) moved up two spots this week from No. 4 to No. 2. The Xplorers, who are currently a half-game behind Florida in the South, are coming off an 81-53 home win against South Georgia. The Spokane Shock (9-2, 207 points, 2 first place votes), last week's No. 2 team, slipped two spots despite the team's 49-46 home win against Albany. Filling out the top five in this week's poll are the No. 3-ranked Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz (9-3, 218 points) and No. 5-ranked Arkansas Twisters (8-4, 153 points). The No. 9-ranked Louisville Fire (7-5), who have won three straight games, also earned two first-place votes this week.

The Week 14 schedule features two matchups of Top 12 teams. Both games are on Saturday as No. 10 Green Bay plays at No. 1 Florida and No. 4 Spokane plays at No. 5 Arkansas.

Each week during the season af2 coaches will vote for the Top 12 teams in the league by ranking them one through 12 on a ballot. Teams ranked first receive 12 points with the point value decreasing by one for each place below first, meaning a team ranked 12th would receive one point. Total points will determine the Top 12 list. In the event of a tie in total points, the team with the greater number of first-place votes will be ranked higher. The af2 Coaches Poll will be announced every Wednesday during the regular season. Coaches are not allowed to vote for their own team and the poll results have no bearing on postseason qualification.

The complete Top 12 is listed below. The number in parentheses indicates the number of first place votes the team received.

WEEK 14 TOP 12
RANK TEAM PTS
1 Florida 260 (18)
2 Memphis 228 (1)
3 Oklahoma City 218
4 Spokane 207 (2)
5 Arkansas 153
6 Tulsa 132
7 Central Valley 122
8 W-B/Scranton 120
9 Louisville 114 (2)
10 Green Bay 98
11 Bakersfield 88
12 Birmingham 27

About af2
In Week 14 of its seventh season, af2 serves as a vehicle to bring Arena Football to second-tier cities and as a developmental league with an unmatched history of sending players, coaches and officials to major professional football leagues each year. af2 operates under the same Mission Statement and Fans' Bill of Rights as the Arena Football League, which is currently in its 20th season. Log on to www.af2.com for more information.