The Larkspur Bowl: December 2024

Monday, December 30, 2024

XVI: Season Recap (The Contenders)

The Larkspur Bowl Playoffs, pared down to just four teams for the first time ever, saw a pair of quality matchups involving three teams that have hoisted the silver chalice multiple times before: #4 Phoenix (4x champions), #2 Hill Valley (2x champions), and #1 New Jersey (2x champions), as well as an original franchise in #3 Savannah playing in their second Larkspur Bowl semifinal (having made it this far back in LBIX) and hoping to make their first title game.

The paths to this point varied:

#4 PHOENIX (10-6) 3rd in Champions Division
MVP: QB JOE BURROW

The Uprising's final three losses of the season each by less than 3 points, and had things broken differently, might have been a coulda, woulda, shoulda scenario. Instead, they get in by the skin of their teeth and have a fighter's chance of making their seventh Larkspur Bowl final (after missing the last six) but they'll have to defeat the defending champions to get there.

#3 SAVANNAH (10-6) 1st in Challengers Division
MVP: RB BIJAN ROBINSON

The Petes came back from a 1-4 start (three of those losses by single digits) to just dominate down the stretch and force their way into this four team tournament by winning their division. They scored the second most points in the league this year (while facing the second most points against) and earned every bit of this matchup, a rematch with the McFlys that narrowly ousted them in a high scoring week one matchup.

#2 HILL VALLEY (11-5) 2nd in Champions Division
MVP: QB LAMAR JACKSON

But for a four game losing streak late in the season, Hill Valley had a charmed run, scoring the most points, and rarely dropping below 200 on a weekly basis. They rebounded from the monthlong sink to drop 296 on New Jersey and 257 on Phoenix in the final weeks, coming into the playoffs nearly as hot as their Svannah opponents.

#1 NEW JERSEY (12-4) 1st in Champions Division
MVP: RB SAQUON BARKLEY

The Crew, with two trophied in the their locker and looking for a third in just their fifth season in the league, were the class of the league this season, starting 4-2 and then winning eight in a row before resting their starters in the final two weeks with their playoff spot secure. They face Phoenix, whom they have defeated twice already this season- can they make it three in a row?

XVI: Season Recap (The Departed)

This season, the sixteenth in Larkspur Bowl history, saw a downsizing and subsequent format change, and the unfortunate dwindling of the blog, leading to a lack of immersion, quantified by only four trades made this year. All that said, it was another extremely competitive season, with the regular season extended from thirteen games to sixteen games and the playoffs limited to only two rounds.

We're on the verge of determining the Larkspur Bowl XVI matchup- more on that later.

Let us first recap each team's season:

12. Philadelphia (4-12) 6th in Challengers Division
MVP: LB ANDREW VAN GINKEL

The Rum Ham never really gained traction this year, starting 1-7, but showed some gumption mid-season, winning three of four and nearly impacting the playoff race by playing Savannah down to the wire in the season finale.

11. Pawnee (5-11) 6th in Champions Division
MVP: WR BRIAN THOMAS JR

Pawnee started 2-2 before a five game losing streak really put the kibosh on their playoff aspirations; another team that didn't show well in the standings but did some late season damage, defeating both of the eventual LBXV competitors in head-to-head combat.

10. South Park (6-10) 5th in Challengers Division
MVP: QB JAYDEN DANIELS

The Cows suffered four close losses in five weeks after a 3-1 start, with two of the losses (week 7 to New Jersey and Week 9 to Philly) by fractions of a point. That was simply too much heartbreak for the LBVII champs to recover from.

09. Deputy (6-10) 4th in Challengers Division
MVP: RB JAHMYR GIBBS

A pair of three week losing streaks really kept the Van Halens from ever creating momentum, but the team did improve as the season went on: Their first three weeks were the lowest scoring weeks of their season.

08. New York (7-9) 5th in Champions Division
MVP: QB JOSH ALLEN

The Finest beat each of the three "Champions" teams that made the playoffs this year, proving they can hang with the best, but lost twice to HCM City in games that might have been the difference had a couple things broken differently.

07. HCM City (7-9) 4th in Champions Division
MVP: RB KYREN WILLIAMS

The Lead Farmers rallied to win 4 of their final 6 (topping playoff teams Hill Valley and Savannah in that stretch) to attain a measure of respectability, but this was season stacked against them: They had the misfortune of seeing the most 'points against' in the league in 2024.

06. Binghamton (8-8) 3rd in Challengers Division
MVP: RB DERRICK HENRY

The Snipers were the league's middle class most of the year, remaining on the fringe of the playoff race: a five game win streak mid-season had them primed to strike, but a subsequent four game losing streak against division rivals left them playing as spoiler in week 16.

05. Mar-A-Lago (10-6) 2nd in Challengers Division
MVP: WR JA'MARR CHASE

The hard luck losers of the format, LBXIV's champions were in the playoff position most of the year, with a dominant 6 game winning streak putting them in pole position. They were in control of their destiny in week 16, but a loss to Binghamton coupled with Savannah winning and Phoenix erasing a substantial points gap stunned the Treason into a last minute collapse.