New Teams:
Land Iguanas (6-16 = 6th in division in III league last year)
Land Iguanas is this year's D III challenger. And quite the challenger they look to be. They have made the playoffs in all 6 seasons they spent in IV, before promoting last year into one of the tougher III leagues. Now they come in looking to move right back up at our expense. I thought I did well in the cup last year, but Iguanas made the final 128 teams (round 7). Want deeper? Ok, how about round 9 (final 32) in season 20. Yikes!
The Iguana roster seems to work around transfers, as the drafts have been rough. They are the classic look inside team, lead by star $37000+ center Ted Clayton. They've probably built up a bit of money, too, with a recent sale netting $700,000... so I for one will definitely be looking for a team to following the III relegation blueprint followed so greatly by Tornado Turtles last year.
BC Main Line (22-0 = 1st in division in V league last year)
In their first full season in the game, BC Main Line went absolutely perfect in league play after blitzing through the playoffs (and making me jealous!). Other than a third round cup exit and scrimmages, their closest game of the entire year was a 25 point win. That's scary good! So now we'll see if they can compete at that same level on our tougher stage! If they're even anything close, they'll make our lives very difficult.
They look to be a team that plays a pretty normal offense, with top stats last year coming at the forward positions. Found two pretty decent picks in the draft this year, and have 8 guys 22 or younger, so this should be a team that continues to develop if managed well.
Whizards (21-1 = 1st in division in V league last year)
Season 4 for the Whiz welcomes them up to their first IV visit as well. They played fairly strong last year, but chose to be walked over in the final. But if they were looking to stay in V, they've failed, and stumbled into our house of pain. Oh well, if nothing else, make some money, and perhaps they can stay up. In their limited cup chances, they've had a max run of 3rd round 2 years ago, so perhaps if they choose relegation, that is where they will focus their energies.
Whiz has a pretty team, manned with some tall and fairly talented inside guys, matched with an up-tempo offense. But they work on their defense, too, only allowing 1704 points last year. So they might just have the game to stick in D IV.