Looks like winner of big 8 will take it all
I think in the spirit of competition and teambuilding, and as a rebuke to the concept of last-minute purchases, IYF and I should agree to play the conference final with only players who have been with our teams since they were 18 (or drafted at 19yo). The scary thing is that wouldn't give me as much of an advantage as I might over other teams - he could still put out a fairly competent starting five within those constraints.
Other than that, though, it'll hopefully be a great game. I know I've been on the edge of promoting out of here a couple of seasons now and just run into that one team that was better when it counted, and I would not at all be surprised if that happened again. Just a week ago we played a preview and I kept it pretty close but couldn't pull it out, and now we've each added one significant inside player. But these are the types of challenges that make the game worth playing, and maybe since I've been unable to outmanage the opposition so far and I surely can't outtalent him, maybe I'll just get lucky and steal a win.
Of course, that all still puts aside the issue that whoever comes out of the Great 8 is still going to be a tough challenge for either of our teams. I think the B8 champ is probably the favorite with HCA but it's far from a certain outcome.